The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made insufficient development in validating the completeness and precision of Medicare Advantage encounter data, a crucial component for administering accurate payments for the program, in accordance to a Government Accountability Office audit.
CMS gathers Medicare Advantage encounter data, detailed data about the care and health status of Medicare Advantage enrollees, to evaluate payments. Although, despite GAO’s 2014 suggestions that CMS completely assess data quality before use, auditors discovered that the agency has yet to take critical measures to make sure the encounter data is right and complete, making the Medicare Advantage program susceptible to improper payments and wasted taxpayer dollars.
“CMS has still to undertake tasks that fully deals Medicare Advantage encounter data precision, like reviewing medical records,” states the audit report. “Moreover, few health insurance and provider trade associations GAO interviewed voiced concerns about CMS’s capability to accurately identify diagnoses utilized for risk adjustment…To the extent that CMS is making payments deployed on data that haven’t been completely validated for completeness and accuracy, the soundness of billions of dollars in Medicare expenditures sustains to be unsubstantiated.”
A CMS spokesperson refused to particularly comment on the GAO’s findings and suggestions, and instead referred to the agency’s official written responses released in the audit report. Among those responses, CMS officials pointed out that they are working with Medicare Advantage agencies to refine how the methodology used to gain diagnoses data is applied.
Additionally, the agency claimed that it has started compiling basic statistics on the volume and consistency of data submissions and preparing automated summary reports for Medicare Advantage agencies demonstrating diagnosis information used for risk adjustment.
Specifically, CMS started phasing in patient diagnosis data from Medicare Advantage encounter data in its risk adjustment process in the year of 2015 and told the GAO it intends to depend completely on those data by the year of 2020.
Because it has primarily concentrated on collecting comprehensive encounter data for risk adjustment purposes, CMS officials also informed auditors that the agency has highly deferred planning for extra uses of the data.
Nevertheless, in accordance to the GAO, few stakeholder agencies have objected to the risk adjustment transition time frame, compelling that it does not permit sufficient time for a victorious transition. Still, CMS asserts that the multiyear transition time frame is reasonable.
Provided the agency’s limited progress, auditors claimed that they continue to believe that CMS should execute GAO’s July 2014 suggestion that the agency completely develop plans for the extra uses of Medicare Advantage encounter data.
“This latest GAO research proves once again that the encounter data system isn’t ready for full implementation,” stated House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) in a written statement. “While the system was developed to ensure right payments for the millions of seniors who depend on Medicare Advantage, it won’t work with incomplete and inaccurate data and could lead to higher premiums or decreased benefits down the road. CMS must ensure this significant system is based on the right information so taxpayer dollars are going to Medicare recipients who require them most.”
Likewise, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) claimed in a written statement that the GAO report “raises more uncertainties about the encounter data system and either it is ready to perform its duties.”
While applauding that few improvements have been made since GAO’s 2014 report, Walden noted that “key suggestions from the government watchdog have still to be implemented” and voiced his support for the “GAO’s asserting that CMS should completely assess its data quality before implementing” the Medicare Advantage encounter data system.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
New attempt targets to improve EHRs to support medical research
One of the primary benefits expected of electronic health records (EHRs) is the contribution that digital systems would make to support medical research.
Because sufferers’ records had been significantly paper-based, so, too, were medical research programs. Several hoped that electronic records would assist in recognizing patients for research initiatives, gathering their medical data and facilitating research in myriad ways. Even though the huge majority of hospitals and physician practices have shifted to electronic records, medical research programs have been slow to identify benefits.
But an attempt at the Yale School of Medicine might offer hope to medical research in the U.S. Researchers there have deployed a latest cloud-based system that enables them to pull patient electronic health records (EHRs) from across multiple healthcare agencies and to synchronize that data.
The system, known as Hugo, was established in a partnership between Yale-New Haven Health System and health information exchange vendor Stella Technology. Hugo is designed to permit patients to accumulate all their health-related data for healthcare research studies.
The platform is presently being tested to ensure that the technology works well and to identify any areas that require improvement, in accordance to Harlan Krumholz, MD, professor of internal medicine at Yale-New Haven and one of the developers of Hugo. An update on the initiative will be presented during an educational session at HIMSS17 on the day of Monday, February 20.
“Our first studies with Hugo are offering real-world experience and focus on the capability of individuals to have Hugo fetch their data and sync it securely with a research database,” claims Krumholz. “Ultimately, Hugo is about motivating people with their health data, putting them in a position to leverage it, and making partnerships possible for sharing data with researchers and others. But, the premise is that individuals should be in a position to use their data for their own benefits and, if they select, for the benefit of others.”
Patients sign up for Hugo and utilize a portal/password to verify their identity to link with EHRs that have their records. Then, with their permission, the platform harmonizes the information from different sources offering the ability to share it with researchers.
“Unless we, as researchers and clinicians, partner with our sufferers and find a way to provide them the capability to exercise their federal right to achieve their own data and share it, then we are not going to make progress,” states Krumholz. “This is a fundamental shift in the way we consider about medical research.”
Yale-New Haven has initiated a study to see if a central repository of patient EHRs, like Hugo, can be used to decrease readmissions and post-discharge emergency department utilization.
Krumholz and Lin Wan, co-founder and chief technology officer at Stella Technology, will offer an update on the Hugo beta test in the HIMSS17 session, “What is next: People-powered knowledge generation from digital,” at 12 p.m. EST February 20 in the Room W304A.
Because sufferers’ records had been significantly paper-based, so, too, were medical research programs. Several hoped that electronic records would assist in recognizing patients for research initiatives, gathering their medical data and facilitating research in myriad ways. Even though the huge majority of hospitals and physician practices have shifted to electronic records, medical research programs have been slow to identify benefits.
