|
|
|
HHS Announces Major Staff Changes
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced in an email that Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Acting Assistant Secretary and National Coordinator for Health IT, has resigned her position at ONC and being replaced by Dr. Vindell Washington as the new National Coordinator. DeSalvo will continue to serve as Acting Assistant Secretary. These changes are effective Friday, August 12 and will last until the end of the current Administration.
athenahealth Prioritizes Zika Utilizing EHR
eHI member, athenahealth, announced recently tracking of the impact of the Zika virus across their network of 80,000 providers. They have already had successes, identifying 1800 patients at risk of infection. The majority of these cases were in the Miami area, with athenahealth contacting providers in an effort to engage patients for outreach and testing. They plan to publish initial patterns of infection on its website soon.
GSK and Alphabet Create Joint Venture in Bioelectronics
Pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has announced a new joint venture with Alphabet subsidiary, Verily. These two companies hope that their efforts will create the first generation of bioelectronic medicine for chronic diseases. GSK has been in the field since 2012, using approaches that aim to disrupt certain body signals through a tiny implant. They are bringing $715 million over the next seven years to the effort. Verily focuses on big data and devices such as “smart” lenses and surgical automation. Research and development for the joint venture is split between GSK in the United Kingdom and Verily offices in the San Francisco Bay area. The efforts will be based in the UK.
New Fitbit Exec Charged with Building Out Pharma Partner Deals
In an effort to increase their exposure and influence to the wider healthcare community, Fitbit announced the hiring of a new executive from Walgreens. Adam Pelligrini will serve as the newly created post of president of digital health. His task endeavors to bring Fitbit’s products and services into the clinical setting. Mr. Pelligrini will work to develop partnerships across the healthcare community with pharma, devices, healthcare systems, payers, and providers. Fitbit CEO, James Park, sees the end goal to become a digital health platform to integrate into the wider healthcare infrastructure.
Long-term Care Hit Hard By Medicare Changes
Changes in the way that Medicare reimburses long-term care hospitals is likely to cause financial hardships to many facilities, according to Standard and Poor’s, in a new report. The change by CMS prohibits paying any patients admitted to long-term care unless they spend at least three days in the hospital’s ICU or coronary care units immediately before transfer. Changes were made over concerns that hospitals were discharging patients to long-term care to optimize bed capacity. Long-term care facilities provide better care and are less expensive for some patients than acute care facilities.
Improving App Design Requires Engagement of Diverse Patient Pool
Widespread engagement of diverse patient populations is critical to effective development of mHealth applications, according to a new study. Researchers focused on 11 known apps for managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and depression. They examined 26 patients using the tools, tracking the patients based on data entry and data retrieval. They evaluated app usability for elderly patient caregivers. Results of the study indicate that users had trouble with multiple screens and steps for basic data tasks; they were unable to complete 50 percent of the tasks without assistance. These findings are similar to findings in a study published earlier in the year.
Cost Should Remain Focus of Telehealth Programs - Study
Many business models are being applied to telehealth centers in order to continue growth and keep them sustainable. In a new study in Telemedicine and e-Health, researchers at the University of New Mexico began the study as a way to find alternative funding streams for their organization. They examined business models at various centers, nationwide, to determine best practices for sustainability. In the review, they found five approaches to sustainability: grants, telehealth membership fees, income from providing clinical services, per encounter charges, and operating as a cost center. These researchers found that the “majority of telehealth centers have been established as cost centers that may be supplemented with grants, contracts, or other user fees.” At the current time, this should remain the go-to business model.
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, August 17, 2-3 pm ET, Advisory Board on Business and Clinical Motivators- Mark Savage, Director of Health Information Technology Policy and Programs at the National Partnership for Women and Families
Thursday, August 25, 2-3 pm ET, Council of Data Analytics Experts- Doug Dietzman, Executive Director, Great Lakes Health Connect
Monday, September 12, 2-3 pm ET, Interoperability Workgroup, Janine Akers, CEO, Data File Technologies
Tuesday, September 27, 9 am- 4 pm ET, Executive Advisory Board of Privacy & Security
October 4-5, 2016 Innovation Showcase at House of Sweden in Washington, D.C.
|
|
October 4-5, 2016 Innovation Showcase at House of Sweden in Washington, DCRegister now for eHI’s Innovation Showcase and Conference! Reserve your spot today to receive the early-bird rate. Attend the event that gives you more than just an Innovation Challenge – the program agenda features panels, including industry experts, innovative executives and key policymakers. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and engage directly with speakers and fellow attendees. This is the perfect forum to have your voice heard among a multi-stakeholder group of industry executives! REGISTER TODAY, view our agenda and learn of the challenge, including how to submit an innovation proposal (deadline for submission is September 9).
|
|
|
|
Areas with Poor Broadband Tend to Have Poorer Health
A new tool from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has found a link between population health and levels of broadband access. “Mapping Broadband Health in America” is a tool designed to inform data-driven decision making to encourage policy efforts regarding broadband and connected health solutions. Initial findings suggest health of populations is poorer in areas that lack access to high-speed broadband. In one case, prevalence of obesity is 25 percent higher in digitally-isolated counties. Additionally, rural areas are harder hit in the lack of connectivity: almost 60 percent of rural Americans have high rates of chronic disease and low rates of access to broadband. The mapping tool was developed by the FCC's Connect2Health Task Force to accelerate healthcare technology adoption through broadband and other communication services.
DoD Inspector General to Assess Army EHR Security
The United States Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (IG) indicated that it will audit the security of the current electronic health records in August. This is set to be the first in a series of audits in the military on the subject of EHR security. Specifically, the audit examines the US Army Medical Command, the enhanced Multi-Service Market, led by the Army in the Puget Sound Region, the Army medical center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, and one Army hospital and clinic at Fort Carson, Colorado. More locations may be added during the process, the department indicated.
|
|
Major Cyberattack Hits Health System in Western US
Banner Health, a major health system in the Western United States, suffered a cyberattack on Wednesday through a vendor. The attack impacted systems for processing credit card purchases at restaurants and vending machines. Over 3.7 million patients, health plan members, dining customers, and employees may be affected. The attack began on June 23, lasting until discovery, two weeks later. In total, 27 locations were affected across the system.
|
|
|
|
|
|
