Researches from the Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) nursing school are aiming to establish a connection between hospital patient records and medical flight crews. They are aiming to do this based on research that when local hospitals transfer patients to higher-level care facilities, there is a 30% higher death rate than if they had stayed Read more…
EMR Software
Are there enough physicians around?
The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to provide affordable and quality healthcare coverage to more people. But do we have enough physicians to address their health concerns? This debate continues with very little conclusive evidence to prove one case or the other. Those who see a shortage of physicians attribute it to America’s aging population Read more…
EHR usability: Key to productivity
Is your EHR user friendly? “Black Book Rankings survey 2013” suggests as many as 30% physicians are dissatisfied with basic EHR usability. Not all EHR vendors build their products with usability in mind. Some EHR vendors have nailed it from the start, while others only think about it when their users start complaining. It is Read more…
Better Care Through Patient Engagement
It is always best when your patients ask questions. This means that they are concerned and are making the required effort to improve their physical condition and well-being. When patients are more aware and want to be involved in their health management, especially when it comes to making health-related decisions, it is safe to deduce Read more…
Risk Management through the healthcare continuum
What is accountable care all about? And who should be held accountable, anyway? Are physicians directly responsible for the outcomes they achieve? What about the money they spend to achieve those outcomes? We’ve all been hearing about the pros and cons of accountable care for way too long now. Lower costs, better outcomes and improved patient experiences are what Read more…
Gearing up for ICD-10
It’s 2014, and the transition to ICD-10 is less than just a few months away, taking effect on October 1st. This will replace the old system of diagnostic coding and significantly increase the number of these codes from the current 14,000 to around 69,000. ICD-10 will enable physicians to better specify diagnoses, track follow up 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…
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…
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…