October 8, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
As if the landscape weren't already clear, a recent MedPAC report underscores the multifaceted challenges facing hospitals of all types when it comes to succeeding under Medicare's mandatory readmissions program.
October 4, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
At the vast UPMC health system in Pittsburgh, Francis X. Solano, M.D., and Jim Venturella have been deeply involved with a broad cadre of their colleagues in helping to support practicing physicians in the organization’s medical groups with the evidence-based information needed to improve care quality—and document that improvement
October 4, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
There’s no doubt that the ability of hospitals to manage large data sets has resulted in fundamental improvements in patient care delivery. Physicians and nurses have access to data to measure their performance in a way that is actionable to improve the lives of the patients. Yet timing is everything, and data that can make a significant difference in patient care before discharge is wasted if it reaches the clinician well after the patient has left the hospital. Cleveland Clinic in Ohio has addressed this care gap with a short-cycle measurement dashboard, a project focused on coordinating the use of the electronic medical record to provide caregivers with actionable information on their performance that result in better patient care before discharge.
October 3, 2012
news
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), have announced that the trio of government agencies will soon launch the NLM Value Set Authority Center (VSAC). This will provide downloadable access to all official versions of vocabulary Value Sets contained in Clinical Quality Measures that support Meaningful Use Stage 2.
September 30, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
On Oct. 1, the 20-plus-hospital University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) health system announced that it had completed an agreement with several IT vendor partner organizations that will involve UPMC investing $100 million over the next five years on a comprehensive enterprise analytics initiative to foster personalized medicine and improve the patient care quality and cost-effectiveness of the Pittsburgh-based health system.
September 12, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
David Nash, M.D. was extremely prescient when he established the Jefferson School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University in 2008. Is population health moving squarely onto the center of the radar screens of healthcare leaders yet? Tune into the September 20 Healthcare Informatics webinar to find out.
September 7, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
How is the meaningful use Stage 2 final rule being received now that providers are taking a closer look at the mandates? In many ways the perception of the challenges has a lot to do with the provider’s resources and the progress it has already made.
September 5, 2012
news
In recently submitted comments, the Charlotte-based Premier alliance urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make changes to outpatient payment policies and quality measure reporting proposals issued in July. Responding to the outpatient prospective payment proposed rule, healthcare network systems alliance voiced strong support for CMS' proposal to reimburse hospitals for separately payable drugs and biologicals using the statutory default rate.
September 4, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Jane Metzger, research principal in the Global Institute for Emerging Healthcare Practices at CSC, has authored a report that looks at the current push to reduce avoidable readmissions, in the broader context of continuity of care efforts in patient care organizations
September 2, 2012 David Raths
blog
Medication optimization, enhanced patient education and early follow-up and care coordination have been shown to lower readmission rates. Now it's up to hospitals to make improvements.
August 28, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
Initial reactions to the meaningful use Stage 2 final rule released last week by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have overall been fairly positive, but also point to significant challenges. While CMS has raised the bar in several important areas, it also showed some flexibility by lowering the thresholds and moderating reporting periods. Yet experts interviewed this week also note that the new mandates may pose special challenges for small, critical access hospitals and large medical groups.
August 27, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo and Mark Hagland
article
Industry reaction has been largely positive toward the final rule for Stage 2 meaningful use, but many acknowledge that even though there is relief in the timeline, many requirements will still be challenging to meet. Clinical quality measure reporting still remains daunting for many providers.
