As 2014 begins, hundreds of thousands of Americans are signing up for health insurances through the Health Insurance Marketplace initiative. Latest figures suggest that close to 2 million people have purchased insurance plans with the deadline to do so approaching quickly. This influx of new patients means that healthcare providers and professionals will have to Read more…
ICD-10: Don’t be Scared, Be Prepared
On October 1, 2014, one of the biggest changes to ever hit the healthcare industry will take effect, when the old system of diagnostic coding, ICD-9 will be replaced by ICD-10.With the new coding system, the number of diagnostic codes will jump from the current 14,000 to 68,000, a fivefold increase. ICD-10 will enable physicians Read more…
Avoid Patient Injury and Lawsuits
A lawsuit can take a massive toll on a physician’s confidence and reputation. Every day, physicians are faced with the risk of making mistakes that can potentially end up in a lawsuit, such as diagnostic errors or incomplete follow-ups. However, by creating procedures and policies to protect their practices, physicians can mitigate patient injuries, and Read more…
EHRs Can Reduce the Cost of Care for Diabetes
A recent report found health IT to be one of the biggest contributors in successfully treating diabetes in western New York. The report found that over a three-year period, Electronic Health Records, care coordination and health information technology have been instrumental in reducing hospitalizations for diabetic patients, by 26%. Brief highlights: 50% of the physicians Read more…
Building a profitable ACO: Quality data critical for success
New partnerships, collaborations and approaches to care delivery have been devised as the health industry moves from volume-based to value-based payment model. Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are an important element of this transformation as providers look to optimize care through cost effective methods. ACOs can succeed if organizations are able to collect, aggregate and share Read more…
Future holds promise for HIEs
The future for Health Information Exchanges is looking better for 2014 but there will be some challenges. Achieving success in this area will require knowledge and the technical flexibility to adapt. Broadly, there are three HIE groups based on technological and operational preparedness. The first group has deferred investments in technology foreseeing low enrollments. This Read more…
mHealth is Transforming Care Delivery
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and Denmark’s health minister Astrid Krag, highlighted mobile healthcare as the way to improve outcomes in the future at the mHealth Summit. Yunus, the Grameen Movement pioneer, who opened up his native Bangladesh to the power of cellphones, said that smartphone has the power to transform people’s Read more…
Security blunder sees PHI leaked online
Protected Health Information (PHI) of 33,000 individuals was inadvertently leaked online, on the search engine Google, due to a security flaw. Patients of Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara, California were informed by the three-hospital system that their information could have been available online for nearly two months. The lapse occurred after one of their Read more…
The Blue Button brouhaha
When President Obama launched the Blue Button initiative for veterans in 2010, the idea was to make a consumer engagement tool that empowers the patients by enabling them to access and download their online medical records. Today, the use of and the awareness about this initiative has skyrocketed and it has become an important part Read more…
Key 2014 deadlines for physicians
The new year is going to be important for physicians in meeting regulatory requirements and reporting deadlines. These deadlines will affect quality of care, adoption and usage of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). These deadlines relate to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and more importantly, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). January 1, 2014: CMS Meaningful Use Read more…