September 15, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
This summer, a group of healthcare researchers published a research article that evaluated the effects of standardized vascular health checks on health outcomes, for patients in six European countries. The implications for electronic health record-facilitated chronic care management and preventive health care in the U.S. are clear.
September 14, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
The issue of unnecessary elective early-term deliveries of babies is receiving increasing attention in patient care organizations nationwide. One patient care organization in which active work to make such changes has been taking place is the four-hospital, Springfield-based Baystate Health. There, the medical director of obstetrics, the chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology, and the organization’s clinical research director, are engaged in groundbreaking work in this very important area.
September 4, 2013 Diane D. Homan, M.D.
article
It’s a unique time in healthcare. Public and private initiatives are aligning and are working synergistically toward the transformation of the healthcare system through improved care access, quality and cost. Part of this movement is a paradigm shift away volume-based, fee-for-service care toward a system where quality is the foundational aspect of all clinical and administrative operations—a healthcare system incentivized by a performance-based regulatory and reimbursement environment to provide proactive, patient-centered care.
August 19, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
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.
August 5, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
Brian Yeaman, M.D., CMIO at Norman Regional Health System in Norman, Oklahoma, has been involved in helping to lead a transitions of care initiative in his area. Dr. Yeaman was named principal investigator, and the Norman Regional Health System was awarded a federal grant from the ONC. The results have been impressive—and are worth pondering.
July 26, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
Adrian Lee, Ph.D., an expert in the molecular and cellular biology of breast cancer, is working with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC to harness the power of IT to transform care. What lessons are he and his colleagues learning about the technology and process issues involved in creating personalized, or precision, medicine?
May 31, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
Leaders at the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center have teamed up to better educate patients with Crohn’s disease. The web-based, interactive decision aid helps patients not only understand the complex disease, but the potential benefits and risks of treatments. Corey Siegel, M.D., the decision aid’s medical advisor, says it’s more than just a patient education tool.
December 7, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
In a recent webinar, an analyst for Frost & Sullivan talked about how thanks to a variety of factors, there has never been a better opportunity for mHealth applications to change the way chronic diseases are treated. After listening to this webinar, I can’t say I disagree.
December 5, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
While some are skeptical of accountable care organizations (ACOs), a recent report from the New York City-based consulting firm, Oliver Wyman says the ACO movement is alive and well. The report’s authors say 31 million patients are attached to an ACO, a number which only represents a fraction of the possible impact ACOs can have on healthcare delivery. In this Q&A, one of the report’s authors talks about the surprises, opportunities, and critics of ACOs.
November 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Deloitte’s first-ever look at senior executive interest in and support for informatics development across all the major sectors of healthcare has uncovered both heightened interest and a lack of resource support as major issues facing informatics leaders
October 31, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The American College of Physicians (ACP), a Philadelphia-based physician member organization, is touting a series of various performance measurement recommendations to curb spending on, what it calls, unnecessary services. The measures are included within a policy paper from ACP in a recent issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
August 23, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Pilots under the Query Health project are testing two standards: the HQMF standard that expresses an e-measure in machine-readable electronic format; and a query envelope for the secure exchange of queries.
