Blogs

In an era in which commemorative weeks and months are everywhere and happening during any given week, does it make sense to celebrate something like the “National Health IT Week”? Actually, it does. Here’s why…

Dr. James Barr, chief medical director for Optimus Healthcare Partners and medical director of the Atlantic Health Systems ACO, talked about how he transformed his own family practice but also about how the ACO model and its analytics infrastructure can engage physicians in a high-performance network.

As we progress to the new healthcare, keeping people healthy will force healthcare providers to do things such as prevent hospital readmissions, or keep people from needing a hospital stay at all. And that will happen only if providers have some insight into what patients are doing at home.

Compliance for the HIPAA Omnibus Rule is fast approaching and the provisions surrounding the relationship between covered entities and business associates have been a hot topic and for many health IT leaders, a bit of a mystery. In a recent talk I had with Mac McMillan, I tried to understand why this was the case.

We are regularly reminded that Stage 3 of meaningful use will shift the focus from EHR deployment and data exchange to the health outcomes improvement the technology is designed to enable. But of course some organizations are already past the implementation phase and are working on realizing those outcome improvements. That Stage 3 future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.

When thinking about the word ‘hospital,’ violence inside the building might not be at the forefront of your mind. But ER violence is becoming a significant issue in health systems around the country. Thankfully, with the help of technology, prevention of violence in hospitals is possible.

When The New York Times runs an article on page 1 of its Sunday Business section, people notice. And that goes double when the headline on the article reads, "How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Saltwater." The bottom line? The push for transparency will only intensify in the new healthcare.

Recent consulting engagement discussions have brought the question of “best-of-breed” versus single vendor to the forefront. In one instance, different sections of the same academic department all have their own idea of what’s the best reporting solution for them. And it’s not just academia. I am starting an engagement with a county hospital that has three distinct vendor solutions within the same cardiology department!

It was fascinating to read a recent account in the July/August issue of “Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare” about a Six Sigma project around improving perioperative outcomes and processes. Not only was the case study a worthwhile read in itself, it clearly had implications for healthcare IT leaders.