But an attempt at the Yale School of Medicine might offer hope to medical research in the U.S. Researchers there have deployed a latest cloud-based system that enables them to pull patient electronic health records (EHRs) from across multiple healthcare agencies and to synchronize that data.
The system, known as Hugo, was established in a partnership between Yale-New Haven Health System and health information exchange vendor Stella Technology. Hugo is designed to permit patients to accumulate all their health-related data for healthcare research studies.
The platform is presently being tested to ensure that the technology works well and to identify any areas that require improvement, in accordance to Harlan Krumholz, MD, professor of internal medicine at Yale-New Haven and one of the developers of Hugo. An update on the initiative will be presented during an educational session at HIMSS17 on the day of Monday, February 20.
“Our first studies with Hugo are offering real-world experience and focus on the capability of individuals to have Hugo fetch their data and sync it securely with a research database,” claims Krumholz. “Ultimately, Hugo is about motivating people with their health data, putting them in a position to leverage it, and making partnerships possible for sharing data with researchers and others. But, the premise is that individuals should be in a position to use their data for their own benefits and, if they select, for the benefit of others.”
Patients sign up for Hugo and utilize a portal/password to verify their identity to link with EHRs that have their records. Then, with their permission, the platform harmonizes the information from different sources offering the ability to share it with researchers.
“Unless we, as researchers and clinicians, partner with our sufferers and find a way to provide them the capability to exercise their federal right to achieve their own data and share it, then we are not going to make progress,” states Krumholz. “This is a fundamental shift in the way we consider about medical research.”
Yale-New Haven has initiated a study to see if a central repository of patient EHRs, like Hugo, can be used to decrease readmissions and post-discharge emergency department utilization.
Krumholz and Lin Wan, co-founder and chief technology officer at Stella Technology, will offer an update on the Hugo beta test in the HIMSS17 session, “What is next: People-powered knowledge generation from digital,” at 12 p.m. EST February 20 in the Room W304A.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Health Information Technology (HIT) Permits Payers to Share Data
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) strive to develop programs meant to bring “better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.” CMS joined hands with healthcare payers across 7 regions to make better primary care through the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative (CPC), in accordance to The CMS Blog. Through the utilization of health information technology (HIT) and multi-insurer payment reform, the program was established to support primary care practices in advancing the quality of care.
Payers across 3 regions involving Ohio, Colorado, and Oklahoma and CMS partnered to establish reports with private patient information to give quality information straightly to primary care offices. Payers worked closely with primary care practices while CMS constantly transformed the format and wording of the reports.
Utilizing health information technology (HIT) and sharing significant patient data has become a major aspect of making better patient care inside and outside of primary care physician offices. By ensuring primary care doctors have access to a sufferer’s overall medical information outside of their office, physicians will be capable to reach out to their sufferers and offer services before a patient seeks more expensive emergency care.
Prior to the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative, primary care doctors mostly had numerous reports from different healthcare payers with several quality measures and formats. Such diverse reports made it more complex for providers to target what data mattered and how they could act on the given information.
Although, CMS programs like the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative give aggregated data reports, which provide doctors with a stronger understanding of their patient populations and enable them to recognize gaps in care. Physicians can then concentrate on areas where population health management could be improved.
“This was a much anticipated solution to the complications posed by not having access to consistent claims information, and a continuous desire to make better our approach to meeting CPC Milestones [program requirements],” stated Dr. Austin Bailey, Medical Director of University of Colorado Health (UCHealth).
“Our practices will sustain to leverage the utilization of aggregated claims data using Stratus [the tool for practices in Colorado] to recognize the cost patterns of high risk patients — for instance, among our sufferers with diabetes, is the greatest cost linked with specialists, emergency department utilization, or medications? Having this data across several payers makes it more relevant and assists to build our confidence in choosing the suitable interventions, recognizing trends, and effectively assigning care management resources,” Bailey summarized.
The Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program is a modern version of the former initiative and began operating on the day of January 1, 2017. More than fifty private healthcare payers have partnered with state Medicaid agencies and CMS across fourteen regions to participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program.
CMS is searching to continue working with payers to expand the execution of aggregated data reports and health information technology to share medical information that enables physicians to recognize gaps in care. Private and public healthcare payers are motivated to work with primary care physicians and the sufferer population to deliver medical data meant to make better the quality of care.
The sharing or exchange of information through health information technology enables doctors to reinforce care coordination, fill in gaps in care, and concentrate on increasing preventive care use, stated Dan Paoletti, CEO of Ohio Health Information Partnership at CliniSync.
In the previous days, hospitals, clinics, and payers had a fragmented system of healthcare delivery with inadequate communication and coordination. Since then, health information technology and the sharing of data enabled payers and providers to make better the coordination and the use of preventive care.
“Having access to data actually goes back to handling coordination of care,” Paoletti stated. “One of the most significant things related to that is preventative care because, finally, this is about trying to keep people healthy. That is how we are going to handle risk by making that pool of healthy individuals bigger and decreasing overall costs of care through that.”
“It actually is critical to get the data where it requires being in case to fill in the gaps that exist today,” Paoletti added. “That is what we are attempting to do and that is where we are headed on a larger scale.”
Furthermore, the results from health information exchange indicate that duplicative testing is decreased and wasteful spending is also decreased, stated Paoletti.
“I consider what will result [from health information exchange] will be a reduction in spending both because ultimately, it’ll increase preventive care but also realistically we’ll have a reduction in tests and duplicative services because the data will be available,” Paoletti contended.
Private and public payers are advancing their work with primary care doctors to share patient information more rapidly to fill in gaps in care and make better coordination.
Payers across 3 regions involving Ohio, Colorado, and Oklahoma and CMS partnered to establish reports with private patient information to give quality information straightly to primary care offices. Payers worked closely with primary care practices while CMS constantly transformed the format and wording of the reports.
