One of the ways that HITECH 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 eleven guest posts a week now, on our three sites. In case you missed some, here are the top ten read and shared guest posts in the month of July. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.
Most Played Radio Episode in July
From The Tate Chronicles, host Jim Tate’s (@JimTate) guest is Dr. Gordon Jones, Co-founder, President & COO of Universal Health Coin on becoming a new kind of healthcare payer using blockchain.
Most Read Thought Leader Posts in July
Attack of a Paper Tiger: Ignoring Own Policies Leads to HIPAA Fine
By Matt Fisher, Attorney and chair of the Health Law Group at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee, LLP.
Twitter: @matt_r_fisher
On June 18, 2018, the Office for Civil Rights released a decision and memorandum from an Administrative Law Judge following a dispute over HIPAA fines imposed against The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson). The decision for all intents and purposes draws a clear line in the sand that encryption, despite being an addressable element under the Security Rule, cannot be avoided. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
Healthcare Data Ownership: Turning Patients into Proactive Consumers
By Scott Corbitt, MHA, BSN, RN, VP of Commercial Operations, AirStrip
Twitter: @AirStripmHealth
Twitter: @Scott_Corbitt
The healthcare data explosion has prompted thorny debates over data ownership and access. Obviously, patients have a vested interest in having access to their own personal health history, but the data holds value for other stakeholders as well. For example, providers need a complete patient picture to provide personalized care, and researchers want to aggregate and analyze data to establish trends and predictive insights. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…
University of Michigan Research Project and Opioid Abuse
By Brian Mack, Manager of Marketing and Communications at Great Lakes Health Connect
Twitter: @GLHC_HIE
Twitter: @BFMack
A University of Michigan research project, called the “System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance” (S.O.S.) is leveraging health data from multiple sources to understand the impact of opioid use and abuse. Great Lakes Health Connect (GLHC) has partnered with the S.O.S. project to gather clinical information from acute care emergency departments in Michigan. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…
AHRQ’s CDS “Artifacts”
By William A. Hyman
Professor Emeritus, Biomedical Engineering
Texas A&M University, w-hyman@tamu.edu
The use of the term “artifacts” in the context of software and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) is new to me, but AHRQ uses it to describe a group of CDS projects that have converted practice guidelines into computer code. This terminology seems somewhat at odds with more general definitions of software artifacts which imply byproducts of the software development process rather than the software itself. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
MACRA/MIPS: The Final Scores Cometh
By Jim Tate, EMR Advocate
Twitter: @jimtate
Seems like we’ve been waiting for this a long, long time. All these MACRA/MIPS mileposts and deadlines have come and gone. The rear-view mirror shows where we’ve been, but what lies ahead? Here is what CMS tell us: Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
Five M&A Security Issues Healthcare Organizations Must Consider
By Kurt Long, CEO and founder, FairWarning, Inc.
Twitter: @FairWarningLLC
Twitter: @KurtJamesLong
Mergers and acquisitions are on an upward trend in the U.S. healthcare industry. Last year alone, more than 50 hospitals merged. As healthcare organizations join forces, their goal is to create operational synergies that will better serve their patients. However, these worthwhile benefits come with the challenge of additional complexity. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
CMS Doubling Down on Health IT; Patients
By Seema Verma, Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Twitter: @CMSgov
Americans enjoy the benefits of the best healthcare providers and innovators in the world. Yet while the volume of care consumed by American patients has not increased dramatically comparative to similar economies, the cost of care in the United States has accelerated at an alarming pace. Healthcare costs continue to grow faster than the U.S. GDP, making it more difficult with each passing year for CMS to ensure healthcare to not only its beneficiaries of today, but generations of beneficiaries in the future. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
Password Reuse: A Common Practice for 25% of Employees
By Art Gross, President and CEO, HIPAA Secure Now!
Twitter: @HIPAASecureNow
Risky cyber behavior among employees is nothing new, in fact, despite organizations becoming more aware of the state of cybersecurity, employees continue to cause data breaches in unacceptable numbers. TechRepublic looks at a recent OpenVPN survey, which dissects poor cyber hygiene among employees. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
How to Improve PHI Disclosure Efficiency in the Business Office
By Don Hardwick, VP, Client Relations & Account Management, MRO Corp
Twitter: @MROCorp
Releasing medical records from a healthcare organization’s business office can be accomplished in a more efficient and cost-effective method. Instead of distracting billers and collectors from their main duties of collecting revenue, business offices should consider the following options to improve efficiency and ensure proper tracking of Protected Health Information (PHI). I provide more detailed information in an HFMA blog “PHI Disclosure Management in the Business Office.” Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…
4 Areas to Consider During the Transition to Value-Based Care
By Jon Melling, FHIMSS, Partner, Pivot Point Consulting
Twitter: @pivotpc
Healthcare providers have made big investments in enabling technologies that bring data-driven approaches to care delivery. Some of the clinical and financial IT resources that healthcare organizations have made strides with include: Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…
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