Recently, the HIMSS HIE Committee conducted a follow-up survey to its 2013 Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2 Survey research providing a year-over-year snapshot of how health information organizations (HIOs) are facilitating providers’ progress in achieving meaningful use objectives – specifically around Stage 2. The 2014 Follow-up survey results infographic visualization shown below highlights progress and notable improvements during the last year, including critical Meaningful Use Stage 2 benchmarks
Read More
Advance Health Raises $40M to Expand In Home Health Assessments
To improve healthcare, the next evolution of member care is necessary. In a study by The Physicians Foundation, 27 percent of Americans do not have a Primary Care Physician (PCP) and of those that do, 22 percent do not visit their PCP on a regular basis. Patients fail to follow care plans and medication guidelines, or do not to take the basic steps to care for themselves. The result: members are not engaged, care that is fragmented and providers and health plans do not have a complete picture of
Read More
ONC Appoints New Chief Medical Officer to Lead Clinical Oversight
In a note to ONC staff, the National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo announced that Dr. Thomas Mason will be joining ONC as the new Chief Medical Officer, effective February 23, 2015. In his new role, Dr. Mason will lead clinical oversight of ONC programs and clinical coordination within ONC, as well as regularly engage with physician organisations. He will report directly to Karen DeSalvo. Mason is a board certified internist with an emphasis on primary care and preventative medicine
Read More
Medsphere Adds Population Health Solution to OpenVista EHR
Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of affordable and interoperable EHR solutions, today introduced OpenVista® Population Health, a Windows-based solution that gives clinicians much greater flexibility in how they provide care for both individual patients and broader patient populations.
OpenVista Population Health enables breadth of information by giving clinicians the ability to create multiple panels for patients with common characteristics, i.e., age, diagnosis, community,
Read More
Cigna Launches Collaborative Care Initiative with Duke Connected Care
Cigna has launched a collaborative care initiative in the Greater Research Triangle with Duke Connected Care, a clinically integrated network consisting of physicians from Duke Medicine and select local practices. The goal of the new initiative is to improve access to health care, enhance care coordination, and achieve the goal of improved health, affordability and customer experience. This program is now one of 10 Cigna collaborative care initiatives in the Carolinas.
“A customer-centered
Read More
CoverMyMeds Integrates with Epic to Expand ePA Offering
CoverMyMeds, the nation’s largest prior authorization (PA) platform, today announced the completion of an integration with Epic. The integration will allow Epic EHR users to access CoverMyMeds electronic prior authorizations (ePAs) in their EHR workflow, enabling PAs at the point of prescribing. More than 260,000 providers and medical staff—including many also using Epic—already complete PAs through CoverMyMeds. This integration will now allow users to access CoverMyMeds’ trusted PA
Read More
Doc Halo named ‘Best in Class’ for Healthcare Communication
After extensively reviewing seven companies that offer secure messaging for the healthcare market, American Messaging Services recently named Doc Halo ‘Best in Class’. The Doc Halo mobile app and online system provides a secure texting and HIPAA-compliant environment for the transmission of ePHI (electronic personal health information) over an encrypted platform.
During their six-month comparison, American Messaging Services performed a comprehensive analysis of mobile health platforms and
Read More
HIMSS Analytics Honors Altru Health System & Clinics with Stage 7 Awards
HIMSS Analytics awarded Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D, with a Stage 7 Award, and 21 Altru Health System clinics located throughout North Dakota and Minnesota with Stage 7 Ambulatory Awards.
Stage 7 Award Overview
HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. There are eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and
Read More
The Cost of Innovation: How Specialty Drugs Impact Healthcare Infographic
Drug and device manufacturers face mounting pressures from an evolving health industry that places a premium on speedy access to breakthrough, cost-effective and safe medical products.
The $347 billion-a-year industry answers to a new class of consumers who shoulder more of their treatment costs and who demand a greater role in product development. Companies working to invent novel therapies and win regulatory approval face the added pressure of demonstrating the value those products
Read More
PwC Report: Regulatory Innovation Should Adapt to New Health Economy
Forty-three percent of pharma and life sciences execs now support FDA evaluating drugs based on both clinical and economic effectiveness
Consumers and drug and device manufacturers are changing practices and shifting attitudes toward the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Increased pressures for speedy access to breakthrough drugs and medical devices, and a focus on value in addition to medical benefit, are driving these changes. Those changes will likely put pressure on the FDA to consider
Read More
