February 15, 2013 Gabriel Perna
blog
In an NCQA webinar, managing partner and CEO of Crystal Run Healthcare, Hal Teitelbaum, M.D., talked about the mentality his organization has in being an ACO. It’s clear being an ACO, and getting accreditation from the NCQA, is not something that can be done with negligence.
February 14, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
In this Healthcare Informatics podcast, Associate Editor Gabriel Perna interviews Gerald Creel, the director of emergency department at Shannon Medical Center, a 400-bed hospital in San Angelo, Texas. Shannon won third place in HCI’s recent IT Innovators Award program for implementing an automated radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based system that dealt with the issue of hand-hygiene. As a result of this initiative, Shannon lowered hospital acquired infections by 62 percent.
February 12, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The Washington D.C.-based eHealth Initiative (eHI) has unveiled a resource guide, aiming to help cancer patients, their families, caregivers, and support networks better understand what digitals tools and technologies are available to treat and cope with the disease. The Health IT Cancer Resources Guide lists 76 tools ranging from mobile applications to web sites to social networks that aim to improve cancer care.
February 6, 2013 Frank Myeroff
article
Over the past year, my colleagues and I have worked with numerous companies and healthcare facilities and based on their needs and our experience, some things are changing in the way that top talent is recruited, contracted and hired. Here are five healthcare recruiting trends that we see emerging for 2013.
January 30, 2013 Gabriel Perna
blog
In the process of conducting research for my most recent feature, I came to realize one thing about how hospitals across this country are trying to improve the patient-centered culture. It’s not about high-definition TVs, better food, temperature-controlled rooms, and a quiet night’s rest. It’s about better communication.
January 25, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
Leaders at MD Anderson, a Houston-based cancer treatment and research center, went the unconventional route in getting a meaningful use certified EMR. They self-developed one. Thanks to a simulation tool that visualized clinical applications, they were able to do this in a way that made life easier for the development team and the clinician stakeholders.
January 10, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
At a recent webinar, hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Denni McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare, the rural-based healthcare network out of Bolivar, Mo., spoke of the four strategies her organization undertakes when it comes to engaging patients. Those strategies have helped Citizens Memorial, which has a 76-bed acute care hospital and 22 physician clinics, become an industry leading organization.
January 7, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
The relationship between a physician practice's adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and quality improvements in patient care remains unclear. However, a new study published in the January issue of Health Affairs by Weill Cornell Medical College and the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP) of the New York City Health Department shows evidence that EHR implementation can improve patient care in small physician practices in New York City when combined with sustained high-intensity technical assistance.
December 28, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
Every resident at a hospital knows of the morning report, a time-honored tradition that as Niket Sonpal, M.D., chief resident at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City says, is as “old as taking a pill.” Recently, Sonpal decided to bring that tradition to the 21st century by investing in an interactive digital platform that covers the concepts in morning report. He talks with HCI exclusively about this initiative.
December 7, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The University of Texas’ health IT program is opening up a Health Information Exchange (HIE) laboratory, with funding from industry vendors Orion Health and Information Corporation of America (ICA). The laboratory will aim to train potential entry-level professionals in the health IT industry by simulating the exchange network developed by the Texas Health Services Authority (THSA).
December 5, 2012 Michael Craige
blog
Rapid improvements in technology, semantic data structures, informatics professional collaboration and sequencing technologies are not necessarily the only gaps needed for the realization of personalized medicine (improving genomic and phenotypic data integration) but these must be taken into account on how best to exploit the opportunities to facilitate personalized medicine.
November 9, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
It has been a momentous week for healthcare, to say the least. The election is over. The President is back in office for another four years, the House is still in the hands of Republicans, and the Democrats have maintained the Senate. In healthcare, a status quo election may not appear to mean much, but every expert I’ve talked to over the past three days seems to think this election will have implications for various policies going forward.
