Here are a few I came across last week.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/onc-celebrates-18-years-of-advancing-health-it
ONC Celebrates 18 Years of Advancing Health IT
Since its inception in April 2004, ONC has made considerable advancements to health IT, such as the passage of the HITECH Act and 21st Century Cures Act.
April 29, 2022 - On the 18th anniversary of the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), Deputy National Coordinator Steven Posnack released a statement reflecting on the agency’s past achievements that advanced health IT.
“On April 27, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order (EO) 13335 and created the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC),” Posnack wrote in the blog post.
“Like tapping that first domino, this single action is a key moment in United States health IT history. Nearly two decades later, US policy and technology leadership in health IT is world-renowned,” Posnack added.
Posnack said ONC prides itself in remaining focused on the four original duties cast by EO 13335, which include:
· serving as the principal advisor for the Secretary on the development, application, and use of health IT
· ensuring that health information technology policy and programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are coordinated with those of related executive branch agencies
· organizing outreach and consultation with public and private parties
· offering comments and guidance on health IT at the request of the Office of Management and Budget
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/wearable-sensors-can-detect-covid-19
Wearable Sensors Can Detect COVID-19
Research shows that although further evidence is needed, wearable sensors show promise in the ability to detect COVID-19.
April 29, 2022 - While reviewing strategies for detecting and managing COVID-19, a recent study found that wearable sensors that monitor heart rate, skin temperature, and respiratory rate showed promise.
Researchers noted that one of the biggest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic has been tracing rapid infections and spreading, considering how it may take several days for symptoms to emerge following a COVID-19 illness.
The creation of wearable sensors sought to track presymptomatic and asymptomatic infections, aiming to decrease the spread of COVID-19.
The study consisted of analyzing various databases that contained data regarding the use of several different wearable devices.
The final sample of reviewed articles consisted of 12 different studies, each evaluated using a systematic review.
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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/04/when-is-your-data-anonymous/
When is your data anonymous?
In a joint piece for Digital Health, Paul Affleck – a current member of the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee and a research programme manager at the University of Leeds and GP Dr Imran Khan, explore when health data is anonymous.
DHI News Team – 26th April, 2022
Routine healthcare data provides tremendous opportunities for research and improving future care. It is also an area of considerable controversy as demonstrated by the care.data and GP Data for Planning and Research programmes.
The law governing the use of routine healthcare data is complex and, in some areas, open to differing interpretations. Therefore, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is to be applauded for seeking feedback on its draft anonymisation, pseudonymisation and privacy enhancing technologies guidance.
A crucial point for healthcare researchers is whether data is ‘personal’ (it is data relating to an identified or identifiable individual) and falls under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Under the UK GDPR, pseudonymisation does not, in itself, render data anonymous. This is because with the addition of other information (not least the identity of the pseudonyms) individuals can be identified. However, the draft ICO guidance elaborates a concept of “effectively anonymised”. This contends pseudonymous information can be anonymous if the holder of the data does not hold the identity of the pseudonyms and technical and contractual controls are in place to prevent identification of individuals.
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Study of 40.7M adults finds telehealth comparable for chronic conditions
But patients with acute conditions who had initial telehealth encounters appeared to require additional follow-up visits.
By Kat Jercich
April 29, 2022 03:55 PM
A study of 40.7 million commercially insured adults in the United States who sought care via telehealth found contrasting patterns of follow-up care between those with chronic conditions and those with acute clinical conditions.
The research, which was published this week in JAMA Network Open, assessed outcomes of care two weeks after patients' initial ambulatory encounters.
"Telehealth accounted for a large share of ambulatory encounters at the peak of the pandemic and remained prevalent after infection rates subsided," said researchers in the study, which was funded in part by the American Telemedicine Association.
"Telehealth encounters for chronic conditions had similar rates of follow-up to in-person encounters for these conditions, whereas telehealth encounters for acute conditions seemed to be more likely than in-person encounters to require follow-up," they observed.
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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/digital-health-interventions-reduced-heart-failure-mortality
Digital Health Interventions Reduced Heart Failure Mortality
New research shows that all-cause and cardiovascular mortality decreased following the implementation of digital health interventions.
April 28, 2022 - Research published in the International Journal of Cardiology found that all-cause and cardiovascular deaths decreased after implementing various digital health interventions (DHI), including telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and smartphone applications.