Utilizing health information technology (HIT) and sharing significant patient data has become a major aspect of making better patient care inside and outside of primary care physician offices. By ensuring primary care doctors have access to a sufferer’s overall medical information outside of their office, physicians will be capable to reach out to their sufferers and offer services before a patient seeks more expensive emergency care.
Prior to the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative, primary care doctors mostly had numerous reports from different healthcare payers with several quality measures and formats. Such diverse reports made it more complex for providers to target what data mattered and how they could act on the given information.
Although, CMS programs like the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative give aggregated data reports, which provide doctors with a stronger understanding of their patient populations and enable them to recognize gaps in care. Physicians can then concentrate on areas where population health management could be improved.
“This was a much anticipated solution to the complications posed by not having access to consistent claims information, and a continuous desire to make better our approach to meeting CPC Milestones [program requirements],” stated Dr. Austin Bailey, Medical Director of University of Colorado Health (UCHealth).
“Our practices will sustain to leverage the utilization of aggregated claims data using Stratus [the tool for practices in Colorado] to recognize the cost patterns of high risk patients — for instance, among our sufferers with diabetes, is the greatest cost linked with specialists, emergency department utilization, or medications? Having this data across several payers makes it more relevant and assists to build our confidence in choosing the suitable interventions, recognizing trends, and effectively assigning care management resources,” Bailey summarized.
The Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program is a modern version of the former initiative and began operating on the day of January 1, 2017. More than fifty private healthcare payers have partnered with state Medicaid agencies and CMS across fourteen regions to participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program.
CMS is searching to continue working with payers to expand the execution of aggregated data reports and health information technology to share medical information that enables physicians to recognize gaps in care. Private and public healthcare payers are motivated to work with primary care physicians and the sufferer population to deliver medical data meant to make better the quality of care.
The sharing or exchange of information through health information technology enables doctors to reinforce care coordination, fill in gaps in care, and concentrate on increasing preventive care use, stated Dan Paoletti, CEO of Ohio Health Information Partnership at CliniSync.
In the previous days, hospitals, clinics, and payers had a fragmented system of healthcare delivery with inadequate communication and coordination. Since then, health information technology and the sharing of data enabled payers and providers to make better the coordination and the use of preventive care.
“Having access to data actually goes back to handling coordination of care,” Paoletti stated. “One of the most significant things related to that is preventative care because, finally, this is about trying to keep people healthy. That is how we are going to handle risk by making that pool of healthy individuals bigger and decreasing overall costs of care through that.”
“It actually is critical to get the data where it requires being in case to fill in the gaps that exist today,” Paoletti added. “That is what we are attempting to do and that is where we are headed on a larger scale.”
Furthermore, the results from health information exchange indicate that duplicative testing is decreased and wasteful spending is also decreased, stated Paoletti.
“I consider what will result [from health information exchange] will be a reduction in spending both because ultimately, it’ll increase preventive care but also realistically we’ll have a reduction in tests and duplicative services because the data will be available,” Paoletti contended.
Private and public payers are advancing their work with primary care doctors to share patient information more rapidly to fill in gaps in care and make better coordination.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
MultiCare Health System: One hacked email account leads to PHI threat for 1,200 individuals
Five-hospital MultiCare Health System, serving the Tacoma, Wash., metropolitan area, is informing and notifying about 1,200 individuals after the email account of one worker was hacked.
The agency learned of the attack in the month of late November. As cyberattacks in the healthcare industry have increased, providers mostly learn that they have been hit when a law enforcement agency investigating one breach discovers other agencies have also been affected.
Protected health information that might have been compromised involves names, dates of birth, addresses, gender, dates of service, account balances, and diagnoses and treatment information.
Financial data and Social Security numbers weren’t accessed, and a media notice from MultiCare didn’t mention either the system would give protective services for affected consumers. The agency said it has no proof that any information has been accessed or misused, but cautioned sufferers to analyze their explanation of benefit statements for irregularities.
MultiCare now is re-educating workers on security precautions involving how to identify “phishing” emails that seem to be legitimate but launch malware when clicked on. The company didn’t respond to a request for additional information.
The agency learned of the attack in the month of late November. As cyberattacks in the healthcare industry have increased, providers mostly learn that they have been hit when a law enforcement agency investigating one breach discovers other agencies have also been affected.
Protected health information that might have been compromised involves names, dates of birth, addresses, gender, dates of service, account balances, and diagnoses and treatment information.
Financial data and Social Security numbers weren’t accessed, and a media notice from MultiCare didn’t mention either the system would give protective services for affected consumers. The agency said it has no proof that any information has been accessed or misused, but cautioned sufferers to analyze their explanation of benefit statements for irregularities.
MultiCare now is re-educating workers on security precautions involving how to identify “phishing” emails that seem to be legitimate but launch malware when clicked on. The company didn’t respond to a request for additional information.
Friday, January 27, 2017
DMC's Michigan Pioneer Merges with CMS Next Generation ACO Model
Detroit Medical Center (DMC) is glad to declare it has been opted to participate in the year of 2017 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) Next Generation ACO Model (Accountable Care Organization Model), a transformative step sponsored by the CMS Innovation Center. As a Next Generation ACO Model, DMC’s Michigan Pioneer ACO will sustain to join CMS to give Medicare beneficiaries with higher-quality care at lower charges.
The declaration is an outcome of a rigorous and competitive selection process that started in the year of 2015 with the national release of a request for Letters of Intent (LOI) from CMS. Building on the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Next Generation ACO Model gives a new chance in accountable care that sets predictable financial targets, enables providers and beneficiaries greater opportunities for coordination with the target to attain the largest quality standards of care and make better health outcomes. The Model will permit the ACO greater flexibility in offering benefit enhancements and payment models involving faster access to skilled nursing facilities and other services.
