EHR

The American Hospital Association found that providers are enabling patients to conduct more tasks online, including paying bills, contacting their provider, and scheduling appointments.

HHS and VA have made huge investments in infrastructure and cybersecurity. With its massive EHR modernization project the DHA is also opening its purse strings.

While new models of care have emerged, none are easily replicable. That’s challenging in an industry where spending is uncertain but providers and policymakers can look to the most expensive patients as an opportunity to drive innovation.  

Population health management, EHRs and biosensing technologies were also among the top investment areas.

William Yasnoff, MD, has developed a personal grid format that can prevent hackers from accessing an entire database full of patient records. Hospitals or IT vendors can use the tactic – for free – to force cybercriminals to decrypt one record at a time.

HIMSS Executive Vice President Carla Smith and PCHA EVP Patricia Mechael caution against applying the phrase to all digital health apps and tools. Instead, executives and innovators should work to align emerging technologies with consumer demand.

The Consumer Health Data Aggregator and Provider User Experience challenges focus on easing access to information for patients and clinicians, using open APIs and the FHIR interoperability standard.  

Cerner President Zane Burke said that Hurst, currently a senior vice president at Florida Hospital, brings both vision and operational expertise to the software vendor.  

The names and Twitter handles of this year's social media favorites as voted on by the people. 

Hospital computer and math science positions are on the uptick, with 17.9 percent growth between 2010 to 2014, according to a MedPAC analysis of Bureau of Labor statistics. That growth may reflect healthcare's efforts to transition to electronic health records.