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eHealthBeat- Providers Say HIE Improving Payer-Provider Relations

Vol.17 Issue: 13

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Thursday, April 14, 2016
Providers Say Collaborative HIE Improving Payer-Provider Relations According to Survey

 
Market research firm Black Book released a new survey of over 2000 provider HIE users, 2300 payers that utilize HIE, and 4100 prospective HIE users. There are nine primary survey findings, including the following: 1) 83 percent of physician practices and 40 percent of hospitals are in the planning and catch-up stages of sending and sharing secure, relevant data; 2) between the third quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, the survey recorded growing HIE user frustration over the lack of standardization and unpreparedness of providers and payers; and, 3) respondents who self-identified as prospective HIE users, 57 percent blamed their reluctance on HIT/EHR vendor connectivity defects and a lack of vendor preparedness.
IBM and Pfizer Announce Partnership on IoT Study for Parkinson’s

 
Thursday, International Business Machines (IBM) and Pfizer announced a partnership to study Parkinson’s Disease using analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT). The study spans three years and pulls data from wearable devices that monitor patient data in real time. They hope to advance the understanding of neurological diseases, specifically diagnosis and treatment. An additional benefit will be to speed up clinical trials in the future, allowing new developments to come to market faster. “With the proliferation of digital health information, one area that remains elusive is the collection of real-time physiological data to support disease management,” said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research.
Cerner & Ascension Leadership Aspire Toward Interoperable EHR

 
At the Nashville Healthcare Council, Cerner Corp. President, Zane Burke, and Ascension Health Senior VP, Mike Schatzlein, discussed the shortcomings of the government’s $30 billion expenditure over the past five years to improve Electronic Health Records (EHR) adoption in clinical settings. Schatzlein commented that, although the government's investment helped providers improve their EHR systems, “we still didn't get a national medical record.” The panel expressed disappointment that despite how much was spent by the federal government, clinicians still do not have real-time access to patient information across providers. Acknowledging the security challenges in creating a national patient identifier program where patients can control the flow of recorders to and from providers, the panel seemed doubtful that Congress would readily approve of such a system.
Modernizing the Patient Experience could Yield Dividends

 
Oracle surveyed 300 North America C-level executives in a new study. According to C-suite executives, offering an individualized experience to patients could raise revenues by almost 16 percent. The report suggests that healthcare could seize missed opportunities by implementing self-service tools such as devices, on-demand order fulfillment, and software to increase intuitive experiences. “Our study reveals that organizations are unprepared to manage the need for personalization …Those that invest in their customers and employees will reap the benefits now and into the future,” said Bob Weiler, Executive Vice President, Global Business Units, Oracle in a statement.

 
Texting System Critical to Shortening Inpatient Stays

 
A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that texting services can help reduce stays rather than the traditional page system. The study of 11,500 patients in two hospitals and conducted by the Wharton School found that secure text messaging has promise. The test hospital transitioned from paging to secure text messaging on select floors and found a reduction of its average length of stay from six to 5.4 days per month. The control hospital saw no changes. A reduction of 14 percent when the provider used secure messaging. "Many forms of communications within the hospital are shifting mediums in part due to the rising adoption of smartphones and new mobile applications. However, little is known about how these changes impact clinical care and patient outcomes,” said chief researcher Mitesh S. Patel, M.D. in a statement.



 
A Two-Step Solution to Address the Barriers to Health Technology

 
Health data analytics firm, Apervita, and Health IT Now, a coalition of healthcare stakeholder groups, have released a white paper titled, From Meaningful Use to Meaningful Uses: Getting the Most from Meaningful Patterns of Data to Improve Health. This paper came out of a full day symposium of industry experts, hosted at MATTER, a Chicago-based association of health technology developers and users. The publication examines the current healthcare landscape, highlights the regulatory barriers to technological advancement and innovation, and offers policy recommendations to decision makers. Representing the collective input of over 100 conference attendees and speakers, this paper presents a two-step solution to improving care and lowering costs. The first is founded on the concept of interoperability and the second by implementing legal and regulatory reform; specifically, through Meaningful Use reform, FDA reform and Data Policy reform.
 



The AHA and hospital leaders take cybersecurity challenges seriously because protecting patients and their personal data is a 24-7, year-round responsibility and hospitals are continuously working to improve the security of their networks through implementing security measures, testing, maintaining back-ups, and deploying the latest upgrades. However, cybersecurity is more than just an IT issue – it requires an organization level risk reduction and response plan, leadership support and board oversight, and vigilance from everyone with access to the network. Getting involved in sharing information opportunities is crucial to staying ahead of emerging cybersecurity risks. To help, the AHA has a dedicated cybersecurity webpage that includes many resources for hospital leaders to understand the cybersecurity threats and incorporate cyber risk reduction and response into their strategic priorities. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

 
Monday, April 18, 3-4 pm ET, Interoperability Workgroup with Laura Young, Executive Director, Behavioral Health Information Network of Arizona.