"We are happy to build on the national victory of the Michigan Pioneer ACO," stated Dr. Anthony Tedeschi, chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center. "Our focus has always been our commitment to make better the health outcomes for our sufferers while increasing the efficiency of healthcare to provide the best possible model."
The Michigan Pioneer ACO is believed to be one of the original 32 Pioneer ACOs participating in the 5 year Model that began in the year of 2012, and is one of 9 still successfully participating. In fact, the Michigan Pioneer ACO was ranked the most successful Pioneer ACO of nation in the year of 2014 for financial benchmark savings improvements and has consistently increased its quality and efficiency every year. Since inception in the year of 2012, the Michigan Pioneer ACO has decreased Medicare spending for the health care services by $41 million, resulting in net savings to the Medicare program of $20 million.
"Shifting to the Next Generation ACO Model gives for larger collaboration between our sufferers and providers, closing the gaps in care while enhancing the quality of services," claimed Roger Wiseman, senior vice president of Population Health at the Detroit Medical Center. "We look forward to working with our almost 18,000 Medicare beneficiaries served in the Michigan Pioneer ACO to increase the benefits and further decrease charges."
The Next Generation ACO Model gives important services for all stages of healthcare involving chronic disease programs, preventative care reminders, transportation assistance following hospitalization, transitional care call follow-ups, appointment assistance and the support of the high quality specialists on staff at DMC
The declaration is an outcome of a rigorous and competitive selection process that started in the year of 2015 with the national release of a request for Letters of Intent (LOI) from CMS. Building on the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Next Generation ACO Model gives a new chance in accountable care that sets predictable financial targets, enables providers and beneficiaries greater opportunities for coordination with the target to attain the largest quality standards of care and make better health outcomes. The Model will permit the ACO greater flexibility in offering benefit enhancements and payment models involving faster access to skilled nursing facilities and other services.
"We are happy to build on the national victory of the Michigan Pioneer ACO," stated Dr. Anthony Tedeschi, chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center. "Our focus has always been our commitment to make better the health outcomes for our sufferers while increasing the efficiency of healthcare to provide the best possible model."
The Michigan Pioneer ACO is believed to be one of the original 32 Pioneer ACOs participating in the 5 year Model that began in the year of 2012, and is one of 9 still successfully participating. In fact, the Michigan Pioneer ACO was ranked the most successful Pioneer ACO of nation in the year of 2014 for financial benchmark savings improvements and has consistently increased its quality and efficiency every year. Since inception in the year of 2012, the Michigan Pioneer ACO has decreased Medicare spending for the health care services by $41 million, resulting in net savings to the Medicare program of $20 million.
"Shifting to the Next Generation ACO Model gives for larger collaboration between our sufferers and providers, closing the gaps in care while enhancing the quality of services," claimed Roger Wiseman, senior vice president of Population Health at the Detroit Medical Center. "We look forward to working with our almost 18,000 Medicare beneficiaries served in the Michigan Pioneer ACO to increase the benefits and further decrease charges."
The Next Generation ACO Model gives important services for all stages of healthcare involving chronic disease programs, preventative care reminders, transportation assistance following hospitalization, transitional care call follow-ups, appointment assistance and the support of the high quality specialists on staff at DMC
Thursday, January 26, 2017
American Medical Informatics Association considers data sharing plan for clinical research
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has submitted comments on an intended data access and data sharing plan that the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute released in the time period of late 2016.
PCORI is an independent agency authorized by Congress in the year of 2010 that funds clinical effectiveness research to assist healthcare stakeholders to make informed health decisions. These involve clinicians, patients, employers, insurers and policymakers.
In its comments, American Medical Informatics Association recommended PCORI consider needing a preliminary data sharing plan as part of the award application. The agency representing healthcare informatics experts also called for earmarking particular amounts of grant funds to support data preparation and curation.
In its request for comment, PCORI laid out expectations for researchers granted funding to reproduce genuine analyses to maximize the integrity of findings and promote data sharing to enable conduct of extra analyses, AMIA contends in its comments.
“The data access and sharing is significant and foundational to advance and modern scientific discovery,” claims AMIA President and CEO Doug Fridsma, MD. The PCORI plan, he added, will make sure that comparative effectiveness research adds to evidence-based medicine while tearing down data silos.
Other AMIA suggestions to PCORI involve defining metadata that includes requisite attributes and vocabularies utilized to give attributes as an explicit component of the Analyzable Data Set; motivating use of emerging community metadata models; and developing ways to ensure data originators get credit for their work. The PCORI request for comment is available here.
PCORI is an independent agency authorized by Congress in the year of 2010 that funds clinical effectiveness research to assist healthcare stakeholders to make informed health decisions. These involve clinicians, patients, employers, insurers and policymakers.
In its comments, American Medical Informatics Association recommended PCORI consider needing a preliminary data sharing plan as part of the award application. The agency representing healthcare informatics experts also called for earmarking particular amounts of grant funds to support data preparation and curation.
In its request for comment, PCORI laid out expectations for researchers granted funding to reproduce genuine analyses to maximize the integrity of findings and promote data sharing to enable conduct of extra analyses, AMIA contends in its comments.
“The data access and sharing is significant and foundational to advance and modern scientific discovery,” claims AMIA President and CEO Doug Fridsma, MD. The PCORI plan, he added, will make sure that comparative effectiveness research adds to evidence-based medicine while tearing down data silos.
Other AMIA suggestions to PCORI involve defining metadata that includes requisite attributes and vocabularies utilized to give attributes as an explicit component of the Analyzable Data Set; motivating use of emerging community metadata models; and developing ways to ensure data originators get credit for their work. The PCORI request for comment is available here.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Use of DirectTrust secure electronic messaging soars in 2016
Use of DirectTrust secure electronic messaging between the patients, providers and other healthcare consumers through the Direct Project protocols for secure communications, grew importantly previous year, underscoring increasing national interest and activity in exchanging health information (HIE) during the care delivery procedure.