The study consisted of an analysis of 7,204 patients from 10 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that researchers found using various databases such as MEDLINE, Cochrane, OVID, CINHAL, and ERIC. On average, the one-year mortality rate among chronic heart failure (HF) patients in the data set was 7.2 percent, and the one-year hospitalization rate was 25 percent.
Researchers then examined data from cases involving any DHI.
The primary piece of outcomes data they extracted was all-cause mortality, followed by cardiovascular mortality, all-cause hospitalizations, HF-related hospitalizations, and days lost to both all-cause hospitalizations and HF-related hospitalizations.
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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/payer/digital-health-investment-slows-q1-2022
Digital Health Investment Slows in Q1 2022
Analysis | By Laura Beerman | April 27, 2022
Payer corporate venture capital investment remains strong as the government looks to the private sector for more solutions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Digital health investment dropped 36% to $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
· These declines included less funding in mental health and telehealth.
· Payer-affiliated Optum Ventures and Kaiser Permanente Ventures rank among the top digital health investors globally.
When $10.4 billion represents a quarterly investment decline, you know you have a robust digital health market.
In the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022), global digital health funding was 36% lower quarter over quarter (QoQ), down from $16.2 billion. The decline included sizeable decreases in mental health (60%) and telehealth (32%) investment. Within the U.S., the numbers were similar with digital health investment down 37% overall.
It's important to put this in context, while also identifying the role of key payers in the digital health investment landscape.
You don't have to look back far for the last decline (19% in Q3 2021). Both recent quarters with declines were home to the COVID-19 surges. Before then, digital health funding had experienced nearly uninterrupted, overall growth since Q4 2019, with growth in three additional quarters dating back to Q1 2018.
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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/telehealth-more-likely-to-prompt-follow-up-for-acute-conditions
Telehealth More Likely to Prompt Follow-up for Acute Conditions
New research shows that telehealth appointments for acute conditions were more likely than in-person appointments to result in a follow-up visit.
April 28, 2022 - While researching the correlation between visit type and chances of a follow-up appointment, a study published in JAMA Network Open found that telehealth appointments for acute conditions resulted in a higher likelihood of multiple follow-up visits than in-person appointments.
The cohort study consisted of 40 million patients and evaluated their activity between 2019 and 2020.
Within these two years, the COVID-19 pandemic sharply increased the percentage of telehealth encounters as a proportion of all ambulatory encounters, from 0.6 percent in 2019 to 14.1 percent in 2020. The use of telehealth remained high following even after COVID-19 cases began to decline.
Researchers examined the follow-up activity that took place 14 days after the initial virtual or in-person encounters.
They observed that generally acute care patients who had an initial visit conducted through telehealth were more likely to participate in a follow-up appointment than those who initially received care in person.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/hscc-publishes-medical-device-vulnerability-communications-toolkit
HSCC Publishes Medical Device Vulnerability Communications Toolkit
HSCC advised medical device manufacturers to use clear and concise language in medical device vulnerability communications.
By Jill McKeon
April 28, 2022 - Medical device vulnerabilities are a growing concern in healthcare, as exemplified by recent vulnerability disclosures that could allow hackers to control systems remotely. However, most vulnerability disclosures are targeted at cybersecurity and information technology professionals, making it difficult for other healthcare stakeholders to inform patients of risk.
To combat this issue, the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) Cybersecurity Working Group (CWG) released its “MedTech Vulnerability Communications Toolkit.”
HSCC built upon the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) best practices guide for communicating medical device vulnerabilities to patients and caregivers, which the administration released in October 2021.
The FDA’s guide emphasized the importance of using straightforward terminology to educate patients on medical device security risks.
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Roundup: Singapore's TTSH expanding access to robotic rehab and more briefs
Also, Manulife Hong Kong is commencing an initiative to provide teleconsultation services for seniors amid a new COVID-19 wave.
By Adam Ang
April 28, 2022 10:58 PM
Tan Tock Seng Hospital signs partnerships to bring robotic rehab to communities
Singaporean public tertiary hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital, through its Clinic for Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics (CART), has entered into partnerships to expand access to robotic rehabilitation services.
One of the deals is a three-year master research collaboration with tech provider Fourier Intelligence (FI), which intends to make robotic therapies "more sustainable and accessible" to patients in communities.
