In February 2024, the Change Healthcare ransomware attack shut down healthcare billing and authorization systems for providers across the nation, substantially impacting business systems, finances and patient care. United HealthGroup, the parent company of Change Healthcare, estimates that losses so far have topped $872 million, including a $22 million ransom payment and other direct and indirect costs related to the event. The attack also exposed some 124 million patient records, spurring a
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Silver Tsunami: Rise of Tech-Enabled Senior Home Care
With the advancements in medical care and the resilience of the human spirit, most people now live longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports this, publishing data about the rise in life expectancy in the U.S., with the average American man now reaching 74 and women pushing 80.
As a trusted partner in the healthcare community, my team and I are always working to help our clients provide the best care to the "Silver Tsunami" — the rapidly growing elderly population
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Heart Health in the GLP-1 Era: The Role of Remote Patient Monitoring
According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure. Recent studies have suggested that effectively treating obesity with GLP-1 agonists may be key to improving overall heart health. These findings are promising — but additional study is necessary, further highlighting the need for accurate GLP-1 patient data and consistent at-home health monitoring.
Healthcare providers can benefit from high-precision remote monitoring tools like
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Health Plans Have an Engagement Problem. Providers of Care Can Help
A health plan’s success rests on many factors: improving health outcomes, controlling costs, optimizing risk adjustment, and encouraging member adherence to a specific care plan. Member engagement is foundational to all of these goals.
Health plans have struggled to close the loop on engagement for various reasons. This is especially true among Medicaid enrollees, who report more problems with prior authorization and provider availability compared to people with other
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Interoperability: The Missing Link to Combat Nurse Burnout
The American Organization for Nursing Leadership recently published a report that reinforces the troublesome trend in healthcare: Nearly one-fifth of nurses are projected to leave the healthcare workforce by 2027. Nurses are central to the success of patient outcomes, so how can technology empower and support this dedicated group of professionals within the patient care space to feel satisfied in their role?
Problem
Inadequate staff and increasing complexity of patient conditions
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Combat Health Misinformation with Conversational Intelligence
The digital era presents healthcare leaders with a formidable challenge: a tidal wave of online health misinformation shaping patient behaviors and decisions. A single viral social media post can ignite widespread confusion, driving patients to pursue treatments, medications, or services that may—or may not—relate to their condition or patient journey. Healthcare organizations then scramble to manage surging call volumes, strained resources, frustrated patients, and a compromised healthcare
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From Comfort to Cure’: Answering the Call of ASCO 2024
The landscape of cancer treatment has continued to evolve, and the annual ASCO Meetings often set the stage for “what’s next in cancer care.” The overarching narrative at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting “From Comfort to Cure,” calls providers to view treatment plans with an emphasis on quality of life. To answer this call, we must implement solutions that enable providers to maintain the quality of life without compromising the quality of care.
Quality of life is personal
Providers
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How Debt-Free Education Programs Can Reduce the Healthcare Staffing Shortage
The U.S. is currently suffering from a severe shortage of healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses, and allied health roles. For the second year in a row, hospital CEOs cited workforce challenges as their top concern on the American College of Healthcare Executives annual survey. And the situation is only predicted to get worse. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, by 2030, the U.S. will face a shortage of 275,000 nurses.
Certain contributing factors to this
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Streamlining Patient Transitions for Better Outcomes
For patients, every transition of care to a different facility brings the risk of complications.
When a patient is transitioning from a hospital to a post-acute care facility, for example, essential patient information relating to medical history and medication lists may be lost, overlooked, or not shared, resulting in delays to treatment and suboptimal care.
Like many things in life, successful transitions of care often start with strong communication. To match patients to the
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Hospitals: Integrating CDI and UM for Improved Revenue Cycle
Forward-thinking hospitals have long recognized clinical documentation integrity (CDI) and utilization management (UM) as priorities for a successful revenue cycle. The current economic climate only underscores their importance. The latest performance trends data from Strata Decision Technology noted that, while operating margins remain stable, payment volumes experienced a shortfall of nearly 18% in Q1 of 2024.
Now is the time for hospitals to explore how to further automate and
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