The service utilizes DirectTrust-accredited health information service providers (HISPs) that commit to complying with specific protocols for secure messaging.
More than ninety-eight million Direct message transactions were conducted during the year of 2016, in accordance to the vendor; more than 33.5 million messages were sent in the previous 3 months of 2016 alone. The service reports a total of 165 million transactions since it was inaugurated in the year of 2013.
The number of healthcare agencies using Direct message transactions rose to 71,000 previous year, in contrast with 52,000 in the year of 2015. A total of 41 HISPs now work with DirectTrust secure electronic messaging, and more than 350 certified electronic health records (EHRs) support the messaging service.
In addition to the certified EHRs, vendors mostly have several other products that support Direct—about 1500 other products are certified for the service.
“I did not expect growth to be this rapid,” claims David Kibbe, MD, president and CEO at DirectTrust. “That means we’ve to work harder so it stays reliable.”
Primary use cases for DirectTrust secure electronic messaging sustain to involve support of care coordination and clinical messaging for referrals and alerts, in accordance to Kibbe. “But w are also initiating to see Direct messaging for administrative and research data communications,” he adds.
DirectTrust soon will issue a white paper, significantly done by physicians and nurses using the service, with suggestions to EHR vendors and users on how to make better their products by mentioning features that best support Direct messaging.
Also, the service soon will support the capability to copy messages to other parties beyond those included in the exchange of information, and it also will support message notification, like informing a user that a message was victoriously received or the message was not delivered, Kibbe claims.
The service utilizes DirectTrust-accredited health information service providers (HISPs) that commit to complying with specific protocols for secure messaging.
More than ninety-eight million Direct message transactions were conducted during the year of 2016, in accordance to the vendor; more than 33.5 million messages were sent in the previous 3 months of 2016 alone. The service reports a total of 165 million transactions since it was inaugurated in the year of 2013.
The number of healthcare agencies using Direct message transactions rose to 71,000 previous year, in contrast with 52,000 in the year of 2015. A total of 41 HISPs now work with DirectTrust secure electronic messaging, and more than 350 certified electronic health records (EHRs) support the messaging service.
In addition to the certified EHRs, vendors mostly have several other products that support Direct—about 1500 other products are certified for the service.
“I did not expect growth to be this rapid,” claims David Kibbe, MD, president and CEO at DirectTrust. “That means we’ve to work harder so it stays reliable.”
Primary use cases for DirectTrust secure electronic messaging sustain to involve support of care coordination and clinical messaging for referrals and alerts, in accordance to Kibbe. “But w are also initiating to see Direct messaging for administrative and research data communications,” he adds.
DirectTrust soon will issue a white paper, significantly done by physicians and nurses using the service, with suggestions to EHR vendors and users on how to make better their products by mentioning features that best support Direct messaging.
Also, the service soon will support the capability to copy messages to other parties beyond those included in the exchange of information, and it also will support message notification, like informing a user that a message was victoriously received or the message was not delivered, Kibbe claims.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Texas ACO Produces $14M in Savings, Acquires Perfect Quality Score
Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance, LLC (RGVHA), a Texas ACO (accountable care organization) based in the region of McAllen, Texas, is acquiring important cost savings and quality improvements spearheaded by area primary care physicians who’ve joined hands with population health technology provider Lightbeam Health Solutions.
The Texas ACO contains 18 primary care physician practices working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to give coordinated care to Medicare sufferers in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Since it started operating as an ACO in the year of 2013, RGVHA has saved more than $28 million – almost $14 million in the year of 2015 alone – by better stratifying and serving its population with tools from Lightbeam.
“Lightbeam’s value to our ACO goes beyond population health software because we benefit merely as much from Lightbeam’s information and best practices for orchestrating proactive and efficient work by physicians and care management teams. Lightbeam assists us stay a step ahead of our populations’ health requirements, which lets us deliver both quality and cost savings that we are very proud of,” stated Victoria Farias, assistant administrator at Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance, LLC. “We sustain collaborating with Lightbeam to recognize and deal new ways of cost-effectively providing high-quality care, especially for those patients with the most acute and chronic conditions.”
In the latest ACO Financial Report from CMS profiling results from the 2015 Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), RGVHA was also one of mere four ACOs in the nationwide program to acquire a perfect 100% quality score. These outcomes were because of the ACO working with a scorecard system based on Lightbeam quality measures that also targeted non-compliant patients so care teams could more proactively handle those individuals’ care.
“We are proud to join hands with Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance to find ways to decrease healthcare charges while identifying sufferers whose lives can be improved simply through heightened healthcare education and more proactive care coordination,” claimed Pat Cline, CEO of Lightbeam. “The Lightbeam platform assists ACOs such as Rio Grande risk-stratify their populations to a granular level and our tools deliver that reliable information to care teams that use it to move more rapidly and decisively to close care gaps, increase patient engagement and decrease cost. We consider that Rio Grande is an outstanding blueprint for other ACOs looking to deliver similar savings and quality scores.”
Key points of the victory of RGVHA Texas ACO involve:
A significant next step for the ACO is deploying the Lightbeam Cohort Builder to assist RGVHA further identify high-risk sufferers who can enroll in several evidence-based care programs to make better patient outcomes and lower costs. Cohort analysis assists ACOs and providers by offering clear guidance and prioritizing where care management and other attempts should be focused.
The Texas ACO contains 18 primary care physician practices working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to give coordinated care to Medicare sufferers in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Since it started operating as an ACO in the year of 2013, RGVHA has saved more than $28 million – almost $14 million in the year of 2015 alone – by better stratifying and serving its population with tools from Lightbeam.