The collaboration includes the use of FI's balance robot BalanceMotus which can digitally track a patient's balancing ability and calculate their fall risk, moving away from a time-consuming, manual process. The partners also plan to optimise such robotic tech on the premises of TTSH's community care partners.
CART also teamed up with the non-profit organisation Stroke Support Station (S3), which provides assistive technology for patient rehabilitation. The partnership allows TTSH to refer stabilised stroke patients to S3 for continued active rehabilitation, wellness activities, and access to its peer support network. They will also explore telecollaboration and teleconsultation services.
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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/04/28/rpm-remote-patient-monitoring-challenges/
RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) Challenges
April 28, 2022
Yesterday, we took a broad view of RPM (remote patient monitoring) including some of the pressures it faces and the reasons many healthcare organizations are embracing RPM. Today we want to look at some of the challenges that RPM still faces going forward and what it will take to overcome those challenges.
As we partially described yesterday, reimbursement for RPM services is still a challenge, but one that’s improving. Todd Bellemare, SVP, Strategic Solutions at Definitive Healthcare, dove into their extensive data set and gave us a view into what’s happening in this regard:
Claims data from Definitive Healthcare, a healthcare commercial intelligence company, found that remote patient monitoring (RPM) setup increased nearly 61% last year compared to 2020. Additionally our data shows that last year, 619,000 patients had an RPM-related procedure claim, and that the top RPM patient diagnoses in 2021 were for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, and heart disease.
Reimbursement has traditionally been a barrier, but it’s become easier to reimburse for RPM. There are now five codes specific for RPM services, with CMS introducing the fifth one in 2020 right before the pandemic hit. The easier it is for providers to get reimbursed for these services, the more likely they are to provide it to their patients. As a result, RPM has seen massive patient adoption, as it enables patients to take their healthcare into their own hands and allows the medical community to meet patients where they are.
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Survey: 75% of Healthcare Leaders Aren't Happy With Their Digital Health Plans
Analysis | By Eric Wicklund | April 28, 2022
A recent survey of 100 health system executives finds that most say a strong digital health strategy is essential, yet less than a quarter are confident in the one they have.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Health system leaders say a good digital health strategy is essential to improving clinical outcomes, boosting clinician satisfaction and increasing productivity.
· Only 6% of the health systems surveyed have a "fully developed" digital health strategy, while 31% say their strategy is "slightly developed" and 16% don't even have a plan.
· Health systems are being pressured by the post-pandemic healthcare landscape to develop a digital health strategy, but they're often overwhelemed by the market, unable to sift through the options to find the right vendors and have problems aligning internal stakeholders to a good strategy.
More than 90% of health systems surveyed recently say a strong digital health strategy is essential to improving clinical outcomes, boosting clinician satisfaction rates and increasing productivity, yet less than half actually have a strategy in place. And less than a quarter are “very confident” that they have the right strategy.
That’s the troubling take-away from a survey of 100 health system executives conducted this past February by Sage Growth Partners. The survey, contained in Panda Health’s Hospital Digital Health Technology Report: 2022, offers a glimpse of the chaotic digital health market that healthcare leaders are facing these days, and offers a few guidelines to establishing a path forward.
"This report shows that hospitals are struggling in their efforts to improve efficiency, patient care, and outcomes as a result of challenging and time-consuming technology procurements," David Harvey, CEO of Panda Health, a digital health marketplace launched in 2020 through a partnership of CentraCare, the Gunderson health System and ThedaCare, said in a press release. "It can take hospitals up to one year or longer to find and contract for new solutions, and even after implementing them, many question if they selected the best technology for their unique needs. Healthcare organizations need a more streamlined process, so they can confidently move faster and drive better outcomes."
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/ehr-vendor-cerner-report-reveals-continued-growth
EHR Vendor Cerner Report Reveals Continued Growth
EHR vendor Cerner gained 71 new clients over the course of 2021, with its client base representing the entire care continuum, from acute care to community and rural health.
April 27, 2022 - EHR vendor Cerner announced significant growth within its client base despite facing another year of uncertainty regarding the impact and longevity of the pandemic.
“The past two years have amplified the importance of shared learning and the value of a fully digitized healthcare system,” Travis Dalton, chief client, and services officer of Cerner, said in a public statement. “Technology enables us to improve access to care, increase the speed of innovation and empower clinicians to make more informed decisions on their patients’ care.”
