Skip to main content

Customer Experience and Design

Top 5 Technology Trends in Healthcare – December 2012

The healthcare IT field is rapidly developing and changing. Emerging technology and updated regulations put pressure on healthcare providers and health plans to stay ahead of the curve. Perficient creates a monthly list that explores some of the current topics and issues in health IT. This list examines the most talked about issues and technologies that are currently affecting the industry.

HCBlog Top5

Portals

Having social networking access to providers, via secure portals, patients have the ability to be more engaged in their care and make better decisions about the care they receive. Portals provide near instantaneous access to patient and clinical information, streamline core business processes, referrals and claims, and improve communications with patients/members, physicians, administrators and partners. Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements are helping to spur the growth of portals.

Hospital Readmissions

Hospital readmission is a growing problem within our health system. Many patients discharged from an inpatient stay find themselves back in the hospital within 30 days. Some of these readmissions are considered avoidable and as signs of poor care and coordination. Predictive analytics are able to help healthcare organizations manage clinical issues in a timely manner and analyze statistical data to identify potentially preventable conditions. Healthcare business intelligence can provide organizations the ability to use their data to improve quality of care, increase financial efficiency and operational effectiveness, conduct innovative research and satisfy regulatory requirements

Health Insurance Exchanges

Exchanges are organizations that will encourage a more organized and competitive market for buying health insurance. They offer different health plan options; certifying plans that participate and providing information to help consumers better understand their options. These exchanges will be required by 2014, and will assist individuals and small businesses in comparing and purchasing health insurance coverage.

Accountable Care Organizations

An ACO is a group of healthcare providers that partner under a payment and delivery reform model. These partners become collectively accountable for the full continuum of care for a population of patients. This reform model ultimately ties reimbursement to quality metrics and reductions in the total cost of care for the patient population.

Health Information Exchange

Healthcare systems and state and local government agencies must exchange health information to those who can impact the delivery of care while empowering those who receive that care in order to meet regulatory standards and maintain business viability in the future. Interoperability plays a key role in ensuring systems can communicate with each other to share information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.