“Lightbeam’s value to our ACO goes beyond population health software because we benefit merely as much from Lightbeam’s information and best practices for orchestrating proactive and efficient work by physicians and care management teams. Lightbeam assists us stay a step ahead of our populations’ health requirements, which lets us deliver both quality and cost savings that we are very proud of,” stated Victoria Farias, assistant administrator at Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance, LLC. “We sustain collaborating with Lightbeam to recognize and deal new ways of cost-effectively providing high-quality care, especially for those patients with the most acute and chronic conditions.”
In the latest ACO Financial Report from CMS profiling results from the 2015 Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), RGVHA was also one of mere four ACOs in the nationwide program to acquire a perfect 100% quality score. These outcomes were because of the ACO working with a scorecard system based on Lightbeam quality measures that also targeted non-compliant patients so care teams could more proactively handle those individuals’ care.
“We are proud to join hands with Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance to find ways to decrease healthcare charges while identifying sufferers whose lives can be improved simply through heightened healthcare education and more proactive care coordination,” claimed Pat Cline, CEO of Lightbeam. “The Lightbeam platform assists ACOs such as Rio Grande risk-stratify their populations to a granular level and our tools deliver that reliable information to care teams that use it to move more rapidly and decisively to close care gaps, increase patient engagement and decrease cost. We consider that Rio Grande is an outstanding blueprint for other ACOs looking to deliver similar savings and quality scores.”
Key points of the victory of RGVHA Texas ACO involve:
- Reducing home health spending by 41%
- Viewing sufferers’ underlying data, comparing it to CMS home health criteria, and recognizing patients who qualify for alternative avenues of care
- Decreasing emergency room visits and associated hospitalizations by 10%
- Improving care coordination across the health system and connecting area providers to better handle several patient populations
A significant next step for the ACO is deploying the Lightbeam Cohort Builder to assist RGVHA further identify high-risk sufferers who can enroll in several evidence-based care programs to make better patient outcomes and lower costs. Cohort analysis assists ACOs and providers by offering clear guidance and prioritizing where care management and other attempts should be focused.
Monday, January 23, 2017
EHRs provide potential solutions for trimming unnecessary health care
As the healthcare system of nation sustains to grapple with the issues of overuse and low-value care that gives little or no benefit to sufferers, electronic health record (EHR) systems can offer potential solutions for trimming unnecessary health care. It can also serve as strong technology platforms for data collection and intervention to deal overutilization.
So elaborates David Bates, MD, chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-author of a new viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Electronic health record (EHR) systems can offer potential solutions for trimming unnecessary health care.
In the article, “We concentrate on the issue of overuse and what can be done about it,” claims Bates. “One of the greatest changes in healthcare in recent years is that we are now using electronic health records (EHRs), which could actually be very helpful in reducing the overuse problem.”
Bates and his co-authors assert that EHRs have inherent advantages in combating the overuse of diagnostic processes, like the ordering of unnecessary tests by clinicians. They see the EHR as “an ideal medium” to give that kind of critical clinical decision support.
Although, the authors of the opinion piece also point out the limitations of EHRs the way that they are presently configured.
“There is lots of overuse, and EHRs do not necessarily do all they can to help reduce the frequency,” Bates adds. “The decision support in several of them is not as good as it should be. EHRs should routinely recognize things that are redundant, and they should assist people recognize things that are unnecessary. But most of the EHRs that are in broad use today aren’t doing that routinely.”
Bates and his co-authors give 3 current examples of U.S. healthcare organizations with mature EHRs:
“We do not have robust evidence about which of the 3 works best,” Bates appreciates. “All three would be reasonable approaches to take—probably what we require at the end of the day is some amalgam of the three.”
At the similar time, he notes that EHRs “should be used to straightly influence physician behavior at the point of care, and that is what organization A is doing” by giving an alert in real time to physicians with patients who fit a Choosing Wisely scenario.
Nevertheless, Bates gives that organization B is “looking more at variation and that is also a very strong approach for finding situations in which there is overuse.”
Finally, he summarizes that all healthcare agencies will need to customize their respective EHR systems to establish tailored solutions and trimming unnecessary health care that best fit their requirements.
So elaborates David Bates, MD, chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-author of a new viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Electronic health record (EHR) systems can offer potential solutions for trimming unnecessary health care.
In the article, “We concentrate on the issue of overuse and what can be done about it,” claims Bates. “One of the greatest changes in healthcare in recent years is that we are now using electronic health records (EHRs), which could actually be very helpful in reducing the overuse problem.”
Bates and his co-authors assert that EHRs have inherent advantages in combating the overuse of diagnostic processes, like the ordering of unnecessary tests by clinicians. They see the EHR as “an ideal medium” to give that kind of critical clinical decision support.
Although, the authors of the opinion piece also point out the limitations of EHRs the way that they are presently configured.
“There is lots of overuse, and EHRs do not necessarily do all they can to help reduce the frequency,” Bates adds. “The decision support in several of them is not as good as it should be. EHRs should routinely recognize things that are redundant, and they should assist people recognize things that are unnecessary. But most of the EHRs that are in broad use today aren’t doing that routinely.”
Bates and his co-authors give 3 current examples of U.S. healthcare organizations with mature EHRs:
- One agency has incorporated 100 of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s “Choosing Wisely” recommendations into their EHR to develop automated alerts that provide physicians with evidence and alternative options.
- Another agency aggregates data to compare physician orders against each another.
- The third integrated delivery system mines patient records to give physicians with best practices prior to a visit.
“We do not have robust evidence about which of the 3 works best,” Bates appreciates. “All three would be reasonable approaches to take—probably what we require at the end of the day is some amalgam of the three.”
At the similar time, he notes that EHRs “should be used to straightly influence physician behavior at the point of care, and that is what organization A is doing” by giving an alert in real time to physicians with patients who fit a Choosing Wisely scenario.
Nevertheless, Bates gives that organization B is “looking more at variation and that is also a very strong approach for finding situations in which there is overuse.”
