May 8, 2012 David Raths
blog
Consumer queries about the accuracy and completeness of patient records are only expected to grow. Some health systems are working on ways to include patient feedback, but no standard approach has yet emerged.
May 4, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
With the impending deadline for Stage 2 comments from the ONC, there was bound to be some degree of controversy with the various associations submitting their proposals and comments, and thanks to the American Hospital Association (AHA) we got a good deal of disagreement this week. The AHA caused a stir when it released 68 pages of comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) over the proposed rule for Stage 2 of meaningful use, which generally said the requirements were too much for hospitals to bear.
April 30, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
When it comes to patient engagement, one developer has realized many of the current platforms lack an essential element: physician involvement. Steven D. Freedman, M.D. and and Camilla Martin, M.D., from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who are working on their own patient engagement platform, says input from the actual physicians can be a critical missing element in the care-coordination process.
April 27, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
Steven D. Freedman, M.D. and others at Beth Israel Deaconess are trying to succeed in patient engagement where others have failed with the Digital Passport to Trust, an online medical dashboard, currently in development, aimed at creating a constant two-way communication platform for physicians and providers. The Digital Passport to Trust dashboard will aim to create a care plan that is easily accessed by patients and providers, with an easy-to-understand, mapped out step-by-step, week-to-week guidance plan.
April 26, 2012 David Raths
blog
About a year ago, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School launched an intriguing research project to study what would happen if patients had regular access to their primary care physicians’ notes about their visits. On April 25, the investigators discussed some of their findings during a National eHealth Collaborative webinar.
March 29, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
For the majority of people that cover and care about healthcare, this week has been about a decision that the nine justices from the Supreme Court will eventually make on a healthcare law. And while I’d love to add the 15 millionth opinion, thought or analysis on the impending fate of the Affordable Care Act, I’m going to focus on something that is getting far less attention but could also change healthcare definitively: the exciting role healthcare informatics is playing in the growth of personalized medicine analysis.
March 19, 2012 David Raths
blog
The patient engagement measure that requires that 10 percent of patients actually have to look at their data, download it, or transmit it to others isn't sitting well with providers.
February 28, 2012 David Raths
article
The other nine technology trends featured in this issue involve topics that most CIOs are wrestling with in 2012. But the Healthcare Informatics editorial team thought it was important to highlight one trend with a slightly longer timeline: the convergence of emerging genetic medicine and electronic health records. The pioneering clinicians and healthcare informaticists we spoke to stress that CIOs should start paying attention now.
January 12, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
The wide availability of smart phones and the ever-growing number of apps (many of them free) that are accompanying them, has certainly put more tools for self-improvement than ever in the hands of everyday users. I believe that this is one area that this is having a profound impact is in healthcare.
April 1, 2011 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
The Orthopedic Clinic Association, a five-location orthopedic and physical therapy practice, instituted a patient portal in February 2010 to reap some quantifiable and not-so-quantifiable rewards.
February 21, 2011 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
In efforts to produce cost savings and better care, the medical home model will likely create difficulties in patient-physician communication, as well as outside the walls of the organization
February 21, 2011 David Raths
article
One focal point of healthcare reform involves improving transitions in care settings, particularly to the home. Alternative reimbursement and care delivery models such as accountable care organizations are expected to require more patient self-management tools and remote monitoring devices. Meanwhile, Stage 2 of meaningful use is expected to raise the bar considerably in terms of how and when hospitals and physician groups must make patient data available.
