Editor's Note: Deborah Hernandez is the Director of Client Services at Communispace Health
It’s hard to find a pharma or medical device company these days that doesn’t have at least one mobile app in development. And now that, as of February 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued guidance on which apps need to be regulated and which ones don’t, it will be interesting to see if this almost exponential development trend continues.
In its guidelines, FDA outlined which
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Health IT & Digital Health-Opinion | Op-Eds | Guest Columns | Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
10 Ways Remote Patient Monitoring Saves Money
Founder and CEO, Robert Herzog of eCaring describes how patients and home aides using remote patient monitoring can save up to $4000 per year in reduced ER visits and readmissions.
While much has been made of the myriad devices and wearables, including the much anticipated Apple iWatch in April, coming to market in 2015, to have a real impact on the cost of health care in the US will require getting access to the Internet, and practical tools to utilize it, for many of the 9 million
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Despite Closed EHR Records, Health IT is Joining the 21st Century
What’s the technical solution for the health IT interoperability challenge? Do you know? You probably should. Chances are you interact with it frequently.
It’s Amazon, Expedia, Quicken, Concur, etc.
Really, it’s just about any Web site that sells something and enables the use of a credit card. Think about it. You order a book and within moments Amazon’s massive database of partners, products and customers assesses stock availability and pricing, and then securely interacts with your
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Why The Patient Story Should Always Take Center Stage
Stories are the backbone of who we are. They provide context, insight, subtle and not-so-subtle hints about ourselves and those around us. They teach us lessons and help us determine similarities and differences so that we can avoid mistakes and replicate success.
I recently listened to the popular Serial podcast. For those who are unfamiliar with the show, it is dedicated to deeply exploring different narratives, stories, and evidence, in order to find insight into a mystery. I
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Meaningful Use Stage 3 Proposed Rule: 5 Takeaways for Physicians
On March 20, 2015 the stars aligned to produce four simultaneous events that will never again coincide during the life of human civilization. The first three, the vernal equinox, a total solar eclipse and a new supermoon, were brought to us by the stars themselves, and the fourth one was thrown out there by the government. The regulations for Meaningful Use Stage 3 were finally published. Meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) was presented to us back in 2009 as part of a stimulus
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Why I Hope to Help End EHRs Lack of Interoperability
I am tired of waiting. Millions of medical professionals and patients are tired of waiting. We have been waiting for EHR interoperability since the dawn of EHRs in the 1960s. Enough is enough! Our goal is to achieve EHR interoperability through a grass roots coalition of medical professionals and patients who are tired of waiting.
The simple life-saving ability of hospital EHRs to connect to one another so healthcare providers can easily and readily access patient data is not being addressed.
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Do All Physicians Oppose the Transition to ICD-10?
Editor's Note: The Coalition for ICD-10 is a broad-based healthcare industry advocacy group — hospitals, health plans, hospital and physician office coding experts, vendors, and the health information technology (HIT) community— united in support of the U.S. adoption of the ICD-10 coding standard.
According to French abstract artist Robert Delaunay, “Our understanding is correlative to our perception.” Many in the healthcare community may have the perception that all physicians oppose the
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Do Next Generation Reimbursement Plans Align with Healthcare’s Business Models?
A deep dive into the challenges of aligning the current thinking of the healthcare business with the underline economic models and incentives within.
In The Innovator's Prescription, Clayton Christensen identifies one of the core problems in healthcare delivery: a mix of intertwined business models that create massive operational overhead and inefficiency. He describes three distinct business models in hospitals.
Healthcare's 3 Distinct Business Models
1) Diagnostics and non-linear
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Why the ICD-10 Dual Coding Proposal Is A Recipe for Disaster
The Coalition for ICD-10 has issued a new position statement in response to the latest trial balloon from ICD-10 opponents, which proposes that CMS allow a ICD-10 dual coding system approach in which small physician offices would be able to submit claims coded in either ICD-10 or ICD-9 during a transition period after Oct. 1, 2015.
Members of the Coalition are united in making the following statement:
Concerns have been raised about the potential financial impact on small physician offices
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Why Healthcare Price Transparency Is So Murky
I’ve spent the better part of the last two years trying to improve price transparency in healthcare. When my startup, Medlio, began down this path, we had a very simple vision - that consumers should be able to use their smartphones to find, connect, and transact with their healthcare providers. By "transact," I mean schedule appointments, submit medical forms and insurance information, receive an upfront estimate of the cost of the visit, make payment, and receive their data afterwards.
Now,
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