Finally, he summarizes that all healthcare agencies will need to customize their respective EHR systems to establish tailored solutions and trimming unnecessary health care that best fit their requirements.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Heartbeat to be possibly used as password to access EHRs
Researchers at the institutes of Binghamton University, State University of New York have devised a latest way to secure personal electronic health records (EHRs) by utilizing a patient's own heartbeat. Heartbeat can be possibly used as password to access EHRs.
"The charges and complexity of traditional encryption solutions stop them being straightly applied to telemedicine or mobile healthcare. Those systems are steadily replacing clinic-centered healthcare, and we needed to find a distinctive solution to secure sensitive personal health data with something simple, available and cost-effective," claimed Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University. Jin is the co-author of a new paper entitled as "A Robust and Reusable ECG-based Authentication and Data Encryption Scheme for eHealth Systems."
Traditional security measures--like cryptography or encryption--can be costly, time-consuming, and computing-intensive. Binghamton researchers encrypted patient data by utilizing an individual’s unique electrocardiograph (ECG)--a measurement of the electrical activity of the heart measured by a biosensor attached to the skin--as the key to lock and unlock the files.
"The ECG signal is believed to be one of the most vital and common physiological parameters collected and observed to understand a sufferer’s health," said Jin. "While ECG signals are collected for clinical diagnosis and transmitted through networks to electronic health records (EHRs), we strategically reused the ECG signals for the data encryption. Through this strategy, the security and privacy can be modified while minimum charges will be added."
Essentially, the sufferer’s heartbeat is the password to access EHRs.
The identification scheme is a combination of initial work by Jin using a unique brainprint of person rather than traditional passwords for access to computers and buildings combined with cyber-security work from Guo and Chen. Heartbeat can be possibly used as password to access EHRs.
"This research will be very useful and important for next-generation secure, personalized healthcare," stated Jin.
Since an ECG might change because of age, illness or injury--or a patient might just want to change how their records are accessed--researchers are presently working out ways to incorporate those variables.
Assistant Professor Linke Guo and Associate Professor Yu Chen, along with PhD candidates Pei Huang and Borui Li, are co-authors of the paper.
The research was presented at The IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2016) in Washington, D.C., in the month of December 2016.\
"The charges and complexity of traditional encryption solutions stop them being straightly applied to telemedicine or mobile healthcare. Those systems are steadily replacing clinic-centered healthcare, and we needed to find a distinctive solution to secure sensitive personal health data with something simple, available and cost-effective," claimed Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University. Jin is the co-author of a new paper entitled as "A Robust and Reusable ECG-based Authentication and Data Encryption Scheme for eHealth Systems."
Traditional security measures--like cryptography or encryption--can be costly, time-consuming, and computing-intensive. Binghamton researchers encrypted patient data by utilizing an individual’s unique electrocardiograph (ECG)--a measurement of the electrical activity of the heart measured by a biosensor attached to the skin--as the key to lock and unlock the files.
"The ECG signal is believed to be one of the most vital and common physiological parameters collected and observed to understand a sufferer’s health," said Jin. "While ECG signals are collected for clinical diagnosis and transmitted through networks to electronic health records (EHRs), we strategically reused the ECG signals for the data encryption. Through this strategy, the security and privacy can be modified while minimum charges will be added."
Essentially, the sufferer’s heartbeat is the password to access EHRs.
The identification scheme is a combination of initial work by Jin using a unique brainprint of person rather than traditional passwords for access to computers and buildings combined with cyber-security work from Guo and Chen. Heartbeat can be possibly used as password to access EHRs.
"This research will be very useful and important for next-generation secure, personalized healthcare," stated Jin.
Since an ECG might change because of age, illness or injury--or a patient might just want to change how their records are accessed--researchers are presently working out ways to incorporate those variables.
Assistant Professor Linke Guo and Associate Professor Yu Chen, along with PhD candidates Pei Huang and Borui Li, are co-authors of the paper.
The research was presented at The IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2016) in Washington, D.C., in the month of December 2016.\
Saturday, January 21, 2017
HIPAA privacy violations, stolen USB drive costs MAPFRE $2.2M
MAPFRE Life Insurance Company of Puerto Rico has accepted to pay a fine of $2.2 million and enter into a settlement with the HHS Office of Civil rights for violations of the HIPAA privacy violations and security rules that resulted in a breach in the year of August 2011.
MAPFRE had a USB drive consisting of protected health information stolen from its information technology department. Data on the drive involved member names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, impacting 2,209 individuals.
But it was prior representations to OCR of MAPFRE’s HIPAA agreement that got the company in trouble, with an actual level of non-compliance, in accordance to OCR that triggers multi-million dollar fines.
“The investigation of OCR disclosed MAPFRE’s noncompliance with the HIPAA privacy violations rules, particularly a failure to conduct its risk analysis and implement risk management plans, contrary to its prior representations, and a failure to deploy encryption or an equivalent alternative measure on its laptops and removable storage media until the day of Sept. 1, 2014,” OCR asserts in a statement. “MAPFRE also failed to execute or delayed implementing other corrective measures it informed OCR it would undertake.”
In a resolution agreement that MAPFRE accepted, OCR points out the company further failed to execute a security awareness and training program for all workers, failed to implement encryption and failed to execute reasonable and suitable policies and procedures to comply with HIPAA privacy violations rule.
Now, MAPFRE will step into a 3-year corrective action program that involves a risk analysis, a risk management plan and an initiative to implement procedures to evaluate environmental or operational changes that could impact the security of electronic protected health information.
In the last year, OCR has importantly ramped up HIPAA enforcement and the size of financial penalties, having determined that the industry wasn’t taking protection of patient data seriously enough and required a wake-up call.
