Telehealth has been a key theme at HIMSS for several years now; that said, it has never quite lived up to its own hype and to some extent has been viewed as a “niche” area compared to some of its bigger brothers such as EHR and population health. The back-end of 2018 and start of 2019 saw developments that are likely to change this in the near future.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated several of its guidance models and the 2019 physician fee schedule in relation to
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Why Hospitals Without Robust Revenue Cycle Support are Losing Millions
A frequent knock on electronic health records (EHRs) has been that they’re just glorified billing systems that fail to provide enough clinical functionality to make a significant difference in the quality of care.So it’s somewhat incongruous that a recent Black Book report on revenue cycle management (RCM) system adoption would say that 26 percent of hospitals don’t have an effective RCM system in place even as virtually all hospitals are using an EHR.How can that be?The explanation for any
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Treating Addiction: Bridging the Gap Between Physical & Behavioral Healthcare
The statistics are terrifying. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Alcohol poisoning kills six people every day. Of those, 76 percent are adults ages 35-64, and three of every four people killed by alcohol poisoning are men. The group with the most alcohol poisoning deaths per million people is American Indians/Alaska Natives (49.1 per 1 million). More than 15 million people struggle with an alcohol use disorder in the United States, but less than eight
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5 Reasons Why Patient Data Privacy and Control is So Important
“Foolish the doctor who despises the knowledge acquired by the ancients.” – Hippocrates, Greek physician (460 BC - 377 BC) The ancient Greek father of medicine, Hippocrates, knew that trust was a fundamental tenet for the effective practice of medicine. How can a patient seek the care of a stranger without the establishment of a fiduciary trust? A patient must reveal the most personal, private information about themselves and therefore must possess the utmost confidence in their physician to
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3 Provider Strategies to Better Protect Sensitive Patient Data
Given the surging volume of personal health information (PHI) and other sensitive data from electronic health records, medical imaging, payer records, and medical devices, healthcare organizations are arguably in the data business today as much as they’re in the business of caring for patients. Data not only helps healthcare organizations deliver better patient care, but it’s a core asset to meet other business imperatives, including streamlining processes and lowering costs.Healthcare
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Why It’s Time to Take a More Adult Approach to Healthcare Policy
One of President Harry Truman’s most famous quotes was “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” Yet historically, the political approach to healthcare has been less like colleagues working toward an intelligent, practical solution and more like two children fighting over a favorite toy. Both sides wanted the credit for delivering a comprehensive healthcare plan and policy themselves, so they did all they could to prevent the other side from winning. Even
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Do You Make House Calls? How Connected Health is Extending Personalized Care
People of a certain age speak wistfully of a time when doctors made house calls. The in-home visit had advantages for patient and physician alike.“House calls” eliminated the need for ill patients to get to the doctor’s office—along with the risks of coming into contact with other health-compromised people. For doctors, it was a break in routine, an opportunity to observe patients in their own home environment—and, sometimes, to gain insight beyond what was possible during an office exam,
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4 Trends We Expect to See at HIMSS 2019
In less than two weeks, 45,000 health IT professionals, clinicians, executives and “technology superheroes” (a HIMSS’ term, not ours – but one we’re going to run with) will descend on Orlando for the annual HIMSS conference. Viewed as the pinnacle for new product launches in digital health, the exhibition floor at HIMSS also offers a glimpse of the future and a reflection of the state of healthcare IT today.As the HIMSS organizers galvanize attendees with their call “champions of health unite”,
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Is The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) on Par With the IoT Market as a Whole?
The Internet of Things (IoT) has bred a variety of new technology solutions, used across just as many disparate industries. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is essentially IoT devices used within construction, development and industrial environments.Similarly, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) involves connected devices used within the medical and health care industry.They differ from general IoT not just in terms of usage, but also in design. IoT is often more consumer-focused,
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Alert Fatigue: A Smarter Approach to Clinical Alarm Management
Thinking back to my time as a nurse on a busy telemetry unit, I can tell you how most days began. Clock in by 6:55 a.m. and throw my lunch in the fridge. Then, I check the assignment board, see who is in charge and how many patients I have. Next, I had to find the nurses who will report on my four to six patients, which usually includes a quick synopsis of any pertinent issues and the plan for the day.This sounds relatively easy. However, I am trying to accomplish these modest but critical goals
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