When it comes to medical records, privacy is paramount in the healthcare industry. It is for the very same reason that blockchain technology creates some amazing opportunities for innovation and disruption in the sector.Notorious as the technology powering up Bitcoin cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain is an encrypted ledger of digital transactions, distributed across multiple nodes through a peer-to-peer-type network that also leaves an auditable log trail of the events taking place. Every
Read More
Why Virtual Care is Vital to Evolving Senior Care in 2019 & Beyond
Virtual care and connected care are vital to evolving senior care. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the year 2030 is an important demographic turning point as all baby boomers will be older than age 65. This will expand the size of the older population so that one in every five residents will be retirement age and aging baby boomers will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. Jonathan Vespa, a demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau, commented that “by 2035, there will be 78
Read More
How Artificial Intelligence Will Help Transform Personal Health in 2019
Artificial intelligence technology has made great strides in the last decade, with AI models outperforming humans in various tasks, from image recognition to election forecasting to reading comprehension. In the coming years, the range of domains in which AI excels will only expand.One field for which AI promises major disruption in healthcare. This is largely due to three major factors: The incredibly complex nature of the human body and the healthcare system that treats it, and the explosion
Read More
It’s 2018, And We Still Have No Idea If Mobile Health Apps Work
The promise of reduced readmissions and improved health outcomes in patients achieved through the continuous mHealth-powered patient-provider connection is what drives the mobile healthcare market. The increasing wave of attracted investments is expected to boost the market up to $102.35B by 2023. But forecasts alone cannot keep the interest in healthcare app development in the long run. Clinical stakeholders, payers, and consumers altogether need tangible results from mHealth to prove its
Read More
Healthcare Organizations: Leveraging Health IT to Maintain Worker Safety and Compliance
Healthcare workers face more injuries than those in any other sector, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But many of these incidents – whether due to employee negligence, improper training or an institutional lapse in adherence to workplace protocol – are easily avoidable through strict compliance with OSHA standards and a robust culture of safety across the industry. Healthcare facilities can dramatically improve safety for workers and patients by prioritizing compliance and employing
Read More
SMART on FHIR: Is it Worth the Investment or Just Another Burden for Health IT Departments?
As the healthcare industry continues to shift from fee-for-service to value-based care, data interoperability is increasingly becoming a key concern for providers trying to better engage with patients, improve clinical workflow, and ultimately drive better health outcomes. In fact, more than 70 percent of healthcare financial executives say that data interoperability must improve within the next three years to ensure the success of value-based care.The good news? The potential for secure,
Read More
How Longitudinal Data Mining Can Help Payers Achieve the Triple Aim
Investing in longitudinal data mining can help payers achieve the triple aim of lowering costs and drive healthier outcomes for its members. Overpayment of healthcare providers has always been an area of concern for health payers. But it has never held the urgency it does today. Rising costs and the ever-increasing complexity of the healthcare delivery and payment system can cause overpayment losses to health plans in the millions of dollars. Payers are then forced to raise premiums to the point
Read More
Artificial Intelligence at RSNA18 Shows Signs of Maturity, But a Long Way to Go
AI was once again the hot topic at this year’s RSNA. With close to 60 AI start-ups in the Machine Learning Showcase and most of the incumbent modality and imaging IT vendors marketing AI to varying degrees, the technology was hard to ignore at this year’s meeting. Cutting through the inevitable hype, it was clear that vendors are making progress with bringing AI solutions into the daily workflows of radiologists and other imaging specialists. From our discussions with radiologists and from the
Read More
Betterment Through Automated Benchmarking in the Era of Value-based Care
In the era of value-based care provision, automated benchmarking technology in hospitals enables real-world, reliable data insights for understanding, improving and promoting provider performance.Value-based healthcare is here to stay. Hospitals across the U.S. are on a quest to deliver successful outcomes at the lowest overall cost, improving care delivery and patient wellness. Nationwide, 34 percent of total healthcare payments were tied to alternative payment models in 2017, a steady
Read More
When Will Health IT Become Part of the Solution (Rather than the Problem) for Physicians?
I began practicing medicine in the 1990s as a hospitalist. On an average day, I’d see 10 to 12 patients. I would spend any downtime on notes and billing. More importantly, I had time to revisit interesting cases, converse with colleagues and chat with patients and their families.In 2018, that’s no longer what a day in the life of a physician looks like. I’m required to see more patients per shift, and my administrative tasks are much more time-consuming, due to a combination of regulations
Read More
