June 14, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Not only must organizations create sophisticated business intelligence tools to help identify high-risk patients, providers will have to engage patients and provide better care coordination to reduce readmissions, said IT industry leaders. “If we’re going to crack this whole issue of readmissions, plus so many other deficiencies, we need better processes, better outcomes, and a sustainable process, which is what cost [reduction] is really all about, then we’re going to have to solve these problems. It’s not just decreasing readmissions,” said James L. “Larry” Holly, M.D., CEO, Southeast Texas Medical Associates.
June 11, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
In a look at what payers are doing to shake up the ACO market, I blogged on Friday about how Cigna was collaborating with its medical group partners to reduce unnecessary medical costs. In this blog I want to point out some other recent acquisitions in the space that might be setting the stage for more to come, as well as share some interesting perspectives from those watching this space carefully.
May 10, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
Health information exchanges are taking a wide variety of approaches around the country to develop value-added services to sustain their exchanges. Panelists of the "Health Information Exchange: Strategies and Sustainability panel" at the HCI Executive Summit discuss what has worked for their exchanges.
May 2, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
In an effort to reduce its readmission rates, Cullman Regional Medical Center, a 145-bed hospital in Cullman, Ala., found that that communication issues were consistently the root cause of patients being readmitted for the same condition. This is especially a problem at discharge, when crucial information is given to the patient, who may be sent home without fully understanding his or her care plan or medications. By reinforcing discharge instructions to the patient, the hospital has been able to lower its readmission rates.
May 1, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Even as the federal Medicare shared savings program for accountable care gets underway, private health insurers in some markets are moving ahead very quickly. Juan Davila of the San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California shares his insights on the strategic and strategic IT lessons already being learned.
April 11, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
An interesting article in yesterday’s New York Times described what it says is part of a growing trend in healthcare: trying to cater to the medical needs of elderly patients. A few months ago Mount Sinai Medical Center opened its first geriatric ED, which was modeled on one at St. Joseph’s regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., according to the Times. Mount Sinai maintains that its geriatric ED is the first one of its kind in New York City.
March 27, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
In a recent webinar about payer trends in HIT, I found the Gary Austin’s perspectives to be very refreshing. Not only did he urge payers to embrace technology for their consumer initiatives, but he also advocated they underwrite health information exchanges (HIEs), which many in the industry have been saying for a while now.
March 19, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
At the Mobile Devices Roundtable last Friday, a common theme emerged from the discussion that security policies haven’t quite caught up to technology. The gathering of public and industry leaders was sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), to foster conversation around securing and protecting health information while using mobile devices.
March 15, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Hospitals and health systems are fueling the growth of private health information exchanges (HIEs) to strengthen care coordination among their employed and affiliated physicians. One example of this surge in private activity is a grassroots, community-wide HIE cultivated by Huntington Hospital, a 626-bed regional medical center located in Pasadena, Calif. Huntington has used its mantra “Right Care, Right Place, Right Time,” to facilitate coordination across the care continuum and link its large population of 3,200 community physicians (2,300 physicians of whom are not on the medical staff).
March 12, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
I was talking to Robin Raiford, R.N., research director and part of the meaningful use navigator team at The Advisory Board, the other day about some of the biggest challenges of Stage 2 meaningful use. What she mentioned, and what’s not surprising when you look at what eligible providers and hospitals deferred in Stage 1, was that patient engagement, care coordination, and quality measures were some of the main obstacles.
March 9, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
I think there are a lot of organizations out there that might be under false impressions that because they’ve reached the top rung of the EMR adoption ladder, that ACOs is just another rung over. But there are so many other facets like health information exchange and coordination with outpatient facilities that isn’t in really included in that Stage 7 level. That’s why John Hoyt, executive vice president, organizational services, HIMSS, said when I interviewed him last fall about recent Stage 7 winners, that additional stages involving HIE and accountable care readiness are likely to be created to meet those needs.
March 8, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
One of the most persistent problems in healthcare is care transitions between sites of care. Unfortunately, patients who find themselves caught in that gap don’t have a lot of support. That’s the view of Pat Rutherford, R.N., vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvements in Cambridge, Mass.
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