One 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 May. You can also read previous month’s Top Ten Lists. Thank you for contributing and reading.
Most Played Radio Episode in May
Healthcare de Jure with host Matt Fisher chats with John Torous, MD (@JohnTorousMD), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about digital health and digital mental health.
Most Read Thought Leader Posts in May
Effective Immediately, CMS Renames MIPS ACI to PI
By Tom S. Lee, PhD, Founder & CEO, SA Ignite
Twitter: @saignite
CMS continues to refine and streamline incentive programs, this time focusing on Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) for hospitals and the Advancing Care Information (ACI) category for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). As stated by CMS, effective immediately EHR incentive programs and the MIPS ACI category are being renamed to Promoting Interoperability, PI. This change will move these programs into another important phase, increasing focus on interoperability and improving patient access to health information. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
MPI vs. EMPI: Comparing Patient Matching Value and Performance for the Healthcare Enterprise
By Gevik Nalbandian, Vice President of Software Engineering, NextGate
Twitter: @NextGate
Patient matching issues that result in duplicate records cost hospitals $1.5M a year, at an average of $1,950 per patient, and the U.S. healthcare system over $6 billion annually, according to a new survey by Black Book Research. The poll of 1,392 health technology managers found that before implementing an enterprise master patient index (EMPI) for managing patient identification, duplicates accounted for 18 percent of an organization’s records. Respondents utilizing EMPI technology reported accurately identifying patients at the point of registration 93 percent of the time and at a rate of 85 percent for records shared outside the organization. Those hospitals not using an EMPI reported a match rate of just 24 percent when exchanging medical records with out-of-network providers. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
The Ugly Truth About HIPAA Compliance and Cloud Backup
By Trenton Baker, Senior Product Marketing Manager, KeepItSafe
Twitter: @keepitsafe
Since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996, there have been notable advances in protecting the privacy of patient information handled by healthcare plans, health care clearinghouses and certain types of healthcare providers. Unfortunately for patients and providers, technology and the many advantages of the cloud, including its scalability, cost-efficiency, and flexibility have continued to outpace legislation. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
An Unnecessary Privacy Risk?: Online Nursery Photos
By Matt Fisher, Attorney and chair of the Health Law Group at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee, LLP.
Twitter: @matt_r_fisher
This post was inspired by a discussion with Dissent who runs DataBreaches.net. As a matter of circumstance, this post went live before Dissent posted about a specific website and the thoughts offered by a few other legal or security professionals. To get more insight, Dissent’s article about newborn photos should not be missed. Privacy and security of personal information are topics of constant discussion inside and outside of healthcare. Current events keep the heat on as one or the other never strays very far from headlines. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
How Blockchain Can Automate Referral Management
By Lynn Carroll, Chief of Strategy & Operations, HSBlox
Twitter: @HS_Blox
Referrals are a routine part of daily business for provider groups, but too many of these organizations lose business due to outdated, inefficient processes for managing referrals. Physician practices typically handle referrals through a tedious combination of paper, phone and email-based communications that exact a toll on staff and physicians, costing time and money. The consequences of the manual, error-prone referral process can be serious and wide-ranging: delayed care, unscheduled appointments, lack of transparency for care team members, duplicative tests and procedures, and burned-out, frustrated clinicians. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
Why SMEs and SMBs Fail After A Cyberattack
By Art Gross, President and CEO, HIPAA Secure Now!
Twitter: @HIPAASecureNow
Malicious cyberattacks are increasing every day around the globe. In fact, cyber-incidents nearly doubled from 82,000 incidents in 2016, to 159,700 in 2017. While the media often depicts large corporations as the primary target for cyberattacks, small business are just as likely – if not more likely to be targeted. An article on CSO looks at why small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and small- to medium-size businesses (SMBs) often fall victim to cyberattacks, in many cases leaving them unable to recover. Continue reading on HITECHAnswers.net…
How the IoT Is Changing Healthcare IT
By Kayla Matthews, HealthIT writer and technology enthusiast, Tech Blog
Twitter: @ProductiBytes
The Internet of Things (IoT) is impacting society in many different ways. Although the IoT is useful in roles involving industrial manufacturing, advanced business intelligence and similar niches, its effects are felt nearly everywhere — including healthcare. In some cases, the increased competitiveness offered by the IoT is a challenge to healthcare providers and medical facilities. As patients now have access to doctors and physicians from all around the world, it’s much easier for them to receive a diagnosis — whether it’s accurate or not. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…
Population Health Management Requires a Holistic View of Patient Data
By Jerry Shultz, President, Lightbeam Health
Twitter: @LightbeamHealth
To succeed under value-based reimbursement, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and clinically integrated networks (CINs) must be able to manage population health. One key to effective population health management is a holistic view of patient data. The data in a single physician practice’s EHR is insufficient to create the comprehensive view needed to help clinicians reach quality targets and cut costs significantly. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…
The Tyranny of Automation, with Mitchell Goldburgh, NTT Data Services at HIMSS 2018 — Harlow on Healthcare
By David Harlow, JD MPH, Principal, The Harlow Group LLC
Twitter: @healthblawg
At HIMSS 2018, I spoke with Mitchell Goldburgh, Global Solutions Manager, Enterprise Imaging and Analytics Solutions, NTT Data Services. (Twitter: @twitchell) He observed that one of the key challenges the healthcare system is struggling with is the adoption of new technology needed to address population health, both on the diagnostic end and on the care management end. Continue reading on HealthDataAnswers.net…
Why Patient Experience Matters With Overall Quality Scores
By April Wilson, VP, Marketing & Analytics for Healthcare, RevSpring
Twitter: @RevSpringInc
The CMS announced in November 2017 a new approach to quality measurement in response to continued provider concerns about delivering quality care under the Affordable Care Act’s value-based public approach to patients as consumers of healthcare. The new initiative, called “Meaningful Measures” is designed to measure providers only on those elements of care that they can truly influence. Continue reading on RCMAnswers.net…
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