Friday at Five: Is This a List of Hacks or Have I Been Hacked?

Is five a magic number that people will click on to find out what’s on the list? Is it just the right number you think you have the time to read? I don’t know but there are lots of lists out there with 5 things you should know.  This month in honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month I will start with my list of 5 – What’s a hack?

  1. Hack – an attempt to exploit a computer system or a private network inside a computer.
  2. Hack – a loud dry cough.
  3. Hack – a person who is part of the political party apparatus, but whose intentions are more aligned with victory than personal conviction.
  4. Hack – to cut or chop something with short strong blows.
  5. Hack – a form of tip that implies the tip will make things much faster or easier. (And if you don’t know what this is then open up TikTok for heaven’s sake!)

Top 5 Things You Should Be Doing to Keep Your Information Safe Online
If you’ve noticed an increase in spam texts or phishy emails—you’re not alone. Cyber scams are on the rise and as part of October’s Cyber Security Awareness Month, NBC 5 Responds (@NBCDFW) is talking with top cyber security experts who share their Top 5 Tips to help you combat cyber-related crimes.

How to Crush Medical Debt: 5 Tips for Using Hospital Charity Care
By Emily Pisacreta, Kaiser Health News (@KHNews) – What if a law passed but no one enforced it? That’s essentially what has happened with one small but helpful rule about hospitals and financial assistance for medical bills. The Affordable Care Act, the health law also known as Obamacare, requires nonprofit hospitals to make financial assistance available to low-income patients and post those policies online. Across the U.S., more than half of hospitals are nonprofit — and in some states all or nearly all hospitals are nonprofit. But many people who qualify for financial assistance — or “charity care,” as it is sometimes known — never apply.

5 Hacks that Increase Hospital C-Suite Engagement
From American Hospital Association (@ahahospitals) – Does it seem like it’s tougher to get hospital leaders to hear your message? More competition. Unprecedented change. Complex buying processes. And senior hospital and health system executives who are navigating the clutter of email, endless rounds of meetings, and constant interruptions. You’re not wrong if you feel like it’s getting tougher to break through the noise. That’s why it’s so critical that health care solutions providers understand how to cut through the clutter and engage health care decision makers in a meaningful way to ensure success. In this article we are going to look at some hacks that will help your organization to stand out from the crowd.

5 Great Email Subject Lines
By Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) – Over the past few weeks I’ve taken notice of the email subject lines that I have been receiving. They have been getting better and better. Maybe it’s the after-summer effect or maybe it’s just that people are upping their email marketing game. No matter the reason, I love it. Email subject lines are an artform. There is no single magic formula. Click-bait subject lines can work, but it’s easy to go overboard with them. Posing a question also works unless it is a cheesy one. Great subject lines are tough – which is why I have to tip my hat to anyone that does it well. Here are 5 great email subject lines that came through my inbox this past week.

5 Provider Coding Myths, Debunked
By HGS (@teamhgs) – Over the past 18 months, healthcare providers have grappled with historic cost and care challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has increasingly forced providers to assess new areas of transformation to unlock operational value and cost efficiencies. Unique trials call for alternative solutions, and health systems are taking a new look at cost and process-challenged areas like coding, which has been an area often operationally underestimated and rife with misconceptions. Here we dispels some common myths by presenting facts about how effective coding can not only help providers survive the current market but start thriving with proactive denials prevention and insights.

5 Things To Look For In A Population Health Vendor
By Patrick Burton, Lightbeam Health Solutions (@LightbeamHealth) – Population health management (PHM) is the future of delivering high-quality, lower-cost care for patients. The combination of gathering insights using advanced technology, the skills of physicians and their care teams, and engaged healthcare executives is the best way forward to promoting positive patient outcomes and curbing excess spending. So, you’ve determined to go to market for a PHM vendor. What attributes should you look for when evaluating solutions? Given the relatively low “barrier of entry,” there is an overwhelming number of companies that play in this space. As a result, you’ll want to perform the necessary diligence to help you narrow your focus. At a high level, your objective is to find a vendor that meets your specific needs and serves as a trusted partner that you can lean on in challenging situations. Despite the significant growth in value-based care, we are still in the “early adopter” stage of a rapidly evolving industry. This presents unique challenges as we continue to pioneer best practices and refine solutions rather than addressing well-defined or static technical needs. The takeaway is that your evaluation will require a nuanced approach to selecting the right partner compared to other system selection processes you have facilitated in the past. To help you account for these challenges, here are some considerations to keep in mind as you engage with the vendor community.

Star Ratings: The Drive to 5
From the SPH Blog (@SPHAnalytics) – A Focus on Member Experience Can Get Your Plan That 5th Star – With healthcare trends shifting as the coronavirus pandemic continues its evolution, there’s one issue in particular that will most heavily impact Medicare Advantage (MA) health plans going into 2022 and beyond: the increased weighting of member experience measures as part of the plan’s Star Rating. Since CMS announced its changes to the methodology of calculating MA quality scores in May 2020, customer experience and access measures alone are growing as a substantial share of that rating. And that share is only getting bigger!

5 Amazing Benefits of a Healthcare Data Platform
By Joelle Poe, Chief Product Officer, SkyPoint Cloud (@skypointcloud) – A healthcare data platform is very similar to a customer data platform in that a variety of different information across the healthcare continuum is automatically collected, securely stored, and easily accessed from one centralized location. Data is collected from a multitude of healthcare analytics sources, including:

  • Claims data.
  • Survey data, such as from the Medicare CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) and the Star ratings program.
  • Diagnosis data, such as CPT codes or ICD-10 codes.
  • Pharmacy information, such as prescriptions.
  • Health Information Exchanges (HIEs).
  • Patient portals or patient apps.

Numerous benefits are associated with a healthcare data platform like SkyPoint Cloud. But for today’s sake, let’s keep the conversation focused and talk about our top five.