August 23, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
As technology becomes more pervasive in healthcare, examples of how it is being used effectively to improve care are cropping up everywhere. I came across one example yesterday, during a conference call regarding the announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the selection of primary care practices to participate in the agency’s Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative.
August 17, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
The recent negative publicity surrounding Progressive is a lesson on how not to engage the outside world. When the car insurance company tried to respond to a negative story with an automated, robotic response, its place in the public eye went from bad to worse. When it comes to engaging patients on social media, healthcare leaders at hospitals need not be Progressive.
July 20, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
A huge part of putting the patient at the center of care, and which will be integral in creating patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, is really investing in social media. Healthcare organizations can test the social media waters by piloting strategies on their own employees before deploying them to their patients.
June 29, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
A day after being engulfed in the craziness of the reporting on the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, I want to point our readers to an article I wrote earlier this week that may have gotten lost in the Affordable Care Act hubbub. The article, This Doctor Will Now See You on Facebook, highlighted the works of Jeff Livingston, M.D., a partner at the Irving, Texas-based MacArthur OB/GYN, a seven-physician, two mid-level provider obstetrics and gynecology practice.
June 25, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
Jeff Livingston, M.D., a partner at the Irving, Texas-based MacArthur OB/GYN, an obstetrics and gynecology practice, is one of the leading advocates of provider-based social media interaction in the industry. In an exclusive interview, he shares how he has created a vibrant, successful community with patients on Facebook and Twitter, as well as through a HIPAA compliant portal.
June 19, 2012
news
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International, an initiative led by healthcare professionals to improve the way computer systems in the industry share information, has announced that its mobile health (mHealth) implementation guide, the Mobile Access to Health Documents (“MHD”) profile has been released for public comment. This guide is available for public comment from IHE.
June 6, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
At a recent panel at the MIT CIO Symposium in Cambridge, Mass, various leading CIOs in the industry looked at technology’s role in the ongoing healthcare transformation. Everything was covered from how the government mandates have pushed providers farther along than they every would have been to how Facebook could be applied to healthcare.
May 30, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
The use of social media to engage patients and their caregivers has become a top priority at St. Louis (Mo.) Children’s Hospital, which, according to marketing manager Kay Franks, has helped the organization track its referrals and increased the active participation of patients’ parents and caregivers.
May 2, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
At an eHealth Initiative Patient-Centered Town Hall on Chronic Disease Management last week, I was inspired by the story of one patient, Julie Cabinaw, user experience director at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services, who conquered obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Not only was it impressive how Cabinaw lost 80 pounds and got her A1C levels back to normal, it was remarkable to hear about the IT interoperability challenges she overcame to do all this.
May 1, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
Today, May 1, Facebook is stepping into the personal healthcare sphere by adding organ donor status to its Timeline structure, which asks users to check off their status and directs them to Donate Life America's National Registration Page, allowing them to designate a donation decision if they have not done so already. Will this one step lead Facebook closer to becoming the next personal health record?
April 26, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
HIMSS gets the USA Today treatment today by releasing its first infographic on the increase of social media at its annual conference. As it points out, not only did it have a record-breaking attendance this year, with an attendance increase of 16 percent to 36,531 attendees at HIMSS12 vs. 31,500 attendees at HIMSS11, it broke new records in volume of tweets for healthcare conferences. (I wonder what RSNA has to say about that?)
April 25, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
Using social media to go the extra step and appeal to consumers, while tapping into their concerns, is the kind of phenomenon that’s starting to occur in healthcare, and one hopes will become even more frequent as providers and payers implement social media business strategies. Many industry observers say social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and independent patient communities like Patients Like Me, can improve patient experiences and drive engagement for providers, payers, and pharmaceutical companies.
