Health IT Issues that Deserve a Second Read – August 2019

Top10-200One 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 eight 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 August. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.

Most Played Radio Episode in August

On Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist, tune in to hear Dr. Nick van Terheyden and his guests discuss what the future of healthcare looks like, how we will get there, and what it will take to improve healthcare for all. On this episode host Dr. Nick talks to Dr Maria Panagioti, Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, about the BMJ study on prevalence, severity, and nature of preventable patient harm across medical care settings.

Most Read Thought Leader Posts in August

Scrolling Through the Breaches
By Art Gross, President and CEO, HIPAA Secure Now!
Twitter: @HIPAASecureNow

Every day in my newsfeed I’m alerted to yet another compromise to patient information. The headline isn’t always the attention-grabbing ones that we see when major credit companies or big-box retailers are exposed. These are just listed, one after the other, identifying locations of healthcare businesses, whether it be hospitals or private practice, that have had possible exposures. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

MIPS: Final Scores Released
By Jim Tate, EMR Advocate, MACRA/MIPS Subject Matter Expert
Twitter: @jimtate

After numerous delays the MIPS final scores for the 2017 reporting year have been released. These scores are based on a foundation on four individual categories: Cost, Quality, Improvement Activities, and Promoting Interoperability. For Eligible Clinicians (EC) the score will be generated on an annual basis with a scale of 0 – 100. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

The Promise of Digital into Practical, Meaningful Results
By Sonia Singh, Senior Director, AVIA
Twitter: @HealthAVIA

Create a consumer-grade digital experience for your patients — something that rivals the ease-of-use of Airbnb or Lyft — or risk being lapped in a race you can’t afford to lose. This is the existential dilemma that health systems face, as they work to prepare for the rising tide of consumerism. Data supports this digital imperative. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…

Strategic Tips for Aligning Case Management and Revenue Cycle
By Marty Callahan, President, Healthcare Markets, RevSpring
Twitter: @RevSpringInc

Case managers have a challenging, high-stress job, but there’s one department that should always be on their side, and that’s revenue cycle. Revenue cycle success can have serious benefits from integrating case management into all five phases of acute care — meaning any financial leader interested in driving optimal outcomes should look for opportunities to support case management in their work. Here are five ways you can start advocating for case management in your organization. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…

Unnecessary Stress: HIPAA and Litigation Requests
By Matt Fisher, Attorney and chair of the Health Law Group at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee, LLP.
Twitter: @matt_r_fisher

While many areas of HIPAA compliance result in confusion and misinterpretation, responding to document requests from parties in litigation is one that has been presenting itself frequently. The classic scenario is Party A and Party B are in a lawsuit with each other. Party A’s claim is based upon suffering some sort of injury that resulted in receiving medical treatment. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

New Generations, Digital Expectations
By Joel Barthelemy, Founder, Chief Executive and Operating Officer, GlobalMed
Twitter: @GlobalMed_USA

Malcolm X said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” It’s sage advice that many clinicians might agree with. After all, a patient’s behaviors and choices today influence their well-being in the future. But what about provider preparation? Have hospitals and private practices laid the groundwork for tomorrow’s success? Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

Lifting the U.S. Ban on a National Patient Identifier: 3 Things to Know
By Daniel Cidon, CTO of NextGate
Twitter: @NextGate
Twitter: @dcidon

On June 12, the nation’s longtime ban on a universal patient identifier was overturned in a landmark decision by the House. While the Foster-Kelly Amendment to remove Section 510 still needs approval by the Senate to become law, it nevertheless is a sizable victory for industry groups two-decades in the making. When Congress dismissed the concept of a national patient identifier in the early 1990s, healthcare’s IT infrastructure was still relatively immature. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…

What Hospitals Can Learn about Incident Detection from the Notre Dame Disaster
By Benjamin Kanter, CMIO, Vocera
Twitter: @VoceraComm
Twitter: @BenKanterMD

On April 15, 2019, Notre Dame cathedral, the iconic and beloved monument, burned and was nearly lost in its entirety despite an enormously complex and expensive fire alarm system built exclusively to prevent such a disaster. As a post-mortem examination has revealed, there are lessons for all of us who design, implement, and depend on warning systems – whether they be for detecting fires or detecting clinical events like sepsis. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

Doctor Alexa Will See You Now: Is Amazon Primed To Come To Your Rescue?
By Janet Rae-Dupree, Kaiser Health News
Twitter: @KHNews
Twitter: @jraedupree

Now that it’s upending the way you play music, cook, shop, hear the news and check the weather, the friendly voice emanating from your Amazon Alexa-enabled smart speaker is poised to wriggle its way into all things health care. Amazon has big ambitions for its devices. It thinks Alexa, the virtual assistant inside them, could help doctors diagnose mental illness, autism, concussions and Parkinson’s disease. It even hopes Alexa will detect when you’re having a heart attack. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

Provider-Pharma Partnerships to Address SDoH
By Miriam Paramore, President, OptimizeRx
Twitter: @OpRxTweets

The healthcare industry has long recognized the role of social determinants of health (SDoH) as a vital piece of the healthcare puzzle. Defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, SDoH encompasses factors that impact care such as early childhood development, housing, transportation, employment, income and social support. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…

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