Imprivata, Verato leverage biometrics in effort to improve patient matching

The companies say linking Imprivata's patient identification tool with Verato's cloud-based master patient index will ensure patients are matched with the correct medical records.

By Meg Bryant • April 4, 2019

Amazon's Alexa now has HIPAA-compliant features

Six companies taking part in the online giant's invitation-only developer program launched their features Thursday, including Atrium Health, Cigna, Express Scripts and Livongo.

By Shannon Muchmore • April 4, 2019

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Interoperability

Interoperability is a long term-challenge for the healthcare industry, but the Trump administration has big ambitions to improve data sharing and patient access — even though its plans so far have few details.

By Healthcare Dive staff

Industry groups seek cybersecurity safe harbor

In response to a senator's request, several organizations highlighted the need for a national strategy and greater collaboration among various stakeholders, according to a think tank that read the responses.

By Meg Bryant • April 3, 2019

Growth in telehealth use outpaces urgent care centers, retail clinics

Between 2016 and 2017, telehealth use jumped 53% nationwide, according to a new white paper from the nonprofit FAIR Health.

By Meg Bryant • April 2, 2019

Digital health investments slow in Q1, but IPOs brewing

M&A within digital health was also a little slow in the first quarter, with 21 acquisitions compared to quarterly averages of 31 in recent years.

By Maria Rachal • April 2, 2019

Health systems stepping up investment in analytics, survey shows

Nearly a third of health systems have a C-suite leader dedicated to analytics, up from 12% in 2015, according to a survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

By Meg Bryant • March 29, 2019

Wyden floats adding prescription drug comparison tool to EHRs

A preliminary outline from the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee lacks many specifics, such as potential ramifications on EHR usability or increased administrative burden on providers.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 28, 2019

UPS teams up with drone startup to deliver medical samples at North Carolina hospital

The initiative, part of a three-year Federal Aviation Administration pilot program to test practical applications for drones, has been in trial mode since August. UPS announced its participation this week.

By Meg Bryant • March 28, 2019

App store quality claims for mental health apps rarely backed up

Of 73 mental health apps studied, two described "low-quality, primary evidence" to support their use and just one referenced published literature, according to a new study in Nature.

By Meg Bryant • March 28, 2019

Industry urges slower pace on HHS interoperability rules

Officials from LifePoint, Omada Health and an IT group told a Senate panel more time is needed to process the rules and for implementation.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 27, 2019

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

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 Parduhn • 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 Parduhn • 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