Technology

What we're reading, January 14, 2016: President Obama proposes extending financial assistance for new states expanding Medicaid eligibility; Hillary Clinton goes hard after Bernie Sanders on single-payer healthcare; and health information exchanges reduce repeated imaging procedures.

Tele-ICU has been part of a model of care that has tremendous potential to positively affect patients and their families; however, the concept of tele-ICU still faces a few challenges.

A new survey by a healthcare technology solutions company has identified that manual follow-up procedures on late payments from insurance companies costs the organization 33% more per claim than previous estimates.

Neglecting patient and caregiver preferences hamstrings the development of medical technologies and engaging these stakeholders is vital, said John Bridges, PhD, associate professor of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Telemedicine in mobile stroke treatment can reduce time to evaluation and thrombolysis.

Most physicians consider telehealth a promising tool in improving patient access to primary care services, but only 15% use it in their practice.

E-consult implementation grew from 12 to 122 VHA sites with multiple specialties. The adjusted e-consult rate of 1.93/100 consults saved significant patient travel miles and costs.

Consumer demand for engagement in health information technology is a vital aspect of achieving national health goals, but multiple barriers prevent this demand from being filled.

An automated cancer screening outreach tool implemented in a mature health information technology environment can achieve cost savings through reduced clinician time devoted to screening efforts.

Electronic health record data can be used to predict patient absenteeism accurately. Predictive overbooking of missed appointments can significantly increase service utilization.

Patients with diabetes that are cared for by primary care teams with higher cohesion experienced greater EHR-related outcome improvements, compared with patients cared for by lower cohesion teams.

What we're reading, December 9, 2015: the federal government recovered $200 million from state's whose health insurance exchanges faltered; drug cocktails are responsible for majority of drug overdose deaths in Massachusetts; and healthcare organizations are not confident in their ability to share patient data while protecting patient privacy.

The challenge with data in oncology is making sense of it and connecting it in a way that clinicians can make insights that inform the care they provide patients in real time, said Robert J. Green, MD, vice president of clinical strategy and senior medical director at Flatiron Health.

This paper identified 4 factors associated with implementation success of e-consults in 8 VA medical centers, with implications for implementing similar health IT initiatives elsewhere.

Health IT—enabled information sharing promotes communication within care teams. This study examined health IT adoption rates among practices that employ nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Electronic health record adoption in US hospitals has progressed well, but small and rural hospitals remain behind and face financial penalties.

What we're reading, December 3, 2015: health spending in the US topped $3 trillion in 2014; experts debate the true impact of proposed health insurer mega-mergers; and a survey finds ICD-10 transition has been mostly without trouble.

Hospitals are facing hundreds of millions in penalties for readmissions, and they are trying coding gimmicks to avoid these. Instead, it's time send a nurse home with every discharge.

Compared with patients who had clinical encounters involving low computer use, those who experienced high computer use by their physicians were less likely to rate their care as excellent, a study reports.

Telehealth has great potential to improve access to healthcare, but the promise of the technology depends on a number of factors, such as modernization of policy frameworks and communications infrastructures.

The future of patient engagement in healthcare will be mobile, which should also help reduce healthcare disparities as more and more less-fortunate groups adopt smartphones, said Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, vice president of Connected Health at Partners HealthCare.

A weight-loss cell phone app alone did not help overweight young adults sustain weight loss any better than a written handout did.

There is an enormous medication adherence problem in the United States, and millions of people could benefit from cognitive therapy, and technology can help.

The estimated cost per quality-adjusted life year for the PCSK9 drugs is $300,000. How should health plans respond?

Using information in a patient's electronic medical record during outpatient visits for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can lead to better outcomes, according to a study in Respiratory Medicine.

Interoperability is becoming the most sought-after in healthcare, but needs further standardization.

What we're reading, November 5, 2015: defensive medicine actually does reduce malpractice risk; patients would like more options for using digital technology with their healthcare; and Americans are eating healthier.

A majority of pharmacies are committed to implementing an electronic prior authorization (ePA) solution that sends prior authorization requests electronically to the prescriber.

What we're reading, October 29, 2015: Fewer health plans will be available on HealthCare.gov in 2016; PBMs cut ties with pharmacy connected to Valeant; and emergency departments are dissatisfied with electronic health record interoperability.

Patients who had access to their PCP's progress notes had improved adherence to prescribed antihypertension medications.