Wednesday, April 20, 2-3 pm ET, Advisory Board on Business & Clinical Motivators with David Horrocks, President, CRISP



Thursday, April 28, 2-3 pm ET, Council of Data Analytics Experts



 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
 
Tuesday, May 10, 11:30 am -1 pm ET, Policy Working Group Lunch Meeting featuring Sarah P. Farrell, PhD, RN, Health Market Development Executive, Apple Education. Open to all eHI members


October 4-5, 2016 Innovation Challenge at House of Sweden in Washington, D.C.



To be included in any of the upcoming events email claudia.ellison@ehidc.org.
Karen DeSalvo Discusses Cybersecurity in Healthcare

 
During the National Quality Forum’s 2016 Annual Conference Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare, IT chief Karen DeSalvo spoke on the importance of cybersecurity in healthcare and the risks involved. Dr. DeSalvo was involved in a fireside chat where she was asked a question regarding the recent MedStar malware attack. She responded by reemphasizing the importance of physical security measures in cyber including automatic signoffs, care before opening attachments, and constant use of device passwords. 


AMIA Seeking Expanded SAMHSA Efforts

 
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) proposed an addition to the substance use disorder data sharing. Although the proposals are well-intended, they lacked the depth and breadth that the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) was hoping for. SAMHSA issued a notice on regulations.gov announcing updates to 42 CFR Part 2 earlier this year. The law restricts data sharing efforts in treatment of substance use patients by clinicians without specific consent from the patient. AMIA is concerned that the “proposed modifications to the rules unlikely to fully accomplish the goals established by SAMHSA,” according to a recent release. These revisions fail to address how complicated it is to effectively manage patients with incomplete information.


FTC and FDA Release Tool to Assist Developers

 
Recently, mobile health application developers have struggled to effectively navigate regulations from the federal government. To help alleviate these concerns, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are rolling out a web-based application enabling companies making these apps to navigate the regulatory environment. The new system inquires the developer about the app to best understand the technology in question and direct them to the proper regulatory requirements.


ONC Releases RFI Regarding Assessing Interoperability for MACRA

 
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has released a Request for Information regarding Assessing Interoperability for MACRA which must be received no later than 5 pm on June 3, 2016. This RFI is intended to solicit input on three topics: (1) measure population and key components of interoperability that should be measured; (2) current data sources and potential metrics that address section 106(b)(1) of MACRA; and (3) other data sources and metrics ONC should consider with respect to section 106(b)(1) of MACRA or interoperability measurement more broadly.

 
California Health Insurance Marketplace to Impose New Conditions on Plans

 
Covered California, California’s state-run health insurance exchange, announced the introduction of quality and cost provisions on its plans. Some of the changes include the requirement of health plans to dock hospitals at least six percent of payments if they fail to meet quality standards and giving bonuses to those that exceed standards. The plan will be phased in over seven years and is based on a similar plan by the federal exchange. If providers fail to meet quality standards by 2019, they will be dropped from networks.

 
DoD Names Cerner EHR Implementation Efforts

 
The United States Department of Defense announced the name for the new Military Health System Electronic Health Record project, MHS Genesis. Genesis will begin implementation in the Pacific Northwest later in 2016. Following that, a multi-year effort to install the EHR is expected. “Whether on a ship at sea, at a local clinic, or in a major hospital, MHS GENESIS will be available throughout all Department of Defense facilities, and accessible to all members of the DoD’s healthcare team,” according to the department.


A “New VA” with Improved Access to Care

 
In a briefing at the Association of Health Care Journalists’ conference April 8 in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. David J. Shulkin, Under Secretary for Health, announced that the VA is taking careful strides to improve access to care and strengthen the trust of the veterans that they serve. They have done this through initiatives such as the “My VA Access” which is a strategic plan that was introduced in 2014 to engage stakeholders and to better orient the organization around the needs of veterans. Shulkin announced that through this plan, the VA has a new mission to offer same day appointments when medically necessary at all of its medical centers by the end of 2016. To help achieve this mission, the VA has rolled out a new smartphone app called the “Veteran Appointment Request App”, which will allow veterans to manage their primary care and mental health appointments. The app is scheduled to become available to veterans by 2017
Telemedicine Considered to Help Zika Epidemic

 
Despite Brazil being lauded as the host of the 2016 Olympics, the infrastructure of this South American powerhouse is shockingly poor. The Zika outbreak has only exacerbated this problem. Enter Doctor Sandra Mattos. Dr. Mattos is a pediatrician in Brazil that is utilizing telemedicine tools to visit her patients that live hours away. She set up a network in 22 regional hospitals that offers around the clock care. Couriers run from hospital to hospital delivering the specialized equipment in rural communities. Her program is being piloted by the Brazilian government to gain insight into the scope of the epidemic. "I think it's a good model for Brazil, I think it's a good model for even rural places in the United States, [where] there isn't always the right care,” according to Dr. Mattos in an interview with NPR.
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