Client News Coverage

October 1, 2013 marks the day that healthcare organizations must comply with the most significant–and underestimated–mandate in recent history.  That is the date by which hospitals, health systems, physician practices, insurance companies and any other organization covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must have completed their transition to the ICD-10 code set.

Kforce Kronicle»

Consider the following scenario. A patient in a hospital acquires pneumonia. When the attending physician enters an order for the antibiotic ceftriaxone, an alert pops up indicating that the patient is allergic to the medication. Based on the information provided, the physician chooses another appropriate medication.

Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare»

Long-term sustainability is one of the critical challenges facing health information exchange (HIE) initiatives. In its recent report, 2011 Report on Health Information Exchange: Sustainable HIE in a Changing Landscape, eHealth Initiative identified just 24 out of the 196 active HIEs around the country that categorized themselves as sustainable.

Government Health IT»

Medicare’s ACO programs, which are tied to the Affordable Care Act, could find themselves in a vulnerable position in 2012, with both a Supreme Court decision on the reform statute and potential budget cuts looming on the horizon. But some say that no matter what the legal and political outcomes are next year, ACOs will find a way to survive in the Medicare space.

AIS Health»

The use of clinical decision support (CDS) to elevate patient care is a solid strategy in any healthcare environment. And while the benefits of decision-support tools are expected to be far reaching across the patient-care continuum, there are likely no areas more primed for realizing their potential than critical care.

Health Management Technology»

Standardization of care and adoption of evidence-based medicine into clinical practice are two central tenets of meaningful use of EHRs. At Sibley Memorial Hospital, we have found the integration of evidence-based order sets with the EHR for point-of-care access as one way to accomplish these goals.

CMIO»

Responding to concerns that its original regulations stymied reform efforts, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made a number of concessions in its final Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) rules. Nonetheless, many organizations remain hesitant about entering the ACO fray and continue weighing the pros and cons of setting up the infrastructure demanded by CMS.

Government Health IT»

Twenty-seven billion dollars in potential incentive payments would make any industry take action. When coupled with steep future penalties for noncompliance, the stakes for achieving meaningful use (MU) go even higher.

For the Record»

Regional Extension Centers (RECs) and health information exchange (HIE) initiatives share a common purpose: enabling the exchange of patient information to improve health outcomes and care quality. Their individual goals and objectives are also complementary. RECs support physicians in the selection, implementation and use of electronic health records (EHRs), while HIEs provide the infrastructure across which the information collected by those EHRs can be exchanged.

Government Health IT»

The Joint Commission has upped the ante on infection prevention, a move that has many hospitals scrambling to prepare for surveys that now encompass more than just a review of historical outcomes data.

Becker's ASC Review»

Twenty-seven billion dollars in potential incentive payments would make any industry take action. When coupled with steep future penalties for noncompliance, the stakes for achieving meaningful use (MU) go even higher.

For the Record»

A critical deadline is looming for states and state-designated entities awarded monies under the State Health Information Exchange (HIE) Cooperative Agreement Program: Progress Assessments and updated Strategic and Operational Plans.

For the Record»

By applying the best available evidence gained from accepted scientific methodology to clinical decision-making, the practice of evidence-based medicine generates measurable improvements in the quality and safety of care. Gains in either area can be traced to improved costs, due in particular to the elimination of expenses associated with errors and other adverse events.

Executive Insights»

MedHOK, which develops cloud-based care management and compliance software, has partnered with New York County Health Services Review Organization (NYCHSRO)/MedReview to help health plans drive improvements in their HEDIS scores.

Healthcare IT News »

Chances are that most healthcare organizations will be able to raise the bar on current documentation practices high enough to support coding for suture of an artery under ICD-10—even though the possible codes expand from just one under ICD-9 to more than 180 under the new code set. But what if a patient walked into a lamp post (W22.02xA) or was bitten by a sea lion (W56.11xA)? What if the patient was burned by a flaming jet ski (V91.07 xA) or suffers from inadequate sleep hygiene (Z72.821)?

HISTalk»