“We work every day to put the patient at the center of their care and improve the caregiver experience,” Dalton added. “That mission is more critical now than ever, and we remain committed to partnering with our clients to achieve their full potential in serving their communities.”
Overall, Cerner supports 650,000 users worldwide and over 3 million users each day, the report stated. These relationships extending across the globe add to the EHR vendor’s mission of working across diverse healthcare settings and care models.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/realestate/nursing-home-robots.html
Can Robots Save Nursing Homes?
The pandemic has given a new urgency to the development of robots and ‘virtual assisted living’ that can help care for aging adults, physically and emotionally.
By John Leland
April 21, 2022
Arshia Khan asked a group of older adults in Minnesota what they would like in a nursing home, and their answer surprised her. They wanted standup comedy, but not just any comedy: They wanted off-color jokes.
Dr. Khan, a professor of computer science at the University of Minnesota Duluth, programs robots to work in nursing homes.
On a March afternoon in her lab, surrounded by a dozen robots of different sizes and designs, Dr. Khan asked one to show off its stuff. The robot, a four-foot-tall white plastic figure named Pepper, with a tablet screen in its chest, blinked its eyes and wiggled its hips.
“So, which one of you requested the dirty jokes?” Pepper asked, in a computer voice.
There followed a risqué joke about the robot’s relationship with its charging plug, and another about an unhappy date with a Tesla (too conceited). After each, the robot giggled. “I went on a date with a Roomba last week,” the robot said, gesticulating with its arms. Pause. “It totally sucked.”
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https://icd10monitor.com/how-to-reduce-the-risk-of-copy-and-paste/
How to Reduce the Risk of Copy and Paste
Providers should never C&P material they have not read nor vetted for accuracy.
A young Jeopardy! champion died from bilateral pulmonary emboli following a colectomy in January 2021. Following his surgery, it was reported that the surgeon referred to “DVT/VTE Prophylaxis/Anticoagulation” and another note read, “already ordered.” “DVT Prophylaxis” was mentioned in the progress notes, but on analysis, it was determined that the order had never been entered and executed. Although DVT prophylaxis has long been my apocryphal example of dangerous copy and paste, one could certainly envision the phrase, “DVT prophylaxis,” being copied and pasted ad infinitum to the patient’s detriment and demise in this case.
It occurs to me that my email alerts me when I have used the word, attached, in the body of an email without affixing an attachment. I think they should program the electronic health record (EHR) to trigger an alert if any variation of “DVT prophylaxis” is documented in a note if there is no anticoagulation ordered. In fact, there are other instances when this function might be useful, like if antibiotics are alluded to but no order had been placed. The provider would be given the opportunity to rectify the lapse prior to an adverse outcome. But I digress. I am preparing to rail against copy and paste (C&P).
It is not my nature to complain about an issue without offering solutions. This article is going to be referencing Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety’s “Health IT Safe Practices: Toolkit for the Safe Use of Copy and Paste” from February 2016. I strongly recommend reading it and implementing their recommendations.
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A fragmented EHR market is fueling interoperability divide, says ONC study
Researchers from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT found substantial differences between solo practice physicians and large practice physicians when it came to data exchange capabilities.
By Kat Jercich
April 27, 2022 03:20 PM
A recent study from researchers from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT found substantial differences between large practice physicians and solo practice physicians when it comes to outside data integration.
"Whereas patients treated by large, integrated practices may receive all care within the organization, patients of small practice physicians are likely to receive care from physicians or healthcare organizations outside of the small practice," wrote ONC's Dr. Jordan Everson, Wesley Barker and Vaishali Patel in the study published this past Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
"Physicians in small practices may, therefore, need to rely on interoperable technology to a greater extent to receive important clinical information in a timely and useable manner," said Everson, Barker and Patel.
"Despite this potential value, small practice and independent physicians have been observed to adopt EHRs and engage in interoperable exchange at lower rates than other physicians," the research team continued.
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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/04/27/a-look-at-rpm-remote-patient-monitoring-in-healthcare/
A Look at RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) in Healthcare
April 27, 2022
This month we’ve been focusing some of our editorial coverage on remote patient monitoring. You may have also seen our podcast asking the question of whether RPM is Overrated or our ever expanding list of RPM companies. There’s a lot happening in the remote patient monitoring space. Why is this the case?
