Technology

When data is allowed to flow freely, it can be used to understand the patient better and wrap a targeted intervention around them, explained Victor Murray, director for care management initiatives at the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.

Sandoz announced it will no longer pursue FDA approval for its proposed biosimilar rituximab; when it comes time to set the clocks back an hour for daylight saving time, hospitals opt for paper records during the night shift to compensate for challenges with electronic health records; new research on the effectiveness of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines finds little evidence that these products will relieve a child’s symptoms when sick.

Although patients have the right of access to their protected health information, actual access remains limited. A new study, published in JAMA Network Open, has found that the processing of requesting medical records remains burdensome despite policy efforts.

When consumers try to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans on the federal marketplace, they may encounter hours-long downtime for the site; the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement would increase pharmaceutical exclusivity from 8 years to 10 years, delay access to competition from biosimilar biologics; Medicare is considering paying for telemedicine for a 5-minute check-in call, but physicians question the proposal.

People are getting better at handling data in their electronic health records (EHRs), but there is a lot and there should be a way to categorize how the data should be used, said Pamela Tobias, MS, RHIA, CHDA, administrator of oncology services at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

The opioid epidemic remains a major issue. While technology and data can be used to help combat the crisis, they are not silver bullets, and there remains a lot of work to do, said speakers at an event hosted by The Hill.

It’s really important to take advantage of the data in an electronic health record (EHR) system, but sometimes people don’t know what information is being captured behind the scenes, said Pamela Tobias, MS, RHIA, CHDA, administrator of oncology services at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Digital health can improve care around the world, but if used poorly could exacerbate existing disparities, said Ejim E. Mark, MD, MPH, MBA, CEO and founder of Access Healthcare Foundation.

Using technology and collected data can greatly improve care coordination, but some low-tech options, like better team communication and involving the patient are also important, explained Barbara Tofani, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, administrative director of the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center.

While technology continues to improve, healthcare has not always been quick to keep up with changes. Panelists at The American Journal of Managed Care®’s Accountable Care Delivery Congress highlight the ways their organizations are using technology to improve care.

Pulling data out of an electronic health record (EHR) to be analyzed can be difficult because that’s not what these systems were typically created to do, said Pamela Tobias, MS, RHIA, CHDA, administrator of oncology services at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Practice reorganization can worsen clinician burnout, explained Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP, senior natural scientist and director of the Boston office at RAND Corporation, who also discussed his solutions for addressing burnout in the practice.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-enabled devices are already making their way into the market and should be able to help make meaning of data in order to improve care delivery, said speakers at the 15th Annual World Health Care Congress.

Communication is critical in providing integrated, comprehensive care, said Mark Soberman, MD, MBA, FACS, former president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC).

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care stories included an announcement from CMS of creating direct provider contracting, plus a broad set of proposed rules for health information technology; new recommendations to improve postpartum care; a look at future competition among specialty drugs.

There are 3 major components in the 21st Century Cures Act that will fix the technology challenges facing healthcare and accountable care organizations (ACOs), said Don Rucker, national coordinator of health information technology (IT) in HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, at the spring 2018 conference of the National Association of ACOs.

Recent changes in the healthcare industry can both contribute to and exacerbate clinician burnout, but can also improve the situation, said Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH, vice president for Performance Improvement at the American Medical Association.

Barbara Balik, EdD, MS, RN, co-founder of Aefina Partners and senior faculty at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, recognizes the positives and negatives of electronic health records.

Tom Gallo, president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers, discusses how burnout is on the rise, but being better addressed now, as well as how technology can both contribute to and alleviate burnout.

Finding inefficiencies in operational processes to identify gaps, improve symptom management and adherence, and optimizing value-based care—these are a few of the advantages of implementing technology in the daily operations of a community-based practice. This was the takeaway message from a series of presentations at the Association of Community Cancer Centers' 44th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, March 14-16, 2018, in Washington DC.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care stories included Cigna's deal to buy Express Scripts; Seema Verma, Alex Azar, and Scott Gottlieb, MD, made the rounds at health conferences; an analysis finds FDA's accelerated approval pathway has been a success with hematology and oncology drugs.

As billing and insurance-related costs continue to largely contribute to administrative costs in healthcare, electronic health records (EHRs) were proposed as a potential solution to streamline the billing process and cut costs. However, a study in JAMA has found that EHRs do not lower administrative costs.

In healthcare, digital care and telemedicine efforts are mostly viewed as an add-on to US healthcare, but that mindset should be flipped, argued Sean Duffy, CEO of Omada Health, in a piece written for The New England Journal of Medicine, titled “In-Person Healthcare as Option B.”

Brenton Fargnoli, MD, medical director of value-based care and director of product marketing and strategy at Flatiron Health, addresses the issues electronic health records (EHRs) cause and what Flatiron Health can do to make things more efficient.

Value-based care and interoperability continue to progress in the United States, but barriers that limit sharing of clinical information among hospitals, physicians, and health plans remain, according to a study by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and sponsored by Humana.

Technology is becoming more prevalent in practice, so it's crucial that practices choose the right technology to deliver care, said Robin Shah, vice president of Provider Marketing and Strategy at Flatiron Health.

Nat Turner, co-founder and CEO of Flatiron Health, says that clinical research accessibility is one of the biggest barriers in oncology care that Flatiron Health is working to remove.

Despite the high level of hospital adoption of electronic health records and the federal incentives to do so, the most common type of data breach in hospitals occurred with paper records and films.