Health IT

Telehealth main IT priority at large health systems

Two-thirds of healthcare leaders expect their telehealth budgets to grow over the next three years, according to a new Vidyo report.
By Meg Bryant • March 22, 2019
MIPS participation in year 1 nets 95% of eligible clinicians

Of those participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System in 2017, 93% earned a positive payment adjustment, according to a new CMS report.
By Meg Bryant • March 21, 2019
Most health apps share data with third, fourth parties, BMJ analysis warns

"Clinicians should be conscious of privacy risks in their own use of apps and, when recommending apps, explain the potential for loss of privacy as part of informed consent," the study authors wrote.
By Meg Bryant • March 21, 2019
Deep Dive
As 5G looms, most hospitals watch from the sidelines

Chicago's Rush is an early mover with the tech, but many other big systems are taking a wait-and-see approach.
By Rebecca Pifer • March 21, 2019
Electronic prior authorization merits wider adoption, health IT, payer groups say

New data show the practice led to faster turnaround times and higher dispense rates than traditional requests by phone or fax.
By Rebecca Pifer • March 20, 2019
Patients mostly accept EHRs but privacy worries remain

Younger adults are less worried about health record privacy than other age groups, with 42% feeling "very" or "somewhat" concerned about unauthorized access, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
By Meg Bryant • March 19, 2019
Managing high-cost claims tops employer benefit plan concerns

Companies are also offering their workers more perks like telehealth, according to a new Mercer cost trends survey.
By Meg Bryant • March 19, 2019
Healthcare execs worried about business model disruption, survey shows

Risk aversion, integrating social determinants of health and rising consumerism are also catching the attention of C-suites in 2019, according to a new survey commissioned by Change Healthcare and the HealthCare Executive Group.
By Meg Bryant • March 18, 2019
Apple heart study: early proof of concept or a bit of a gimmick?

Doctors at the American College of Cardiology conference said the Apple Watch's foray into health monitoring needs more data to prove its value.
By David Lim • March 18, 2019
Amazon-Berkshire-JPM's Haven hires clinical strategy leader

Sandhya Rao joins the splashy venture from Partners Population Health, where she was senior medical director.
By Meg Bryant • March 15, 2019
Cerner, Epic 'fall behind' upstarts in infection surveillance, KLAS says

A poll of about 50 provider groups found Epic's efforts on surveillance software don't match expectations and Cerner users cite concerns with issue resolution and report accuracy.
By Meg Bryant • March 15, 2019
Cleveland Clinic creating center for AI in healthcare

Projects underway include machine learning models to predict patient length of stay and readmission risk and improve cancer detection.
By Meg Bryant • March 14, 2019
Telehealth underused by federally qualified health centers, analysis finds

Centers use telehealth largely for behavioral health sessions with patients, though some store-and-forward activities and remote patient monitoring also occur, according to the report by RAND Corporation.
By Meg Bryant • March 14, 2019
Hill-Rom plans $180M Voalte takeover to boost connected care unit

The acquisition will give the hospital equipment maker a communications system to complement its portfolio of smart devices.
By Nick Paul Taylor • March 13, 2019
Healthcare prices rose but use fell across US from 2012-16

Metro areas along the coast tended to have higher prices than in the Midwest, but there were many examples of neighboring areas with "starkly different" price levels, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.
By Meg Bryant • March 12, 2019
Diagnostic errors compounded by EHRs still No. 1 patient safety concern

Other major issues in the ECRI Institute's list of top 10 worries include overuse of antibiotics, clinician burnout and the growing but loosely regulated use of mobile health technologies in the home.
By Meg Bryant • March 12, 2019
Opinion
You don't think you have a patient matching problem. But will your patients agree?

Mark LaRow, CEO of patient matching company Verato, weighs in on HHS' new information blocking and interoperability rules and what they could mean for the industry.
By Mark LaRow • March 11, 2019
23andMe to gauge Type 2 diabetes risk

The genetic testing company sees a big market opportunity in the chronic disease and argues risk is currently underscreened.
By Maria Rachal • March 11, 2019
Hospitals missing opportunity to increase EHR integration

Just over a third of purchased hospitals switched to the acquiring health system's primary EHR following the transaction, according to a Health Affairs analysis.
By Meg Bryant • March 08, 2019
Livongo Health readies for IPO later this year

The chronic disease management startup has hired Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase to underwrite its IPO, according to The Wall Street Journal.
By Meg Bryant • March 08, 2019
More than half of hospital leaders see supply chain improvement as path to higher margins

Despite being a high priority, many hospitals rely on outdated methods to manage inventory and related costs, according to a survey conducted by Sage Growth Partners for SCM vendor Syft.
By Meg Bryant • March 07, 2019
CIO priorities vary by level of EHR deployment, survey finds

Organizations in the early stages of using a platform see cybersecurity and interoperability as top interests, ahead of analytics and patient engagement, according to CHIME and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
By Meg Bryant • March 07, 2019
Lyft teams up with blockchain platform as it preps for IPO

The partnership with the ride-hailing app will allow Solve.Care users to schedule rides to hospitals, doctor offices and pharmacies.
By Meg Bryant • March 07, 2019
Trump admin floats publicizing provider-payer negotiated rates

While still just a request for comment, pushback from doctors and hospitals is likely to be fierce.
By Shannon Muchmore , Rebecca Pifer • UPDATED: March 8, 2019 at 9:21 a.m.
Quarter of healthcare organizations had mobile-related security compromise in past year

More than half of industry organizations learned of a breach from a customer or partner, according to Verizon's Mobile Security Index.
By Meg Bryant • March 06, 2019