January 8, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
A Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute study shows that fewer than one in five healthcare providers meet Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) requirements. Those that meet PQRS thresholds now receive a 0.5 percent Medicare bonus payment. In 2015, bonuses will be replaced by penalties for providers who do not meet PQRS requirements. As it stands, more than 80 percent of providers nationwide would face these penalties.
December 27, 2012 Mark Hagland
news
A new study is casting a harsh light on so-called “never events” in the surgical sphere, finding that such adverse events, which can include leaving a sponge inside a patient or operating on the wrong side of the body, led to malpractice litigation in more than 4,000 instances every year, and cost healthcare professionals at least $1.3 billion in malpractice payouts between 1990 and 2010.
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.
December 10, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The University of Utah Health Care, a four-hospital, 10-clinic health system, announced it has added an online tool that allows patients to score their satisfaction with their physicians. The physicians will be ranked on 40,000 patient surveys based on nine questions. Utah Health Care claims it is the first system in the nation to do something like this.
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.
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.
November 14, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
Leaders at the 972-bed Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, a non-profit healthcare system that encompasses two hospitals in New York City, were mandated with reducing their patients’ average lengths of stay (ALOS), despite their uncertainty on how to quantify that at a clinical level. Thanks to a hospital created “clock,” integrated into their EHR, the doctors were able to do just that.
November 13, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
A few months shy of his scheduled keynote appearance at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference, former President Bill Clinton has launched a health initiative through his foundation, aimed at tackling preventable health issues. The program, the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI), will see the creation of an online platform that allows people in underserved areas to discover “local, scalable” solutions to their health issues.
November 5, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The National Quality Forum (NQF) Board of Directors has endorsed 10 quality measures focused on behavioral health, focused on issues such as alcohol and tobacco abuse, antipsychotic medication adherence, and post care follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness.
October 16, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
At the Digital Health Conference this week in New York City, hosted by the New York eHealth Collaborative, David Brailer M.D., chairman of Health Evolution Partners and the former National Coordinator for Health IT, gave a rousing speech about the past and the future of the industry.
October 16, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
article
CHIME members voiced their concern this week with congressional proposals to “immediately suspend” EHR incentive payments. In an Oct. 4 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-4), Energy & Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI-6), Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Chair Wally Herger (R-CA-2) and Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Chair Joe Pitts (R-PA-16) voice concern that the incentive payments were being wasted because many providers continue to lack interoperability.
October 13, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
At the five-hospital Inova Health System in northern Virginia, Daniel Rosenthal, M.D. is helping to lead a groundbreaking effort to better predict the need for interventions and optimize care transitions, using state-of-the-art clinical information tools in innovative ways.
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