Health IT Issues that Deserve a Second Read – March 2018

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 eleven 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 March. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.

Most Played Radio Episode in March

Host Matt Fisher chats with John Torous, MD (@johntorousmd), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about digital health and digital mental health on Healthcare de Jure.

Most Read Thought Leader Posts in March

Visualized: Mashing up 2015 Edition Certification and Progress Attestation Requirements
By Steven Posnack, M.S., M.H.S. /Director, Office of Standards and Technology, Dustin Charles /Public Health Analyst, ONC, and Wes Barker /Data Analyst
Twitter:@ONC_HealthIT

Have you ever wondered what a health IT developer’s share of meaningful use eligible hospitals looked like compared to its peers? How about the same for eligible clinicians under the QPP? Well, look no further. Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology published two data visualizations that display health IT developers’ progress in certifying to the 2015 Edition certification criteria combined with comparable statistics on the approximate share of eligible hospitals and clinicians who use the developers’ technology. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

The Changing Role of Healthcare IT and Why It Requires Automation
By Derek Manky, Global Security Strategist, Fortinet
Twitter: @Fortinet

For healthcare providers, patient experience and satisfaction are becoming increasingly important as consumers shift their approach to seeking medical care. The recent adoption of value-based care models has led consumers to shop around in order to select those healthcare providers that offer the best experience and overall highest level of satisfaction. This change in consumer behavior has the potential to greatly impact the bottom lines of providers. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

Three Ways Technology Can Address Healthcare’s Growing Pains
By Nancy Pratt, Chief Operating Officer, AirStrip
Twitter: @AirStripmHealth

Science and medicine continue to advance at an astonishing rate thanks to technological innovation. We have already seen digital health solutions that promise to transform patient care in our lifetime. While these advancements are indeed groundbreaking for the healthcare industry, there are still basic day-to-day care processes in hospitals across the country ripe for improvement by applying technology. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

EHR Optimization as a Bridge to Population Health Management
By Teri Hart, RN, Director, Advisory Services, Pivot Point Consulting
Twitter: @pivotpc

In the quest to meet value-based care, population health and quality reporting goals, healthcare leaders face an array of avenues and tactics. While the strategies differ, one constant in virtually all efforts to bring structure to new care delivery models is the improved use of technology and systems, and the troves of data they store and transmit. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

HIPAA Compliance and the HITECH Act in 2018
By Kayla Matthews, HealthIT writer and technology enthusiast, Tech Blog
Twitter: @ProductiBytes

HIPAA compliance is an essential part of running a medical practice. The current incarnation of the HIPAA regulations has been in place since 2003 and they haven’t changed much in the intervening years — until now, that is. The HITECH Act, which was signed into law in 2009, is expected to be fully adopted this year. What does the HITECH Act mean for HIPAA compliance, and what are the changes you need to make to your practice to ensure you’re in compliance with both HIPAA and HITECH? Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

Applying Deep Learning to Electronic Health Records
By Edmond Zhang, Senior Data Scientist, Orion Health
Twitter: @OrionHealth

Deep learning technology has numerous innovative medical applications, one that stands out in the field of precision medicine is the ability to utilize electronic health records to create better models for patient representation. The potential for this technology is enormous. At present, clinicians are already capturing a staggering amount of patient data. The traditional function of this data collection has always been for empowering doctors and clinical workers with on-hand knowledge, in order to provide informed care for individual patients. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…

MACRA Funding Opportunity: Measure Development for the Quality Payment Program
By Kate Goodrich, M.D., M.H.S., Director, CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality & CMS Chief Medical Officer
Twitter: @CMSgov

CMS is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for the development, improvement, updating, and expansion of quality measures for use in the Quality Payment Program. CMS will be partnering directly with clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders to provide up to $30 million of funding and technical assistance in development of quality measures over three years. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…

Security Risks with PHI Transmitted by Messaging and Call Centers
By Matt Ferrari, Chief Technology Officer, ClearDATA
Twitter: @cleardatacloud

In my work, I see a lot of hospitals, from very large ones with 5,000 or more physicians to very small practices with five or fewer doctors dedicate time and energy to security and compliance, and yet overlook a huge gaping hole that opens them to risk: answering services and call centers provided by third-party vendors. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…

New Medicare Reality: Changing HICNs
By Tyler Williams, Partner at Payor Logic
Twitter: @PayorLogic

An impending Medicare card change will present new billing and reimbursement challenges for all healthcare providers—not just emergency medicine. Beginning April 1, 2018, CMS is removing social security numbers (SSNs) from the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) of over 150 million Medicare recipients, including approximately 60 million active Medicare patients. The new Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) will be assigned over an 18-month crossover period with new Medicare cards sent directly to enrollees. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…

Will HIMSS 18 Mourn the Passing of the Traditional Office Visit?
By Donald Voltz, MD, Aultman Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Medical Director of the Main Operating Room, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Case Western Reserve University and Northeast Ohio Medical University

Healthcare is evolving quickly and HIMSS 18 offers a broad range of healthcare issues to explore, but will it mourn the passing of the traditional office visit and embrace new HIT driven meet ups? New requirements for implementing HIT systems are changing as new health IT priorities and procedures emerge. Convergence in the health care sector is accelerating the need for interoperability, not just for EHRs, but also across clinical, financial, and operational systems. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…

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