It’s no surprise that the HIMSS17 conference dwelled on high profile topics around population health, data analytics, more affordable EHRs and security. What IS surprising is that patient engagement is now being reported right up there as an HIT priority. Why?Most hospitals are still experiencing dismal usage of patient portals, especially in community and rural hospitals. But this is a problem plaguing even our large health systems. As a result, the many anticipated benefits to patients and to
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5 Basic Steps for Hospitals to Improve Their Data Security
If you’re a small healthcare IT operation, a simple spreadsheet might do the trick. If you’re larger, a not-so-simple spreadsheet might be in order.Regardless of how you do it, hospitals, clinics and other healthcare organizations must identify and monitor every single instance of computer network access. They’re called endpoints, says Larry Ponemon, founder of the security consulting firm the Ponemon Institute, and for you they exist as vulnerabilities.Your job is to eliminate them through a
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EHR Optimization: Necessary Because EHRs Are Never “Done”
Regardless of how well or poorly your EHR was installed, EHR optimization ensures that your healthcare organization's EHR is changing with it.Why, if over 95 percent of hospitals have implemented EHRs, are so many planning to invest in improvements or replacements this year? A new Healthcare IT News survey of hospital executives showed that 24 percent are conducting a major EHR system upgrade, and 21 percent are replacing their EHR at one or more sites. KPMG’s survey of CHIME members last month
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5 Ways Effective Healthcare IT Can Reduce Hospital Costs
The focus of federal efforts to incentivize healthcare IT adoption has primarily been on electronic health records (EHRs), which are oriented around hospitals and physician offices. Moving forward, EHRs will remain the anchor technology as data from other devices and applications flows in and becomes both available and comparable.It’s become readily apparent that healthcare IT is much broader than EHRs alone. Increasingly, healthcare IT is a web of interconnected devices and applications that
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