Posts Tagged ‘healthcare’

Let’s face it tablets and smart phones have increased productivity levels of employed professionals. However, many physicians have not experienced these benefits, because their systems limit access to pertinent medical information to solely work computers. For the most part, healthcare providers have been unable to review lab or medical image results from anywhere but their […]

A recent post by ICD-10 Watch sums up the ICD-10 struggle well: “ICD-10 coding is a tough sell” and “great healthcare is in the data”. Weinberger points out that providers are stretched to their limits with the many other healthcare reforms and feel like the benefits of adopting ICD-10 simply aren’t there. However, the ICD-10 […]

Compared to other nations, the United States has difficulty measuring up to some key areas related to health care quality. In terms of life expectancy, Docteur and Berenson (2009) contend that the United States has one of the lowest life expectancy rates and the highest mortality rate from conditions that could have been prevented. These […]

The healthcare industry is ecstatic about the opportunity to apply business intelligence (BI) to improve healthcare quality, cost and outcomes. Providers are using BI to address process issues that limit operational efficiencies. BI is “the solution” to successfully overcoming short-comings and creating provider bottom-line benefits, patient time and efficiency benefits and overall social equity. IBM […]

According to the AHRQ, there are an approximate 4.4 million preventable discharges which contribute to $30 billion in healthcare costs annually. Beginning in October 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid will begin punishing hospitals by withholding reimbursements to hospitals with higher-than-average readmission rates for patients with three types of diagnoses or health issues: 1. […]

The push for electronic health records (EHRs) kicked into high gear in 2010 when providers spent a record breaking $88.6 billion on health IT initiatives based in adopting EHRs. While many are cheering on the movement, others are more hesitant as security concerns emerge. Price Water Cooper claims that the use of EHRs drastically increases […]

Requirements regarding the electronic transfer of personal health information differs from state to state. Some have suggested that the Federal government needs to establish guidelines for health information exchanges. Health information exchanges (HIEs) are technology solutions that address healthcare issues by aggregating massive amounts of data and allowing multiple entities have access to the data […]

Taking a top-down approach to government initiatives has been scorned by New Public Management advocates, who claim that a top-down hierarchical structure hampers efficiency, fails to meet the needs of society and lends itself to poor outcomes. Yet, today’s Meaningful Use initiative is noted for taking a top-down approach. If scholars are right, then Meaningful […]

Telehealth, not to be confused with telemedicine, is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. It is yet another way to address healthcare quality issues and offer consumer-centric healthcare. InMedica’s most recent report, “The World Market for Telehealth – A Quantitative Market Assessment – 2011 Edition,” projects the telehealth market will “exceed […]

One of the most costly and concerning healthcare expenditures is emergency room visits. Providers and payers are especially concerned with the uptick in ER visits, because ER visits are known to be extra costly and peppered with discressionary visits. Providers and payers have decided lowering ER useage could be done by identifying ER abusers and […]

Organizations are shifting focus away from what needs to be done to meet the government requirements for incentive money to how they can benefit from their new or improved interconnectedness. As it turns out, some organizations are using their connectedness to satisfy consumer demands. This places a different type of emphasis on business intelligence (BI) […]

In a previous post, I touched on the opportunity for lifestyle analytics to provide information for better care – specifically preventative care. In another post I discussed how having a healthy population benefits all of society. A recent article in the Wall Street journal, Tying Health Problems to Rise in Home Foreclosures, discusses a National […]