November 12, 2012 Michael Kamer
article
Saint Luke’s Health System, a 10-hospital network providing primary, acute, tertiary and chronic care throughout the Kansas City, Mo. area, implemented a single sign-on solution paired with thin clients that it says gives its physicians more face time with their patients.
November 6, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
According to a new report from the Plymouth Meeting, Penn.-based non-profit research organization, ECRI Institute, three of the top 10 health technology hazards for the upcoming year are IT-related. Authors of the 24-page report, Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list for 2013, say in the health IT field “interplay between complexity and effectiveness and potential harm is most evident.”
October 31, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
A recent report, brought to my attention by the nice folks at The Advisory Board Company, looked at how more doctors in the U.K. are using the Medical Defence Union (MDU) because they are being stalked on social media by an infatuated patient. Reading this report and having covered social media in healthcare extensively, I can understand why some doctors are reluctant to connect with their patients on social media, even when it has nothing to do with love.
October 29, 2012 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
article
News broke last week during CHIME’s Fall Forum that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) had circulated a survey to hospitals that had demonstrated Meaningful Use. The OIG's review of the incentive program and potentially inappropriate Medicare payments related to EHR use are both included in its recently issued fiscal 2013 work plan, according to public officials.
October 17, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
I recently had an opportunity to speak with Danny Creedon, managing director of Kroll Advisory Solutions in New York, who offered actionable advice on what healthcare providers can do reduce their risk of breaches, which result in monetary penalties as well as damage to the reputation of an organization. At a time when doctors’ offices and hospitals are digitizing their patient information, the risks to digital information are exploding, Creedon notes. “That by itself creates a risk focused industry.” He has put together seven tips to help healthcare organizations get the most out of a HIPAA risk analysis.
October 12, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
According to a recent audit by the Department of Health & Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could improve the database in which it lists all of the breaches of protected health information is has had since 2009. Also, while CMS did notify 13,775 Medicare beneficiaries affected by the breaches, it did not meet several American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) requirements.
September 13, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Stage 2 meaningful use calls for encryption of data on end-user devices. With many clinicians, especially physicians, increasingly bringing their own BlackBerrys, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and other handhelds, into patient care organizations for their personal clinical use, what some term the bring your own device (BYOD) movement, IT leaders could be faced with a challenging situation when it comes to securing these devices.
September 11, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Last week the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced that it was dropping its request for information (RFI) for a governance framework for the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). Many IT leaders applaud this effort in light of a waning regulatory bandwidth as the industry focuses on requirements for Stage 2 meaningful use, ICD-10, and the three Medicare programs, value-based purchasing, avoidable readmissions reduction, and healthcare-acquired conditions reduction, mandated under the ACA.
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.
July 30, 2012
news
The North Carolina Health Information Exchange (NC HIE) is implementing a direct messaging function from Orion Health (Santa Monica, Calif.) in an effort to expand its capabilities. The direct messaging function will aim to provide a secure communications network for healthcare organizations throughout the state, allowing the sharing of health data between physicians and facilities.
July 24, 2012
news
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) has launched the HITRUST Cyber Threat Analysis Service (C-TAS), described as a collaborative platform for cyber defense specific to the healthcare industry, a new component of the HITRUST Cybersecurity Incident Response and Coordination Center. HITRUST says its participants include health systems, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and government organizations such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
July 23, 2012 Eric Mueller, Services President, WPC
article
As providers seek to address patient engagement requirements associated with changing payment models and new regulatory mandates, how can they engage patients while still protecting their data security?
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