Connected Health

Curavi Health offers tools that enable clinicians to remotely connect with patients via camera, Bluetooth stethoscope, digital otoscope and technologies.  

More than half of U.S. consumers with smartphones have shared medical information via the Internet, and that means the time is ripe for developers to ramp up their mobile health tools and distribution efforts.

A guide to the annual event taking place in Washington, DC next week, as well as virtual and live gatherings around the country. Topical and timely themes include precision medicine, telehealth, interoperability and population health. 

Granite Health and Exeter Health Resources are partnering with the aims of achieving meaningful operational efficiencies and boosting a robust population health management program already in place. Granite Health itself is a partnership of five of the largest community-based health systems in New Hampshire, including Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, Concord Hospital in Concord, LRGHealthcare in Laconia and Franklin, Southern New Hampshire Health in Nashua and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover. Exeter Health Resources includes operating affiliates Exeter Hospital, Core Physicians and Rockingham Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice. Granite Health is leveraging its broad scope of services and scale to identify care gaps and unexplained variation in utilization, cost and quality across its member health systems, the organization said. By adding Exeter Hospital’s 38 communities in its primary service area, Granite Health member health systems now serve eight of the largest cities and more than 120 towns in the state. With its significant scale and services, Granite Health has established a patient-centered population health management program to improve care, enhance the patient experience and decrease overall cost of care by practicing evidence-based medicine, the organization explained. The approach, the organization said, includes: • A data-driven strategy using claims and clinical information to identify populations in need of intervention and unexplained variation in utilization, cost and quality across the health system. • Learning collaborative and identification of best practices for care coordination and patient engagement. • Evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice that target known gaps and unexplained variation in care. “Granite Health continues to be at the forefront of embracing innovative ideas to improve the health of New Hampshire communities,” said Kevin J. Callahan, president and CEO of Exeter Health Resources. “The Exeter Health Resources affiliates will bring a lot of new strengths and capacity to Granite Health. But even for successful, growing independent healthcare organizations there are significant benefits from joining with other successful locally independent organizations to share resources, knowledge, competencies and infrastructure. By joining Granite Health, we will be better equipped to face the challenges of an ever-changing healthcare marketplace and help shape an even better future for New Hampshire’s healthcare system.” Rachel Rowe, president and CEO of Granite Health, has led the organization since its inception in 2011. “Throughout its 120-year history, Exeter Hospital has seen considerable growth and has become a leader in adopting effective tools to improve the health of its community,” Rowe said. “We have been working on population health management and operational efficiencies for over five years now. In the midst of a changing healthcare delivery system, we are excited to be growing and serving as a model for success.” Callahan joins Granite Health’s board of directors, which is comprised of the CEOs who represent each of Granite Health’s member health systems. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

At the HIMSS Pop Health Forum in Chicago this week, Cleveland Clinic Chief Experience Officer Adrienne Boissy, MD, made the case that health apps alone are not a strategy – and in fact can hinder positive patient experience if they're not deployed wisely.

A number of health devices connect through the headphone jack and some of those vendors are already working on new versions that will support Bluetooth for the new iPhone 7. 

Fair Health Cost Lookup CT enables users to estimate costs for medical and dental procedures based on geographical region and it provides resources that explain the fundamentals of health coverage. 

The companies will blend Philips’ health informatics and cloud data management with Qualcomm’s medical devices for scalable care tools and services under one ecosystem.

The Epic EHR shop earned accolades for its use of advanced analytics, smart pumps, tracking monitors and census data to improve patient care and quality. 

An Intermountain Healthcare study conducted at 27 team-based medical practices and 75 traditional practices revealed that delivering integrated mental and physical healthcare in team-based primary care settings yields better results for patients and also reduces the rates of healthcare utilization and lowers cost.