Evidence Based Medicine

A Tough Act to Follow: Carolyn Clancy Exits AHRQ

February 6, 2013     Mark Hagland
blog
When Carolyn Clancy, M.D., announced on Jan. 31 that she was leaving the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which she had headed for almost exactly 10 years (she became that agency’s director on Feb. 5, 2003, after previously working at the agency as director of its Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research), it signaled the end of an era.

Creating Care Transitions That Reduce Readmissions and Improve the Health of Communities

February 3, 2013     Mark Hagland
article
Jane Brock, M.D., the chief medical officer of the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, that state's Medicare quality improvement organization, discusses recent research-driven learnings around what makes for successful forays into improving care transitions-and the IT leveraging that will need to take place in communities nationwide.

Facilitating Care Delivery Improvement Across Communities

January 30, 2013     Mark Hagland
article
Leaders at the American Health Quality Association recently showcased the release of an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that documented an impressive decline in avoidable hospitalizations and readmissions among Medicare patients in communities in which Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) have coordinated interventions that engaged whole communities in care improvement.

Are You Ready to Create a (Healthcare) Revolution?

January 28, 2013     Mark Hagland
article
The winning teams in this year's Healthcare Informatics Innovator Awards program exemplify the spirit of pioneering innovation in our industry

Hospital Leaders Create ‘The Culture of Always’ (INFOGRAPH)

January 28, 2013     Gabriel Perna
article
Whether it’s through better communication or simple amenities, even the most optimistic leader at a hospital will tell you there is no perfect path to perfect patient satisfaction. However, thanks to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) mandatory Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) initiative, hospitals across the country are certainly going to try to achieve that formula.

INDUSTRY-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CIO Dan Drawbaugh on UPMC’s Groundbreaking Analytics Agenda

January 13, 2013     Mark Hagland
article
As the vast UPMC health system in Pittsburgh moves forward on its big-data journey, senior vice president and CIO Dan Drawbaugh shares his perspectives on that journey exclusively with HCI’s Mark Hagland. Among the top learnings so far: the level of collaboration between and among senior clinician, administrative, and IT leaders required to achieve big-data breakthroughs will be exceptional.

A Disconnect Between Performance Improvement and Improved Readmissions Results: What’s Going On?

December 12, 2012     Mark Hagland
blog
As the healthcare industry moves forward to meet the demands of purchasers and payers for higher-quality, more effective, more cost-effective patient care with fewer errors and better care coordination, it is sobering to read the results of recent studies that show that improving clinical performance does not necessarily lead to the prevention of avoidable readmissions.

Got Incentives? A New Study Confirms the Idea that Physician Alerts Aren't Enough

December 7, 2012     Mark Hagland
blog
The October issue of The American Journal of Managed Care included a fascinating article, "Implementation of EHR-Based Strategies to Improve outpatient CAD Care," in which a group of researchers documented how EHR-facilitated physician alerts alone aren’t enough to improve outcomes for patients with such chronic illnesses as coronary artery disease. It turns out, success requires a savvy combination of financial incentives, IT alerts, and good data analysis.

mHealth’s Golden Opportunity: Disease Management

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.

Surprise Surprise: ACOs are Touching More Patients than Expected (INFOGRAPH)

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.

Thinking Really Big About Data: UPMC’s Lisa Khorey Talks About What’s Behind the Organization’s Groundbreaking Five-Year Initiative

December 3, 2012     Mark Hagland
article
Lisa Khorey, vice president of enterprise systems and data management at the University of Pittsburgh Medical center (UPMC) health system, shares her perspectives on what made her and her colleagues move forward on a five-year, $100 million enterprise healthcare analytics initiative

LIVE FROM RSNA 2012: Where Is Radiology Practice Headed? A Conversation with Keith Dreyer, M.D.

November 27, 2012     Mark Hagland
article
Keith J. Dreyer, M .D. not only sees the future of automation-facilitated radiology practice; he has been instrumental in bringing clinical decision support tools to the radiologist masses nationwide. In a frank discussion with HCI's Mark Hagland, Dr. Dreyer shares his perspectives on where radiology practice is going, and what radiologists-and healthcare IT leaders-need to understand about the near future in healthcare.
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