September 13, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The use of electronic health records (EHRs) in a clinical setting led to a decrease in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for patients with diabetes, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found.
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
blog
A sometimes-heated discussion taking place in New York City around introducing a physician pay-for-performance program into that city’s immense public hospital system speaks to the broader debate around how best to transform U.S. healthcare
July 25, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
In late July, healthcare leaders brought forward concerns around the rigorous requirements of Stage 2 of meaningful use to federal officials at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Department of Health and Human Services. How might federal officials respond—and what kinds of concerns must they balance?
July 17, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
The July 16 announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that nine of the 32 patient care organizations participating in the Pioneer ACO Shared Savings Program were leaving the Pioneer program, with two of them leaving the Medicare Shared Savings Program altogether, was cause for reflective pause. But is the glass half-empty or half-full in this case?
April 17, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of a hospital's service quality, it doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the surgical care patients receive, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
March 13, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
As a key measure of care quality, the patient experience is a focal point of many healthcare provider organizations, yet many of those organizations fail to score well on patient satisfaction surveys despite their efforts to become more “patient focused.” Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), offer a potential explanation—insufficient support from hospital management to improve the patient experience by engaging physicians and nurses in the process. Their research was published in published in the March edition of British Medical Journal Quality and Safety.
February 22, 2013 Gabriel Perna
blog
Social media and healthcare, especially when you’re talking about hospitals, is most assuredly an awkward marriage. However, those in the industry who wish to dismiss social media, should look no further than a recent study from the Healthcare Innovation Technology Laboratory as potential proof of its value in assessing quality and patient satisfaction.
January 29, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), expressing concern that hospitals will not be able to put forth complete, accurate quality data via their EHRs. The comments were in response to a request for information (RFI) on hospital and vendor readiness for the submission of electronic quality data, as part of the CMS’ Inpatient Quality Data Reporting (IQR) program.
January 15, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
According to a study from researchers at New York-based Weill Cornell Medical College, the accuracy of clinical quality measures (CQMs) from electronic health records (EHRs) can vary widely. The researchers of the study say electronic reporting can both underestimate and overestimate quality.
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.
January 3, 2013 John DeGaspari
blog
A large number of physicians are coming under scrutiny on physician-review websites. One problem, though, is that many of those sites rely on few patient reviews. In fact, according to a study of 500 urologists by Loyola University Medical Center, ratings are based on scores of only 2.4 patients on average.