I think the answer to this question was encapsulated well by Quentin Blackford, CEO at iRhythm Technologies when he said “The pandemic exacerbated healthcare access issues for millions, and the medtech industry will prioritize solutions to get care to those who need it most. COVID-19 accelerated the shift toward remote care, and the coming months will likely see increased acceptance of the evolving technology across a variety of stakeholders. Expect remote patient monitoring to expand as patients and providers rely more heavily on actionable insights from uninterrupted health data. Additionally, companies will continue to work toward improving accessibility for at-risk patient populations.”
In many ways, this shift reminds me of EHR adoption. Prior to the EHR stimulus money and HITECH/Meaningful Use, EHR adoption was already seeing some success. Most healthcare organizations were considering adopting an EHR. Then, the $36 billion of stimulus was a catalyst to take that adoption to the next level. The same is true with RPM. It was seeing some good success and results prior to COVID, but COVID-19 acted as a stimulus to drive its adoption forward much faster. I don’t think the COVID catalyst will be quite as strong as the $36 billion, but it feels very similar.
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Digital Therapeutics Companies Make the Case for Pharma's Support
Analysis | By Ana Mulero | April 27, 2022
Pharma stands to harness the potential of DTx for tackling healthcare issues such as access.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Next to in-person care and medications, digital therapeutics (DTx) as the third modality in care delivery would allow for gaining insights into health outcomes with real-world evidence that can aid in delivering value-based agreements.
· DTx and pharma aim to make the same three constituents—patients, physicians, and payers—happy.
· DTx products can now be coded and reimbursed as both medical and pharmacy benefits.
Last year marked a major commercial inflection point for the digital therapeutics (DTx) market, adding pressure on pharmaceutical companies to help DTx become a standard part of care delivery. DTx and pharma are a natural fit for a joint effort. Together, the digital health evolution turns into a revolution.
From the growing need for real-world evidence (RWE) and to the ongoing shift toward value-based agreements (VBA), multiple trends in healthcare are converging. This is creating tailwinds for digital health. DTx offers the opportunity to address these, as well as the deepening physician shortage and growing healthcare costs. Technology is known to be a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, with expectations for care gravitating toward remote settings and technology permeating everyday lives.
"We are the leaders in the digital health revolution," Pear Therapeutics President and CEO Corey McCann argued during Pear's first earnings call as a public company on March 28. "And we are proud of the role we've played in pioneering software as medicine," McCann added.
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Digital Health Literacy Stands in the Way of Patient Tech Adoption
Although most patients own or are interested in fitness trackers, digital health literacy is getting in the way of widespread patient engagement technology adoption.
By Sara Heath
April 26, 2022 - Cost and digital health literacy are still standing in the way of widespread patient engagement technology adoption, according to research out of the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program.
The study, published in npj, found that although patients showed some interest in technologies like fitness trackers, overall remote patient monitoring devices are out-of-reach for traditionally underserved populations.
This comes as the medical industry and healthcare consumers have increasingly embraced the potential for remote monitoring tools. Remote technologies give both patients and providers the ability to track health status and catch irregularities early on, ideally to stem high-cost and high-acuity encounters down the line.
Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote tools helped bridge the chronic disease management gap. Healthcare providers who couldn’t visit with their patients as often as they did before leaned on the patient-generated health data gleaned from wearables to do regular check-ins.
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April 25, 2022
Q&A: Electronic health records bring 'extraordinary opportunities' for care
Satisfaction and support for electronic health records were significantly higher among physicians working in physician-owned practices than those in non-physician-owned practices, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.
In a related commentary, Richard J. Baron, MD, the president and CEO of the ABIM, called the findings “both provocative and tantalizing.”
“It is provocative because it finds meaningful and important differences between EHR satisfaction reported by physicians working in physician-owned practices compared with those working in non–physician-owned practices,” he wrote. “It is tantalizing because, as robust and important as the finding is, the authors’ data don’t provide much insight into why this might be true.”
In the cross-sectional study, Lisa S. Rotenstein, MD, MBA, an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues surveyed 1,368 non-federally employed physicians who provided office-based care in 2019 through the National Electronic Health Records Survey. In total, 59.5% of respondents worked in a practice owned by a physician or physician group.
