Health IT Issues that Deserve a Second Read – September 2023
One of the ways that Answers Media is different from other media sites is the sense of community. The thought leaders in our community are good about sharing their thoughts on the issues of today. We publish at least eight guest posts a week now, so in case you missed some, here are the top ten read and shared guest posts in the month of September. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.
Most Played Radio Episode in September
From 4sight Health Roundup, moderated by David Burda – Forecasting the Impact of Medicare Part D Drug Negotiations. David W. Johnson and Julie Murchinson forecast the regulatory and competitive industry implications of Medicare negotiating the prices for 10 drugs with pharmaceutical companies.
Most Read Thought Leader Posts in September
It’s Time to Bring AI into Your Business Office
By Kelly Johnson, Managed Services Program Director, Altera Digital Health
X: @AlteraHealth
If you’re like me, you quickly grew tired of the phrase “new normal” in 2020. While this largely referred to changes we made in our everyday lives to stop the spread of COVID-19, the unfortunate reality is that many healthcare organizations are now facing their own new normal. That is, already thin margins have shrunk even further. In fact, last year was the worst year financially for hospitals and health systems since the start of the pandemic. So how can your organization reach and maintain financial stability to support high-quality patient care? Continue reading…
Patients and Staff Benefit from Personalized Care and Digital Transformation
By Dave Bennett, CEO, pCare
X: @pCarebyTVRC
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve due to economic disruption, technological improvements, and patient expectations, the standard of optimizing healthcare performance must shift as well. Patients and their loved ones have become more consumer-driven and savvier over the last few years when it comes to selecting a health system and team for their care journey. Now, patients are approaching their care by considering the facility’s full offerings package – outcome, cost, staff, experience, and ratings – and seeking a health journey that will best fit their personalized needs. Continue reading…
Using Data to Advance Value-Based Care: A Way to Enhance Results
By Mari E. Cely, MBA, PMP, Director, Business Strategy & Client Services, YES HIM Consulting, Inc.
X: @YesHIMconsult
In an era of transformative change within the healthcare industry, the shift from a fee-for-service model to value-based care has emerged as a beacon of hope. This transition is driven by the collective pursuit of achieving better patient outcomes at reduced costs. One of the most vital tools empowering this paradigm shift is data analytics. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in 2015 its aim to transition 85% of Medicare fee-for-service reimbursement to value-based payment models by 2016 and 90% by 2018. Continue reading…
The Chief Wellness Officer’s Impact on Healthcare Companies
By Devin Partida, Editor-in-Chief, ReHack.com
LinkedIn: Devin Partida
X: @rehackmagazine
Many perceive healthcare workers as heroes without capes — selfless specialists who have devoted their lives to caring for others. However, they also need and deserve special care to manage their physical, mental and emotional well-being. Chief wellness officers (CWOs) are gaining prominence among healthcare companies, improving employee well-being through wellness initiatives, mentorship and consulting. Here’s how this position positively impacts healthcare organizations. Continue reading…
Hospitals and Digital Health Can Save People and the Planet
By Gil Bashe, editor-in-chief , Medika Life
LinkedIn: Gil Bashe
X: @Gil_Bashe
Host of Health UnaBASHEd – #HealthUnaBASHEd
If the healthcare sector were a country, it would be the world’s fifth-largest contributor to greenhouse gases following China, the US, India, and Russia. There is no escaping the reality that the planet’s health and our own are joined, and the health community must unite with environmental affairs experts to collaborate on what must be done to keep the planet vibrant. As World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., wrote in the Healthcare Without Harm report, “Places of healing should be leading the way, not contributing to the burden of disease.” Continue reading…
The Rising Threat of Social Engineering Attacks in Healthcare
By Art Gross, President and CEO, HIPAA Secure Now!
X: @HIPAASecureNow
Read other articles by this author
Social engineering attacks involve manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information, providing unauthorized access, or executing actions that compromise the security of systems or data. Attackers exploit psychological and emotional factors to exploit employees’ trust and manipulate them into performing actions that put the organization’s sensitive information at risk. Small healthcare businesses are under a heightened threat of falling victim to these attacks. The reasons behind this increase include: Continue reading…
Checking In on Hospital EHR APIs: Can Providers and Patients Access and Share Health Data via Apps?
By Catherine Strawley and Wes Barker, ONC
X: @ONC_HealthIT
Thanks to a decade of effort, nearly every U.S. hospital today stores health data electronically. To put that data to work, however, clinicians and patients need to be able to access and appropriately share that data. To implement the 21st Century Cures Act and help meet those needs, ONC’s Health IT Certification Program adopted new requirements and standards for application programming interfaces that support the secure exchange of patient data between electronic health records apps. Continue reading…
Health Data and Investigations: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
By Matt Fisher, Healthcare Attorney
X: @matt_r_fisher
Host of Healthcare de Jure – #HCdeJure
The increasing polarization of views around different forms of healthcare is placing the privacy of healthcare information in the spotlight. References to HIPAA are littered across social media, regardless of whether the use is accurate or not. Leaving aside the popular attempts at asserting HIPAA protections, what can actually be done with healthcare data? Who can access it and when? Those are all good questions and covered under HIPAA. Continue reading…
Artificial Intelligence May Influence Whether You Can Get Pain Medication
By Andy Miller and Sam Whitehead, KFF Health News
X: @KFFHealthNews
X: @gahealthnews
X: @sclaudwhitehead
Elizabeth Amirault had never heard of a Narx Score. But she said she learned last year the tool had been used to track her medication use. During an August 2022 visit to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Amirault told a nurse practitioner she was in severe pain, she said. She received a puzzling response. “Your Narx Score is so high, I can’t give you any narcotics,” she recalled the man saying, as she waited for an MRI before a hip replacement. Continue reading…
Halting Revenue Leakage with Integrated Financial Clearance
By Matt Bridge, Senior Vice President, Patient Access and AR Service Lines, AGS Health
X: @AGS_Health
Financial clearance activities are critical to constructing a strong foundation for a high-performing revenue cycle. However, a provider organization’s ability to financially secure appointments in advance of a patient’s visit is often limited by a lack of staffing, technology, and operational processes. These limitations result in initial denials – the average rate of which increased to almost 12% in the first half of 2022 compared to just 10% in 2020 and 9% in 2016 – as well as net revenue leakage via avoidable write-offs and impacts to patient experience scores. Continue reading…
