Top Guest Posts of the Month
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 thought on the issues of today. We publish at least seven guest posts a week now, Monday through Thursday. In case you missed some, here are the top ten read and shared guest posts of the month. Thank you for contributing and reading.
5 Keys for Hitting the Healthcare IT Triple Aim
By Daniel J. Marino, President/CEO of Health Directions.
While health care’s complexities and challenges are unmatched by other industries, no one would disagree that our industry needs to make better use of IT. The success of healthcare IT projects depends on their ability to deliver on three main objectives comprising the Healthcare IT Triple Aim – continue reading.
Explaining Patient Centered Medical Home
By Megan A. Housley, MBA, Marketing Director for Kentucky REC
NCQA’s PCMH Recognition program is a model for improving the organization and delivery of primary care. The medical home model has the potential to transform a primary care practice so that it is more comprehensive, coordinated, patient-centered, safe, and accessible. – continue reading.
Some Curious EHR Errors
William A. Hymanm, Professor Emeritus, Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University
A forthcoming article in Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare details some findings from a malpractice claims analysis of EHR errors. While a variety of EHR related mishaps are mentioned, two in particular caught my attention. – continue reading.
HIT Policy Committee Cuts Stage 3 MU Requirements
By Zach Watson of Technology Advice
Not long after changing the timeline for implementing the third stage of Meaningful Use back in December, the Health IT Policy Committee approved reductions to the requirements for meeting Stage 3 to 19 measures on Tuesday. Out of the 26 initial recommendations, eight requirements were eliminated, including those related to eMar, imaging, and care planning, among others. – continue reading.
EHRs as Platforms
By Dr. Robert Rowley
Some very interesting trends are occurring in the health IT arena, which raise the question of what role Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems will have in the future. A few years ago, the focus for health care professionals and hospitals was EHR acquisition and implementation, as well as qualification and access to federal incentive money from the EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use). – continue reading.
5 Things Even the Smallest Doctor’s Office Should Learn
By Mike Semel of Semel Consulting
A doctor’s oath to “Do No Harm” also means they need to protect patient data. Protecting confidential information is providing good health care. Identity theft can last a lot longer than an illness or injury. Just ask the victims of the Target data breach. – continue reading.
Supporting Quality Measurement and Quality Improvement
By Janice Nicholson, Co-Founder, President & CEO, i2i Systems, Inc.
This is an extremely important question to which my response is based on field experience in supporting hundreds of clinics and practices that are using more than 30 different Practice Management (PM) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. I would like to tell you that we have figured out why health IT investment has not resulted in more dramatic improvements to outcomes of care and that we have the solution, but we do not. What I can share with you are three of the primary challenges we have experienced in helping organizations realize the benefit of health IT adoption. – continue reading.
2014 PQRS for LTC Physicians
By Rod Baird, President of Geriatric Practice Management
According to CMS, only 25% of eligible professionals participate in PQRS. CMS has a strategy to improve this dismal level of enthusiasm to 40% – triple the number of Quality Measures required for successful participation. Here is the quote from the Final 2014 Physicians Fee Schedule (emphasis added) – continue reading.
Insider Breaches a Growing Risk
By Steve Spearman, Founder and Chief Security Consultant
Eligible providers and their contracted vendors must comply with HIPAA and HITECH regulations to secure patient data. More pressure than ever is on these organizations to protect sensitive information, especially in light of more stringent government audits and increased penalties for breaches. However, despite a growing number of available ingsecurity and privacy protections, data breaches are still occurring. Security policies and procedures generally focus on protecting data from outside attack, but recent studies indicate the need to mitigate another type of risk: insider threats. – continue read.
Why Healthcare is Ripe for Entrepreneurship
By Andrew Litt, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences
Admit it. When you think of progressive, forward-looking industries that are using technology to transform the way they do business, healthcare is probably not top of mind. It’s a fragmented business that generally has been slow to adapt to change. – continue reading.