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Avoiding healthcare interoperability ‘train wrecks’
Why everyone in healthcare delivery has a vested role in achieving standards-based bidirectional data exchange – to avoid needless deaths, reduce wasteful spending, share better experiences, and achieve better outcomes.
Apr 25 2022
VP, Population Health Informatics, Providence
On the frigid morning of Dec. 18, 1867, the last train from Cleveland began its 190-mile trek toward Buffalo, N.Y. The eastbound train included a locomotive, mail and baggage cars, a passenger car designed for immigrants and three first-class cars. As the train approached a truss bridge 160 feet over New York’s Big Sister Creek, it ran over a railway switch – a common mechanism that enabled train wheels to cross from one track to another. One of the front wheels of the trailing first-class car jumped the track and derailed the car. It swayed violently as the train dragged the car over the ties. Then uncoupling from the train, the rear car plunged 40 feet down the icy slopes toward the creek.
Because the rear car landed with one end inclined sharply downward, the passengers tumbled onto the pot-bellied stove at the bottom end of the car. The stove from the elevated end of the car also came crashing down on them while releasing hot coals. Flames quickly engulfed the carriage fueled by kerosene lamps.
One of the observers of the tragedy said, “I could not see them. I could hear them.” And a local newspaper reported: “The shrieks died into moans and moans into silence” over five minutes. Some 49 people perished in what is known as the “Angola Horror.”
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Why your security strategy must go beyond a focus on HIPAA
It is particularly important to be aware of evolving threats. Therefore, annual training is insufficient. Consider broader implementation – a variety of industry-wide standards, follow security-focused guidance and monitor ongoing developments.
Apr 25 2022
General Counsel Carium, Carium
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is promoting compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule as a key step toward preventing cyberattacks or substantially mitigating their impacts. But HIPAA compliance is only one component of a good security program, which requires a much more comprehensive strategy.
When compliance is viewed as something that gets in the way of operations and is not baked into an organization’s culture, it won’t have much of an impact.
The HIPAA Security Rule is broken into three components: administrative, technical and physical. Those areas are further divided into required and addressable elements.
OCR, in promoting the value of compliance, picks examples from across the rule as helping prevent a cyberattack. Some of the specific components highlighted include staff education and access controls for systems.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/epic-still-leads-ehr-choices-among-large-orgs-says-klas
Epic still leads EHR choices among large orgs, says KLAS
Epic held the largest share of acute-care hospitals among electronic health record vendors, followed by Cerner and Meditech.
By Kat Jercich
April 26, 2022 10:09 AM
A report released Tuesday from the KLAS research organization found that Epic's 2021 net growth in electronic health record market share exceeded that of all other vendors, followed by Meditech and Cerner.
Epic also held the largest share of acute care hospitals, at 32.9%, with Cerner at 24.4% and Meditech at 16.7%. CPSI followed with 8.7%. Allscripts had 4.3%, and Medhost made up 3.1%.
"EMR purchasing continued to be high in 2021, despite hospitals and health systems grappling with inflation, lingering complications from COVID-19, overburdened clinicians, and a historic nurse shortage," said researchers.
WHY IT MATTERS
As KLAS researchers noted, the health industry faced notable challenges throughout 2021, including labor and financial shortfalls. Still, EHR purchasing endured.
"In total, 342 hospitals – from specialty hospitals to critical access facilities to large health systems – were impacted in 2021 by an EMR purchase decision (including migrations). This represents a 44% increase over 2020," said KLAS researchers.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/epic-cerner-collaborating-white-house-covid-19-therapeutics
Epic, Cerner collaborating with White House on COVID-19 therapeutics
The White House announced Tuesday that it was calling on electronic health record vendors to incorporate information about antivirals directly into their interfaces.
By Kat Jercich
April 26, 2022 04:06 PM
The White House announced Tuesday that it was continuing to work with electronic health record vendors as part of increasing access to COVD-19 treatments.
President Joe Biden's Test-to-Treat initiative, announced this past month, is aimed at facilitating access to Pfizer's COVID-19 medication, known as Paxlovid.
But as cases increase throughout the United States, some pharmacies and providers have expressed confusion over how to get the drug to those who could benefit from it. Additionally, public health experts say those without health insurance may have increased difficulty in obtaining the medication.
"Over the last few months the administration has worked very hard with Pfizer to increase the supply of Paxlovid," said Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, in a press briefing Tuesday. "And now our job is to make sure these doses are getting out there."
