The synergy of artificial intelligence (AI) and medical imaging has opened new horizons for healthcare. AI-mediated computer vision has been in use in oncology for more than 20 years; however, its arrival in other medical fields, notably dentistry, is more recent. Dentistry is particularly notable here, because while relatively few people have seen an oncologist, almost everyone sees a dentist at least every few years. The application of AI in dentistry, thus, extends to a much broader
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Health IT & Digital Health-Opinion | Op-Eds | Guest Columns | Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
Interoperability: How Hospitals Share Healthcare Data Can Cost Lives, We Can All Do Better
Patient data interoperability sounds like industry jargon, but it’s a vital piece of providing timely and accurate patient care. Since 1996, when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) became law, there have been good advances in patient data interoperability, but as a whole, the industry has not embraced them.
Sharing data through faxing and CDs is still very common. As recently as 2023, between 30 and 47 percent of hospitals across all sizes reported still
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Putting 2024’s Split/Shared Services Billing Regulations into Practice
Medicare providers in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are adjusting to new split/shared services documentation and billing regulations rolled out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as part of the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule. The most notable change within the new regulations, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2024, is the finalization of CMS’s definition of the “substantive portion” of a split/shared evaluation and management (E/M)
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Maximizing Provider Directory Data to Improve Care Access and Quality
In 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed the creation of a centralized physician directory. The proposal sought to address three pressing challenges facing both healthcare providers and patients within the United States healthcare system:
Fix the pervasive issue of inaccuracies and inconsistencies in provider directories. Studies have consistently revealed high error rates in directory listings, with inaccuracies ranging from incorrect contact information to
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JAPAC Drug Development: Navigating Safety & Regulatory Requirements
The biopharmaceutical market within the Japan and Asia-Pacific (JAPAC) region has grown consistently since 2010, specifically for emerging biopharmas (EBPs). In fact, in 2018, 80% of all biopharma pipeline projects in JAPAC were EBPs, accounting for 75% of the total clinical trial volume in the region. This growth benefits contract research organizations, pharma organizations and patients alike, but several factors must be considered for drug development safety and regulatory operations in JAPAC
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Digital Health Apps Graveyard: Why 53% Fail and How to Succeed
The digital market is flooded with health apps. Over 90,000 offers were introduced to patients and healthcare providers alike in 2020 alone, with this number continuing to rise in response to mounting healthcare system pressures.
It therefore comes as little surprise to learn that 53% of all digital health apps are uninstalled within 30 days of download. People are more than happy to trial them but fail to achieve continued adherence, oftentimes because the app hasn’t provided them with
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Combatting Physical Therapy Burnout: Can Digital Health Help?
The physical therapy profession, encompassing both Physical Therapists (PTs) and Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs), is navigating through a period of unprecedented challenge. Recent data highlights concerning trends - not only did the sector see the departure of 15,000 PTs, or 11% of the existing workforce, between 2021 and 2022, but there has also been a consistent 5% annual decrease in applicants to PT programs over the last three to four years. These developments signal an urgent need for
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How Beautiful Questions and HRO Principles Enhance Patient Safety
Healthcare often seems like a volume game. How many patients can a doctor see? How long can be spent with each one? How many operations can be performed, or how quickly can beds be turned? There are very slim margins — and most decisions are data-driven. But what if there’s more to it?
If we ask the right questions that challenge current norms and combine those answers with what we learn from analytics, we can identify root causes, address practices, and adjust routines — even in small ways.
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Democratizing Healthcare: How Telehealth and AI Are Transforming Access and Affordability
Each year, the financial barriers to healthcare continue to become more pronounced in the US. For example, the health expenditure per person in the US was $12,555 in 2022, with comparable countries spending about half of that. These costs can put such strain on Americans that a 2023 poll from KFF found that one in four adults will outright skip or postpone getting healthcare, which rises to six in ten among uninsured adults.
There are other accessibility barriers to
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Heart Disease: Still the Silent Killer Despite Prevention Options
Given the attention paid to the devastating impact of COVID-19, one might assume it was the leading cause of death in the US. But while the fatalities were stark – almost 1.2 million Americans died of COVID in the last 4 years – heart disease remains the largest cause of death and by a landslide. In 2021, the year with the most COVID-19 deaths (416,893), heart disease claimed 60% more lives (695,000) in the US. Perhaps more, striking, however, is that many, if most, of these deaths, were
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