Interoperability & EHRs

Health systems say prior authorization hurts patient care and adds to clinician burnout. The CMS is proposing reform measures that have produced some optimism, but health leaders say other steps are needed.

The new system has been plagued with problems and drawn the ire of lawmakers. The Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s working with Oracle Cerner to resolve the issues.

There are ways to address burnout, while improving productivity and enabling greater focus on the patient – and they all center around technology used in the practice.

With a closed loop approach, providers can help ensure vulnerable populations receive the right care at the right time in the most cost-effective manner.

A survey of chief information officers reveals they’re worried about the pressures on their IT staff.

An effective communication tool can expedite administrative and clinical workflows and improve patient care.

Physicians use the software the way consumers use voice assistants in their homes. The California-based startup is banking on its AI-powered software to appeal to doctors and health systems battling burnout.

It can happen if leaders are committed to championing shared goals and avoid being sidetracked by departmental or technical silos.

They will allow you to see if your current digital health ecosystem is up to the challenge of building next-generation relationships with your patients.

The electronic health records giant says it will join TEFCA, a new national health information exchange framework. With records and data more easily available, patients and providers will see the benefits, Doyle says.

America’s largest electronic health record company will be a part of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. Epic’s Matt Doyle says the company will encourage its thousands of partners to follow suit.

True interoperability of patient data has been a goal for decades. But any enthusiasm must be tempered by the security and privacy issues healthcare companies continue to experience.

The software giant says it has received all regulatory approvals and should close the deal within days. Oracle says the merger will transform the healthcare industry.

More than 200 patient records at a veterans hospital in Washington were corrupted. The problem prompted calls to delay a wider rollout of the new health record system.

The federal watchdog points to problems in migrating data and the need to get more feedback from stakeholders. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been struggling to modernize its patient records for years.

Providers are still spending more money than they should in submitting claims and prior authorization, according to the new CAQH Index. The industry could save billions by moving toward more automation, the group says.

With more information available on phones and watches, most data is now health data, Penn researchers say. But a new study shows many have privacy concerns.

Women are seeing fewer patients and putting in more hours on documenting health records, a report from athenahealth says. As a result, female clinicians could end up earning less.

The typical breach costs several million dollars. Attackers have realized hospitals are prime targets, so healthcare leaders need to make protecting their systems a top priority.

Black patients were more likely to have negative descriptions. The authors suggest bias in records could exacerbate inequities in healthcare.

As more care is shifted to the home, payers must support better reimbursements for providers, Greenstein said.

Issuing phone calls to marginalized patients increases COVID-19 vaccination likelihood.

Investigators compare ICD and CPT codes for estimating the incidence of skin cancer.

Joint replacement is a major cost concern for health systems and Medicare.

The algorithm can be adopted by other hospitals and health systems to identify incident stroke.

The vice president and chief data officer at Parkland Hospital in Dallas discusses how the health system leverages data.

The total cost is approximately $39 per enrolled patient compared to $239 per patient for a traditional cohort study.

An overwhelming volume of patients and lack of interoperability highlight challenges to accessing patient health data during COVID-19.

Interoperability has been discussed for years, but a partnership between a specialty pharmacy solutions company and UVA Health shows how the ability to "talk to" electronic health records is finally happening.

How healthcare organizations and providers can better use data.