As is our custom every month, we compile our Top 10 most read posts that deserve a second read. This list takes those lists just one step further. With almost 19,000 combined reads, these are the 10 most read articles of 2023.
Thank you to all these authors that have shared their thoughts with us and our readers.
The Ethical Implications of AI and Data in Healthcare
By Michael Armstrong, Chief Technology Officer, Authenticx
X: @be_authenticx
From patient communication to cancer detection, artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) role across healthcare is becoming increasingly more prominent. Although its implementation increases the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare, AI also raises patient privacy concerns. In fact, healthcare breaches were at an all-time high in 2021, affecting 45 million people, according to Critical Insights’ 2022 Healthcare Data Breach Report. To safeguard patient information and communications, healthcare organizations must build a foundation of trust, compliance and transparency. Continue reading…
Data Privacy and Security in Healthcare AI: Challenges and Solutions
By Vatsal Ghiya, CEO and Co-Founder, Shaip
X: @weareshAIp
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are changing the face of healthcare. Patient populations are growing larger, and our health is becoming more complex. Providers, researchers, and payers alike are looking for strategies to increase the quality of care and reduce costs simultaneously. According to marketsandmarkets, the AI market in healthcare is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 47.6% from 2023 to 2028, reaching a value of $102.7 billion in 2028. Continue reading…
How Artificial Intelligence Solutions are Transforming Medical Insurance Claims Processing
By Dmitrii Evstiukhin, Director of Managed Services, Provectus
X: @Provectus_inc
Ask any healthcare practitioner or medical office manager what causes the biggest headaches in their business operations, and you are likely to get the same answer: medical insurance claims processing. Insurance claim forms come in a variety of sizes and formats, with data requirements ranging from simple to complex. The most complex and unstructured documents must be manually processed, with plenty of back-and-forth communications between medical entities and insurance providers. Continue reading…
Reshaping Healthcare Delivery — 3 Factors That Impact the Future
By Anne Dabrow Woods, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, FAAN, Chief Nurse, Wolters Kluwer, Health, Learning, Research and Practice
X: @Wolters_Kluwer
In the not-too-distant past, patients primarily received care at a brick-and-mortar provider’s office for their primary healthcare needs, for sick or prevention visits or chronic condition management. But a number of economic and societal factors have caused a real revolution in where patients receive care. Today’s patient may go to a hospital, long-term care, rehabilitation, standalone clinic, retail clinic in a pharmacy, urgent care, or even receive care virtually or at home. Where they go depends on the nature of the care they need. Continue reading…
What Went Wrong for Amazon Care?
By Stephen Dean, Co-Founder, Keona Health
X: @keonahealth
When Amazon Care was first announced in 2019, it was championed as a revolutionary approach to health care delivery. Amazon attempted to combine in-person and telehealth medical services into a pioneering primary and urgent care service. However, the venture failed to gain traction with both users and clinicians, and at the end of 2022, Amazon shuttered Amazon Care. The armchair quarterbacking began almost immediately. Most analysts blamed health care’s maze of regulations. Or they attributed the failure to the “relational” nature of the industry, concluding that Amazon didn’t earn the trust of providers. These components no doubt contributed, but the reality is a bit more complicated. Continue reading…
Five Top Takeaways from HFMA Annual Conference 2023
By Beth Friedman, Sr. Partner, FINN Partners
X: @FINNPartners
The HFMA Annual Conference 2023 was recently held at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee. The event’s online description promised the conference would “embrace the need for change.” And change is certainly required against the backdrop of declining profitability and 0.3% median year-to-date operating margins. Legacy financial and revenue cycle strategies no longer suffice. However, after spending four action-packed days at HFMA 2023, I’m convinced that finance and revenue cycle leaders have already embraced the need for change and are racing ahead to reap the rewards. Instead of gloom and doom, the event was energizing, inspiring and fun. Continue reading…
The Impact of and Solutions to Healthcare’s People Matching Problem
By Megan Pruente, MPH, RHIA, Director, Professional Services, Harris Data Integrity Solutions
X: @PatientMatching
While the current state of patient matching is best described as tumultuous, progress toward a solution is being made thanks to efforts of stakeholders from across the spectrum. In the past year alone, we saw Section 510 temporarily removed from the U.S. House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bills – the first time the Senate had done so in 20 years – and Office for the National Coordinator issued its Project US@ Technical Specification for patient addresses and the ONC-AHIMA Companion Guide. Continue reading…
It’s Time to Talk About Paying Clinical Trial Participants More
By Gunnar Esiason, Patient Advocate living with cystic fibrosis, Patient-Facing Strategy, Florence Healthcare
X: @FlorenceHCare
X: @G17Esiason
Clinical trials do not exist without us, so we need to demand more from them. I have cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare genetic condition that was historically known as a childhood disease. Today, CF is anything but that, and it’s due in large part to my community’s willingness to rally around clinical trial programs. Most people I know with CF have participated in at least one, if not several clinical trials. I’ve been in a handful myself. I like to think of clinical trial participants as medical pioneers. Together, we step into medicine’s frontiers, but we do so inside a culture that dismisses the value of patients. Continue reading…
Hospitals Need New Approaches for Attracting Cost-Conscious Consumers Starting with Payment
By Mark Spinner, President and CEO, AccessOne
X: @myaccessone
For one out of three consumers, inflation is the top reason they fear being unable to pay for an unexpected medical expense. Yet consumers want to prioritize health and fitness spending in the year ahead, an Accenture survey found. In fact, 80% plan to maintain or increase their healthcare spending in 2023 despite concerns about the economy. For healthcare organizations, these statistics are indicative of the need to more broadly communicate patient payment solutions to retain cost-conscious consumers and remain competitive. Continue reading…
How Interoperable Digital Front Door Systems Drive Better Experiences
By Abhi Sharma, Chief Product Officer, Loyal
X: @loyalhealth
Today’s patients want two things from their healthcare providers: personalized care that happens at their convenience. Indeed, a survey of more than 223,000 healthcare consumers found that 51 percent said that convenience and access to care are the most important factors when choosing a health system or provider – even when considering issues like insurance coverage, reputation, and quality of care. For many consumers, their first interaction with a hospital or health system occurs when they begin researching providers to find and arrange care, most commonly through online searches, chatbots, online directories, and scheduling tools. The more pathways support this process, how easy they are to use, and whether they help healthcare consumers find care to reflect the level of access offered and compromise health systems’ “digital front door.” Continue reading…