A so-called “tripledemic” — the convergence of flu, RSV and COVID-19 — led to significant morbidity and mortality, and it also forced the cancellation or delay of numerous medical procedures at overwhelmed health systems. This year, there’s an RSV vaccine joining flu and COVID-19 vaccines, and it could help Americans avoid repeating history — but only if patients get recommended vaccines.
The events over the last several years have impacted the way many people view vaccines, sometimes
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Creating A Thriving Patient-Centric Data Economy
We shouldn’t underestimate the power of patient data.
Every data point from clinical studies and patient medical records provides fuel for researchers. The more fuel they have, the greater the chance for life-saving breakthroughs.
As we sit here today, the research ecosystem isn’t working to its full potential. Valuable datasets are siloed and disparate, making it hard for researchers to access them. Patients aren’t empowered to take ownership of their own data; the power of data is in the
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The SDOH Reality Check: Coding, Claims and Value-Based Care
While the need to address social determinants of health (SDOH) is definitely not new, 2023 marks the first year SDOH is codified into national and statewide value-based payment program mandates. These mandates are designed to hold Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) accountable. While the rollout of SDOH code sets across our healthcare ecosystem is one phase, alone it’s not enough. The next phases are even more critical: codes must be collected, used,
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The Key to a Competitive Edge in Life Sciences: The Network
The life sciences industry sits at the cross-section of virtually all the technological advancements driving today’s economy. Not only is it steeped in cutting-edge chem-bio research and development, it relies heavily on advanced computing infrastructure to support massive data analytics and modeling.
At the same time, it remains a heavily regulated industry that must cope with substantial and constantly changing rules and regulations imposed by dozens of jurisdictions around the world. To
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Advancing Health Equity by Addressing The Health Data Desert
Massive disparities continue to plague healthcare in the United States. Many Americans do not have access to quality care, leading to higher rates of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and obesity. Health equity means ensuring that health resources and services are accessible and affordable for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, geography, ethnicity, or financial circumstances.
Health equity allows people to lead active and productive lives, reduces the
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How Telehealth Can Combat Clinician Burnout
The crisis of clinician burnout is worsening.
Clinicians are feeling stressed, overworked and underappreciated. Some are responding by leaving healthcare or cutting back on hours. Nearly 334,000 healthcare providers, including 117,000 physicians left the workforce in 2021, according to a 2022 study.
And the problem did not end when the public health emergency did. In a recent survey by a financial consulting firm, 40% of clinicians said they were considering leaving their jobs for
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Why Home-Based Care Needs Smarter Referral Management
In home-based care, the way we manage care transitions must change.
Poorly managed care transitions have become more prevalent in the sector and have a considerably negative impact on patients. In addition, less-than-ideal transitions place a tremendous amount of pressure on providers, who face the risk of referral rejections, hospital readmissions and the consequences of below-average value-based care performance – often all due to messy processes or important data slipping through the
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Digital Twins: What Healthcare Organizations Can Learn from Other Industries
Digital twins are helping organizations make more informed decisions. These analytical tools use real-time data to represent a product or process, creating a realistic simulation that can be used to test, monitor, or predict outcomes for its real-world counterpart.
Over the last few years, digital twins of a product (DToP) have grown popular in the manufacturing industry, where creating virtual models and simulating business processes allow manufacturers to better predict
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Debunking 3 Myths About Virtual Care to Drive Health Equity
Despite positive proof points, the expansion of virtual care and remote patient engagement strategies - including RPM - continues to be hampered by misconceptions among potential users and misalignment of financial incentives among providers and payers.
It’s time to take a look at some of the myths holding back the adoption of virtual care and remote patient engagement tools and limiting progress toward achieving the interconnected goals of the Quintuple Aim.
If there’s a silver
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Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): Why More Is Not Always Better
In a society where so many want more—more money, more time off, more adventure—few stop to question the logic of insatiably wanting “more.” Perhaps, no place does the consequence of wanting more negatively impact people than with healthcare treatments. Medication use, for example, shows clear dose-response curves, where over-use can have fatal consequences; negative consequences and death also can result from too much chemotherapy, radiation, antibiotic use, or complications from unnecessary
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