One of the ways that HealthIT Answers is different from other media sites is the sense of community. The thought leaders in our community are good about sharing their thoughts on the issues of today. We publish at least eight guest posts a week now, so in case you missed some, here are the top ten read and shared guest posts in the month of August. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.
Most Played Radio Episode in August
From The Incrementalist, host Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick is joined by Dr. Craig Joseph for this month’s News You Can Use. News includes COVID-19 transmission and the significance of aerosolization, wearing masks, the HHS data take over, and information blocking regulation update.
Most Read Thought Leader Posts in August
The Intersection of Population Health and Public Health in a Pandemic
By Jenifer Leaf Jaeger, MD, MPH, Sr. Medical Director, HealthEC
Twitter: @HealthEC_LLC
For more than four months we have anguished over the coronavirus outbreak and its roiling toll on humanity, including our patients and our healthcare workforce. We feel the heavy weight and worry of a public health “mess” that seems almost insurmountable. Furthermore, public health disasters like COVID-19 disproportionately impact marginalized and minority populations. Continue reading…
Updated Informatics.Health
By William Hersh, MD, Professor and Chair, OHSU
Twitter: @williamhersh
For many years, I have had a portion of my Web site billhersh.info devoted to an introductory overview of the informatics field entitled, What is Biomedical & Health Informatics? I originally created this site to provide an answer to that question I was asked from time to time. Continue reading…
7 Steps for Getting the Optimal Value-Based Deal from your Health Plan Partners
By Craig Enge, Senior Vice President, Lumeris
Twitter: @Lumeris
Regardless of the quality of care delivered, contracting can have as much or more impact on the financial success of your health system. The road to value is littered with health systems that performed well, engaged in a value-focused process, yet still categorized their contract as a failure. Continue reading…
Why Encryption is Essential in Healthcare Cybersecurity Strategies
By Marty Puranik, President and CEO, Atlantic.Net
Twitter: @AtlanticNet
Throw on any spy movie from years ago and you are guaranteed to get a scene where a code is being written or cracked in some clever manner. While ciphers, lemon juice as invisible ink, and number coding are fun, these methods are easily revealed and used more for entertainment purposes than real security. So, when an organization needs a reliable, secure communication method, what options are available? Continue reading…
Why Now?: Question Surrounding FQHC HIPAA Fine
By Matt Fisher, Attorney and chair of the Health Law Group at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee, LLP.
Twitter: @matt_r_fisher
Why now? That is a question that Metropolitan Community Health Services, which operates as Agape Health Services must be asking at this point in time. Agape is a federally qualified health center that just entered into a HIPAA related settlement with the Office for Civil Rights. The reason for asking why now is that the breach that set off investigation leading to the fine was submitted on June 9, 2011. Continue reading…
COVID-19 Era Healthcare Facilities are Using Chatbots to Connect with Patients
By James Ramey, CEO, DeviceBits
There’s no doubt that recent circumstances surrounding COVID-19 have reshaped the way hospitals and healthcare facilities connect with their patients daily. Shelter-in-place ordinances and stay-at-home mandates have forced many to rely on technologies like chatbots and knowledge management utilizing artificial intelligence with machine learning to manage much of the workload required for servicing their patients’ needs. Continue reading…
Increasing Cloud Coverage Over Rural America Is a Welcomed Forecast
By Baha Zeidan, CEO and Co-founder, Azalea Health
Twitter: @AzaleaHealth
Twitter: @bzeidan
What if your family’s access to healthcare was dependent on your family’s access to broadband internet? For millions of people living in rural America, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario. Roughly 8.6 million Americans live more than 30 minutes from a hospital. For them, broadband can serve as the main gateway to healthcare, providing the primary means for connecting with physicians, information, and resources that would otherwise be unavailable due to distance and isolation. Continue reading…
Preventing the Cost of Medical Miscommunication During Covid
By Fred Lizza, CEO, Statum Systems
Twitter: @StatumSystems
Among the multitudes of challenges facing providers and patients in healthcare, from lack of access to lack of funds, communication issues are too often overlooked. This is because the way we do things is often seen as secondary to the thing itself. But the reality is that if you fail to communicate vital information properly, then it can render that information useless. Continue reading…
To Optimize Medication Use, Listen to the Patient’s Perspective
By Elizabeth Helms, Director, Chronic Care Policy Alliance; President & CEO, California Chronic Care Coalition; Executive Member, GTMRx Institute
Twitter: @GTMRxInstitute
We know that successfully implementing comprehensive medication management will improve quality of life and save lives of people with chronic conditions, while lowering the total cost of care. The operative word is “successfully.” For comprehensive medication management to be successful and sustainable, the patient must be recognized as a full member of the integrated team and have a role in the development of their own medication plan. Continue reading…
New Advances in Collecting and Using Patient-Reported Outcome Data
By Gopal Khanna, MBA, Director of AHRQ
Twitter: @AHRQNews
The time patients spend with their healthcare providers is limited. Often missing from the clinical encounter is information about how people fare as they go about their daily lives. It has been challenging to capture and share this reservoir of information—known as Patient-Reported Outcome data—due to lack of standards and easy-to-use data collection tools. Continue reading…