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Managing Healthcare Cyber Threats and Protecting Patient Data at the Edge
April 26, 2022
It’s impossible to put a value on the trust your patients place in your organization to protect and safely store the data created in the course of caring for the community. Hospitals and health systems have more to lose than organizations in other sectors when it comes to the impact of hacking activities and patient data is highly sought after. As a result, the healthcare industry is hit significantly harder by ransomware than any other sector — 88 percent of attacks hit hospitals.
Combined with the dramatic shift to a more mobile healthcare workforce and the advent of 5G, an ever-increasing number of applications will traverse the core, edge, and cloud. One way to deal with this constant cybersecurity threat, is to invest in intrinsically secure infrastructure platforms and devices that enable healthcare organizations to generate, process and securely store vast amounts of data – whether stored on-premises, in the cloud, or with a hybrid strategy. Join us as we discuss this continuously expanding attack surface and the challenges it poses for an organization’s security posture.
This was the topic of discussion at the Dell Technologies booth during the HIMSS 2022 conference with the following panel:
- Drex DeFord, Executive Healthcare Strategist, CrowdStrike
- João Bocas, Digital Health Influencer & CEO, Digital Salutem
- Chrissa McFarlane, CEO and Founder, Patientory, Inc
- Steve Lazer, Global Healthcare CTO, Dell Technologies
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American Telemedicine Association Touts the Next Phase of Virtual Care
Analysis | By Eric Wicklund | April 26, 2022
ATA2022, taking place next week in Boston, will give the organization an opportunity to plan the evolution of telehealth beyond the pandemic, and to talk about bringing virtual care to an 'inspirational level.'
Healthcare organizations are experimenting with new and innovative technologies and services as they move away from the pandemic and closer to value-based care, and a lot of those cool new ideas will be front at center at next week’s ATA2022 American Telemedicine Association conference in Boston.
Meeting in person for the first time in more then two years, telehealth advocates will have the chance to chat up what some are calling “Healthcare 3.0.” It describes an ecosystem based on lessons learned from the rapid uptake of virtual care during the COVID-19 emergency, the fast-moving field of consumer healthcare, and new advances in mobile technologies, including smart devices, sensors, and wearables.
This year’s theme is “Now what? Creating an Opportunity in a Time of Uncertainty.”
“It’s more than all of us asking, ‘What do we do now?’” says ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson. “People want to make sure that telehealth wasn’t just a pandemic-only tool.”
Indeed, as ATA2022 convenes next Sunday through Tuesday at the Boston Convention Center in the city’s trendy Seaport District, much of the talk is still centered on how to continue the momentum beyond COVID-19. The public health emergency caused by the pandemic is expected to end before the close of 2022, putting an end to many federal and state measures enacted during the PHE to improve access to and coverage of telehealth services. The ATA is among many organizations lobbying the federal government to extend or even make permanent those measures, but in the meanwhile providers and payers are uncertain as to how to chart a long-term telehealth strategy.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/ny-hies-launch-smart-on-fhir-app-to-enhance-interoperability
NY HIEs Launch SMART on FHIR App to Enhance Interoperability
The SMART on FHIR application will allow providers to access HIE information directly within their workflows, improving interoperability and data access.
April 25, 2022 - Two New York-based health information exchanges (HIEs), Healthix and Hixny, joined forces to release a Smart on FHIR application that aims to drive interoperability and workflow efficiencies for New York providers.
“With increasing demands for comprehensive data and unencumbered access, Healthix reached out to Hixny to leverage a solution that works for busy providers seeking quick, efficient access to vital information,” Todd Rogow, president and CEO of Healthix, said in a public statement. “We saw an opportunity to build upon a growing partnership between our organizations and to share best practices, leveraging the expertise each public HIE brings to patients across New York State.”
Concise, the FHIR application, will eliminate the need for providers at half of the hospitals in New York State to navigate outside their native electronic medical records (EMR) system. Using this app, providers will be able to access health data through a patient record snapshot quickly, Hinxy stated.
Healthix is one of the largest HIEs in the country, bringing together over 8,000 healthcare facilities across New York City and Long Island.
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Virtual, In-Person Cardiac Rehabilitation Provide Similar Benefits
A recent study showed that patients saw positive health outcomes regardless of whether they participated in virtual/hybrid or in-person cardiac rehabilitation.
