As the so-called “oil of the twenty-first century,” there is little doubt that data is the crown jewel of the digital economy. The Internet of Things is poised not only to shake up individual industries, but to bring them together like never before with the promise of hyper connected, ultra personalized experiences. And for consumers, one particular application of IoT is perhaps the most intriguing: the impact of connected devices on health and healthcare. Indeed, McKinsey has projected a $11.1
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6 Questions for Providers Moving Their Health IT System to the Cloud
The last time you made a difficult decision, chances are you engaged in some form of a process called the 5 W’s, or maybe the 5W’s and Sometimes How, or 5W+1H … maybe 6 W’s.Right. So, what the process lacks in an agreed-upon name it makes up for with the logical consistency of directed, relevant questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? It’s a process journalists often use consciously in writing articles, and it comes in handy for non-journalists when the goal is breaking down options and
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3 Ways MACRA is Changing Physician Payment in Medicare
The entry of the MACRA proposed rule, a little more than a year back, flagged a solid and remarkable consent to move towards esteem-based care, yet up to this point, a hefty portion of the subtle elements encompassing how it would be executed stayed obscure.In any case, a week ago, CMS discharged about 1,000 pages that shed light on how a doctor can improve their payments by following MACRA proposed rule.History Before MACRA proposed rule was introduced, specialists were paid for giving
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What Dogs Can Teach Providers about Designing Care Plans
Several studies have shown that if dog owners are told to walk their overweight dog more often to improve the dog’s health, the dog owners will comply, and also lose weight themselves. Their concern for their dog’s health makes the goal of increased exercise an easy one to follow. The regimen combines the pleasurable activity of spending time with a pet with a healthy activity–walking. In this way, the dogs become accidental health coaches for the human patients, encouraging them to be more
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If MPIs are Dead, What’s Next For The Future of Patient Matching?
Healthcare technology continues to advance with ever greater sophistication and functionality. Yet one key component in the health IT toolkit has not kept pace with innovation. Patient matching technologies, including conventional master patient indexes (MPIs), hit a wall 10 years ago, and it’s time to admit it: conventional MPIs are a dying breed.The reason is that patient matching needs have grown exponentially at exactly the same time the underlying technology for patient matching solutions
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Mid-Year Checkpoint: 3 Ways to Improve Health Plan Member Engagement
Summer is almost over, but for health plans it’s time to check in on plan performance and course correct to meet 2017 goals. For those who fall shy of meeting projected performance targets, it’s not too late to boost vital metrics like Star rating or HEDIS score. With less than five months left in 2017 it may seem an impossible goal to move the needle on quality ratings, but that’s not the case. It is not too late to make a difference, provided you are smart and targeted in your approach.One of
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Why The Mental Health Industry Is Ripe For Innovation
Technology has been tested and proven effective in many advanced and innovative industries, and is now extending and applying its benefits to more regulated industries such as healthcare. According to Mary Meeker's Internet Trends 2017 report, healthcare is “at a digital inflection point.” She recognized and attributed this change in part to the increase of data collection from fitness trackers and health apps as well as the increase of hospitals sharing healthcare data with patients.As part of
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Transforming the mHealth Experience With Digital Health Assistants
Editor's Note: Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, is president of Health Navigator, a diagnostic symptom checker used to help triage and prioritize patients. The platform streamlines telehealth and diagnosis. His extensive clinical, management and patient-care insights help guide the development of the Health Navigator platform. mHealth continues to be a health care buzzword, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Evidence for the potential of mHealth technologies to improve consumer engagement,
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Mobile Messaging vs. Online Patient Portals: Streamlining the Patient Intake Process
The waiting room is full, there is a line forming in front of the scheduling desk, new patient information has to be collected, patients’ records must be updated, and appointments need to be rescheduled. The patient intake process, particularly for new patients, can be time-consuming and arduous for administrative staff.One of the most effective ways to reduce staff’s workload, while speeding up the patient intake process, is with automated mobile-first messaging strategies. This approach
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4 Ways Augmented Reality Will Transform the Medical World
Looking to the near and distant future of medical technology, augmented reality (AR) will be central to innovation. The medical field will be enhanced dramatically via the rise of augmented reality products emerging in the market. In just a few years, the entire healthcare experience will look entirely different from the medical environment today. How so?By overlapping valuable medical information with the real world – whether it be making visible patient information, mapping an individual’s
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