Health IT Issues that Deserve a Second Read – February 2022

One of the ways that Answers Media 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, so in case you missed some, here are the top ten read and shared guest posts in the month of February. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.

Most Played Radio Episode in February

From How I Transformed This, Virsys12 founder and CEO Tammy Hawes and her co-host Clark Buckner talk with Taylor Hamilton about her passion for engaging patients at every step along the consumer journey. She also shares her experience with implementing Salesforce in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Read Thought Leader Posts in February

Shining a Light on FHIR Implementation: Progress Toward Publishing FHIR Endpoints
By Wes Barker, Vaishali Patel, and Jeff Smith, ONC
Twitter: @ONC_HealthIT

The ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule (Cures Rule) supports patients’ and providers’ access to electronic health information (EHI) through Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) application programming interfaces (APIs). FHIR is ready for prime-time and the Cures Rule requires certain developers of certified health IT to provide a certified, FHIR API to their customer base by December 31, 2022. Continue reading…

Key 2022 Health Care Regulatory and Policy Priorities to Navigate
By Pooja Babbrah, Practice Lead, PBM Services, Point-of-Care Partners
Twitter: @pocpHIT

Through its policy and regulatory mechanisms, the federal government is in the driver’s seat to drive and effect changes in health care and health information technology. The most recent Unified Regulatory Agenda provides insight into what is likely to come in 2022 and beyond. The most notable rules continue to be focused on activities by agencies at the HHS, including CMS and the FDA. Here’s a sneak peak of expected 2022 priorities. Continue reading…

Four Indicators a New Standard of Care is Coming
By John Martin, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Butterfly Network
Twitter: @ButterflyNetInc

An evolved state of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is transforming diagnostics across many care settings by delivering powerful imaging insights to close information gaps and drive better care decisions. Such an affordable, efficient means of gathering critical data at the bedside is not only engaging a growing number of clinicians and specialists, but is also touching vast underserved geographies. Continue reading…

Why Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange Could Be the Most Valuable Interoperability Rule for Patients
By Susan Bellile, Principal, Clinical, Availity
Twitter: @Availity

As we kick off 2022, one of the big questions surrounding interoperability is the status of the payer-to-payer data exchange rule. The requirement was part of the May 2020 Final Rule supporting the 21st Century Cures Act, and its enforcement was scheduled to start on January 1. However, in September CMS delayed enforcement pending future rulemaking. Continue reading…

Necessities for a Winning Audit and Authorization Strategy
By Scott Overholt, director of business, Vyne Medical
Twitter: @VyneMedical
Twitter: @ScottOverholt

Payer-required administrative tasks are a burden most providers know all too well. They are a daily source of frustration, diverting time from mission-critical work and often delaying patient care. Legislation impacting audit and authorization processes is in constant flux, only increasing confusion about payer requirements and regulations. Continue reading…

Billing Changes Coming to Health Care Services in 2022
By Devin Partida, Editor-in-Chief, ReHack.com
Twitter: @rehackmagazine

The beginning of the 2020s brought a great number of changes to the medical industry as a whole. Telehealth, which was beginning to gain popularity at the end of the 2010s, became a necessity to allow patients to continue their treatment while slowing the spread of COVID-19. The virus is in the process of shifting from its pandemic to its endemic stage, and many of the emergency measures that were slapped into place during the first two years of the pandemic are no longer as functional as they once were. Continue reading…

The Three Tiers of Patient Engagement Adoption
By Jim Tate, EMR Advocate
Twitter: @jimtate

On this episode of The Tate Chronicles, host Jim Tate talks to Vik Krishnan. Vik provides insights into the current state of patient engagement technologies and related workflows. Intrado’s recent survey by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) unlocks awareness into the history and future opportunities for provider organization to communicate with their patients. Continue reading…

Making Digitally-Enabled Care Effective with Data Intelligence
By Sean O’Connor, Chief Commercial Officer, DexCare

The pandemic-driven demand for remote, accessible, and convenient care options accelerated the healthcare industry’s adoption and utilization of telemedicine and other virtual care services at an unprecedented pace. Improving access to care has become a primary need for consumers, and a necessity for providers to deliver a satisfactory healthcare experience as traditional care delivery models are disrupted. Continue reading…

A Different Point of View: Dumpster Diving for Data in Today’s Legacy EHRs
By David Lareau, CEO, Medicomp Systems
Twitter: @MedicompSys

If you listen to healthcare industry chatter, you’ll hear that we are in the “post-EHR” world, in which everyone has electronic health records and, with the requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act, systems will soon be required to share data. We may be getting ahead of ourselves because users still cannot find what they are looking for––even in their own systems––and this situation will only get worse when data begins flowing in from others. Continue reading…

The Intersection of the Internet of Bodies and Blockchain in Healthcare
By Dan Matthews, Writer, Content Consultant, and Researcher
Twitter: @danielmatthews0

All kinds of tech currently power life-saving innovations in healthcare. Two of these ground-breaking technologies are the Internet of Bodies (IoB), a subfield of the Internet of Things (IoT) primarily concerned with health, and blockchain systems for storing and communicating data. Continue reading…