On Friday afternoon, the HHS, CMS and the Office of the ONC announced the release of the proposed Meaningful Use Stage 3 rules for the Medicare and Medicaid EHRs Incentive Programs and 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria to support the path to nationwide interoperability.
The proposed rules are one part of a larger effort across HHS to support better care and lower costs in the health care system by working in three core areas:
- to improve the way providers are paid;
-
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KLAS: 25% of Small Practices Feel Stuck With Their Current EMR
More than one-quarter of providers at small practices (1–10 physicians) feel stuck with or plan to leave their current EMR vendor, according to a recent KLAS study,"New Leaders in the Small-Practice Market: Ambulatory EMR Performance 2015 (1-10 Physicians)." Providers cited poor usability, missing functionality, and unreliable vendor support as their primary frustrations with their EMR solution.
For the report, KLAS spoke with more than 750 small practices (1-10 physicians) to understand
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CHIME Launches $1M National Patient ID Challenge
In an effort to find a universal solution for accurately matching patients with their healthcare information, The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) will launch a $1 million challenge early this summer on the HeroX platform, co-founded by XPRIZE CEO Dr. Peter Diamandis. The purpose of this challenge is to increase the success rate of patient ID matching from 80 to 100 percent.
Currently, there is no universal solution exists for matching healthcare
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SC BlueCross Offers Rally Health’s Digital Health Platform to Group Accounts
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina announced it will begin offering Rally Health's digital health platform to group accounts this month to provide members with the support and tools they need to better manage their health and well-being. The HIPAA-compliant platform leverages the power of personal health data, social networking, and gamification to drive behavior change that make it fun and easy for people to lead healthier lifestyles.
How It Works
It starts with an online survey that
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PwC Report: 5 Key Trends Fueled by the Affordable Care Act
In its first five years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has already left an indelible mark on the $2.9 trillion health sector. By energizing five fundamental shifts, the law has accelerated the rise of a New Health Economy predicated on value, according to a new report from PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI), “Five Trends to Watch as the Affordable Care Act Turns Five.”
According to the PwC report, although much groundwork was laid in advance of the law’s enactment, health
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Sen. Alexander: Gov’t Should Not Force Meaningful Use Adoption
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the government should enable and encourage physicians and hospitals to adopt EHRs, rather than try to force meaningful use adoption by taking away Medicare payments.
“Transitioning to electronic health records requires a real transformation in how physicians practice medicine. They must implement pricey systems, learn how to use them, ensure their staff is trained, and pay annual licensing fees and for hardware and associated services. The
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Health Data Analytics Provider Health Catalyst Raises $70M
Health Catalyst, a provider of healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, announced it has raised $70 million in funding led by existing investor Norwest Venture Partners. The round also included contributions from other existing investors Sequoia Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures,Sorenson Capital, CHV Capital (an Indiana University Health Company) and Partners HealthCare. Also participating in the round were new strategic investors Sands Capital Ventures, Tenaya Capital,
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UCSF, John Muir Health Partner to Form ACO Network
UCSF Medical Center and John Muir Health has invested in a collaborative effort, called the Bay Area ACO Network, to form a regional health care network. The goal is to provide the right care at the right time and in the most appropriate setting, whether that is the primary care physician’s office, an outpatient center or a hospital. The two health systems also have formed a new development company that will enable them to collaborate on building new medical facilities, increase the number of
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BJC HealthCare Chooses Epic for Integrated EHR
BJC HealthCare and the Washington University Faculty Practice Plan has selected Epic as its strategic partner for a single, integrated EHR for BJC's hospitals and employed physicians. The decision was made after an extensive and thorough twelve-month process that included surveys, demonstrations and site visits. The new EHR system will incorporate clinical documentation from all areas of patient care into a single database for greater ease of use, better accuracy and timeliness, and the
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Apple Releases ResearchKit Guidelines for App Developers
Three days after the announcement of its open source medical research platform ResearchKit, Apple has now released guidelines for the application developers to protect users’ privacy, safety and rights. In Section 27 of the app store review guidelines, Apple states that "apps using the HealthKit framework or conducting human subject research for health purposes, such as through the use of ResearchKit, must comply with applicable law for each Territory in which the App is made available."
The
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