April 25, 2022 - A study published in the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention shows that virtual and hybrid cardiac rehabilitation (CR) produced similar benefits for patients as compared with in-person services.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to limit options for in-person treatment, many cardiovascular rehabilitation centers began to implement virtual and hybrid methods of care delivery.
Curious about how various CR care delivery channels compared to one another in terms of effectiveness, researchers from UC San Francisco collected information on patients enrolled in CR between October 2019 and May 2021.
“Our primary objectives were to compare the association of in-person, hybrid, and virtual CR with functional changes in patients between enrollment in the program through completion,” said study author Alexis Beatty, MD, a UCSF cardiologist and associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, in the press release.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/veteran-hospitalized-after-medication-dropped-ehr-list
Veteran hospitalized after medication dropped from EHR list
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said the patient's prescription had not been renewed as it should have been, although the medication was still available to be viewed in a different area of the system.
By Kat Jercich
April 25, 2022 04:29 PM
Reports emerged this week of a veteran hospitalized in March after a heart medication prescription went missing from his "active prescription" list.
As first reported by the Spokesman-Review's Orion Donovan-Smith, clinical leadership at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, characterized the incident as a "sentinel event" upon reviewing the case.
The problem appeared to stem, in part, from a heart-failure medication that had been prescribed before the October 2020 go-live of a new Cerner electronic health record system at Mann-Grandstaff.
The drug had moved off a list of the patient's active medications at the one-year anniversary of the prescription being written, and was not renewed as necessary.
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AMA survey: Majority of physicians say telehealth enables more comprehensive quality care
Most respondents, however, point to the digital divide as the biggest obstacle to accessing virtual services.
By Kat Jercich
April 25, 2022 12:11 PM
A survey conducted by the American Medical Association found that the vast majority of physician respondents say they're currently using telehealth – and many of those reporting a decrease say they're providing a mix of virtual and in-person care.
The survey, which was conducted online in late 2021, explored the variations in telehealth use among 2,232 physicians.
The results suggested enduring interest in virtual care among physicians.
"I am a wife, mother and in a dual physician partnership, and telehealth allows me to balance my professional and family obligations without leaving my profession for family reasons in the middle of my career," said one respondent.
WHY IT MATTERS
As the potential end of the public health emergency looms, the future of telehealth policy has been under increasing scrutiny.
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Clinicians Don’t Feel Prepared For Greater Technology Use
April 25, 2022
New research on the future of clinical practice suggests that being technology savvy will be more critical than ever over the next decade — but that the majority of clinicians still don’t feel prepared.
While I could have written this headline ten years ago, the problem seems to be a lot worse at this point than it was in 2012.
The study, which was backed by Elsevier Health in partnership with Ipsos, reached out to nearly 3,000 practicing doctors and nurses around the world. The goal of the study was to look at the clinical profession today and get predictions as to what healthcare will look like in the future.
Perhaps the biggest change they see is the central importance of having strong technical skills. Clinicians surveyed predicted that over the next 10 years “technology literacy” will become the most valuable capability, even more so than their fund of clinical knowledge. In fact, 56% of respondents said they expect to base most of their clinical decisions on tools that use AI.
However, they won’t be likely to make a smooth transition unless they get more and better training, with 83% of clinicians stating that they believe training needs to be overhauled so they can keep pace with health IT advances.
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Poor EHR Experience Linked to Higher Clinician Turnover
Analysis | By Jay Asser | April 25, 2022
A KLAS survey found that dissatisfaction with electronic health records (EHR) is more likely to result in clinician resignations.
EHR satisfaction plays a significant role in clinicians' decision to continue at their organization, according to a report by KLAS.
Based on 59,000 clinicians surveyed, the research found that providers who are very dissatisfied with their organization's EHR are nearly three times more likely to leave in the next two years compared to those who are very satisfied with the EHR.
The report also highlighted the importance of EHR training, finding that clinicians who strongly disagree their training was specific to their workflow are more than twice as likely to leave their organization compared to those who strongly agree.
Additionally, EHR vendor satisfaction can influence clinicians' decision to leave. According to the survey, 32% of clinicians who strongly disagree that their vendor has designed a high-quality EHR are likely to leave their organization compared to 12% who strongly agree.
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Enjoy!
David.
