Diana Manos
Deloitte Consulting announced Monday it has closed on a deal to acquire Recombinant Data Corporation, a Newton, Mass.-based healthcare data warehousing and analytics firm. The move signals the growing momentum toward using clinical data to transform healthcare, say Deloitte officials.
Health plans are heading toward 100 percent participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs), according to a new study, with 78 percent of respondents already part of one, and 22 percent planning to participate in one. This is all leading to a scramble for health IT.
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Foundation has announced that John Glaser, CEO of Siemens Healthcare, Health Services Business Unit, has been selected as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Third quarter results of a venture capital study conducted by Mercom Capital Group showed healthcare IT remaining strong for the fifth quarter in a row, and the outcome of the presidential election is not expected to change that, according to Raj Prabhu, managing partner of Mercom.
The Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) has added its voice to those of four Republican lawmakers who recently called for a temporary halt to meaningful use incentives until the program is revamped. But, unlike the lawmakers, CCHF wants federal involvement in EHRs eliminated altogether.
The Seventh Annual National Health IT Week, held September 10-14, celebrated the need for health information technology in making comprehensive healthcare reform possible, and was a testament to the progress being made.
If renowned nurse, "The Lady with the Lamp," Florence Nightingale were alive today, she would most likely be amazed and pleased. Nightingale (1820-1910) meticulously collected data on healthcare and used it to improve outcomes. She was the founder of several data analysis tools still used today, according to American Nurses Association.
To some today - and perhaps to Nightingale - healthcare IT adoption may be going too slow, but there is achievement worth noting. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently reported it has paid nearly $7 billion in Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record payments since the program's beginning in 2011, with $6.9 billion paid out to 143,800 physicians and hospitals in total program estimates through the end of August.
In July, the totals were $6.6 billion since the program's start, paid to 132,511 eligible providers.
Of course, it's not all roses. Most hospitals and health systems report being well along in completing electronic health record implementation, but many still have doubts about their ability to meet new EHR standards, according to a new poll from KPMG.
Forty-eight percent of hospital and health system business leaders who participated in the survey said they were confident in their organization's level of readiness to meet Stage 1 meaningful use requirements, say KPMG officials. Thirty-nine percent said they were somewhat confident, 3 percent said they were not confident at all, and 10 percent didn't know what their level of readiness was.
With the impending election and fears that the Affordable Care Act may be dismantled should Republicans take power, some are also afraid the frenzy to cut federal spending could blossom into cutbacks on health IT incentives into the future. But for now, HIT incentives are safe through the HITECH Act.
One thing is certain. With or without incentives, healthcare IT will move forward, if simply to catch up with a rapidly advancing tech society, accustomed to new smart phones and computers with new bells and whistles on an ongoing basis.
It may be only the seventh year - a small step - for National Health IT Week, but it is part of a big leap for healthcare consumers.
Federal regulators announced in September that they have dropped plans to write formal regulations, or “rules of the road,” to control the exchange of health information within the nationwide health information network (NwHIN).
The federal government released the final rules for Stage 2 meaningful use on Aug. 23, with federal officials' assurance that the public's voice was heard. But some key players are saying doctors' best interests weren't met.
The Health Information and Management Systems Society has named Honolulu-based Hawai'i Pacific Health winner of the 2012 Enterprise HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence. Hawai'i Pacific Health is a Stage 6 hospital in electronic health record adoption; a nonprofit healthcare system; and Hawaii's largest healthcare provider.
One of the most interesting and innovative elements of the advancement of health information technology that I’ve encountered, is Blue Button, a web tool patients can use to view and download their personal health information. Blue Button has been in use for two years by the Veterans Health Administration and other healthcare organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, McKesson, Aetna and United Health Group.