After Advocate Health Care in Illinois was hit in the year of August 2016 with a $5.5 million fine—the largest to date—OCR director Jocelyn Samuels had a stern message for the industry. “We expect this settlement sends a powerful message to covered entities that they must include in a comprehensive risk analysis and risk management to make sure that individuals’ electronic protected health information is safe and secure.”
The resolution agreement and corrective action plan are available here.
MAPFRE had a USB drive consisting of protected health information stolen from its information technology department. Data on the drive involved member names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, impacting 2,209 individuals.
But it was prior representations to OCR of MAPFRE’s HIPAA agreement that got the company in trouble, with an actual level of non-compliance, in accordance to OCR that triggers multi-million dollar fines.
“The investigation of OCR disclosed MAPFRE’s noncompliance with the HIPAA privacy violations rules, particularly a failure to conduct its risk analysis and implement risk management plans, contrary to its prior representations, and a failure to deploy encryption or an equivalent alternative measure on its laptops and removable storage media until the day of Sept. 1, 2014,” OCR asserts in a statement. “MAPFRE also failed to execute or delayed implementing other corrective measures it informed OCR it would undertake.”
In a resolution agreement that MAPFRE accepted, OCR points out the company further failed to execute a security awareness and training program for all workers, failed to implement encryption and failed to execute reasonable and suitable policies and procedures to comply with HIPAA privacy violations rule.
Now, MAPFRE will step into a 3-year corrective action program that involves a risk analysis, a risk management plan and an initiative to implement procedures to evaluate environmental or operational changes that could impact the security of electronic protected health information.
In the last year, OCR has importantly ramped up HIPAA enforcement and the size of financial penalties, having determined that the industry wasn’t taking protection of patient data seriously enough and required a wake-up call.
After Advocate Health Care in Illinois was hit in the year of August 2016 with a $5.5 million fine—the largest to date—OCR director Jocelyn Samuels had a stern message for the industry. “We expect this settlement sends a powerful message to covered entities that they must include in a comprehensive risk analysis and risk management to make sure that individuals’ electronic protected health information is safe and secure.”
The resolution agreement and corrective action plan are available here.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Why interoperability is a significant component for improving research?
Interoperability is considered to be a significant component for improving research and the capability of healthcare investigators to acquire improvements, claims one of the nation’s greatest healthcare IT organizations.
That is among the comments submitted by the American Medical Informatics Association, known as AMIA, for ways to compel researchers to make better the sharing of their work.
The National Institutes of Health, which is the nation’s medical research agency, in the month of November released a request for information on strategies for standardizing how the agency handles data, cites shared data and software, and makes findings and conclusions publicly available.
“Data sharing has become such a vital proximal output of research that we consider the relative value of a proposed project should involve consideration of how its information will be shared,” AMIA stated in its comments. “By utilizing the peer-review procedure, we’ll make incremental improvements to interoperability while recognizing approaches to better data sharing practices over time.”
Interoperability is the key to better sharing of research, claims Jeffrey Smith, vice president of public policy at AMIA. “The purpose is to make sure that whatever data is utilized and created toward results of research will be available for secondary use and reanalysis and reproducibility.”
In the past year, the Cancer Moonshot Initiative championed by Vice President Joe Biden and the Precision Medicine Initiative has put a spotlight on how siloed research data can be, Smith elaborates. Now, the NIH is attempting to break down the silos.
“We can leverage computer speeds and storage at levels not possible a decade ago,” Smith asserts. “Still we’ve very some institutional ways to applaud the worth of data sets and software.”
Subsequently, the NIH RFI concentrates on data management and sharing strategies to make sure that data generated in public research is made available and accurately cited. The NIH initiative, Smith considers, also will shine a spotlight on how some clinical trial agencies actually deposit their data into the NIH clinicaltrials.gov web site.
When researchers submit applications for government grant-supported projects, NIH convenes professionals to analyze and score the projects to evaluate overall quality of the application. The application must have a sharing component, but that component isn’t part of the overall scoring procedure, in accordance to Smith, who calls it “a check-the-box exercise.” interoperability is a significant component for improving research.
Subsequently, AMIA advocates that a plan to share data should be scored during the expert review procedure of grant applications. “Making it scorable means you’ve to spend time and attention on data sharing,” Smith claims, while appreciating this would be a new and key step for researchers for improving research. “Few researchers are not well-versed in collecting, handling and sharing data.”
That is among the comments submitted by the American Medical Informatics Association, known as AMIA, for ways to compel researchers to make better the sharing of their work.
The National Institutes of Health, which is the nation’s medical research agency, in the month of November released a request for information on strategies for standardizing how the agency handles data, cites shared data and software, and makes findings and conclusions publicly available.
“Data sharing has become such a vital proximal output of research that we consider the relative value of a proposed project should involve consideration of how its information will be shared,” AMIA stated in its comments. “By utilizing the peer-review procedure, we’ll make incremental improvements to interoperability while recognizing approaches to better data sharing practices over time.”
Interoperability is the key to better sharing of research, claims Jeffrey Smith, vice president of public policy at AMIA. “The purpose is to make sure that whatever data is utilized and created toward results of research will be available for secondary use and reanalysis and reproducibility.”
In the past year, the Cancer Moonshot Initiative championed by Vice President Joe Biden and the Precision Medicine Initiative has put a spotlight on how siloed research data can be, Smith elaborates. Now, the NIH is attempting to break down the silos.
“We can leverage computer speeds and storage at levels not possible a decade ago,” Smith asserts. “Still we’ve very some institutional ways to applaud the worth of data sets and software.”
Subsequently, the NIH RFI concentrates on data management and sharing strategies to make sure that data generated in public research is made available and accurately cited. The NIH initiative, Smith considers, also will shine a spotlight on how some clinical trial agencies actually deposit their data into the NIH clinicaltrials.gov web site.
When researchers submit applications for government grant-supported projects, NIH convenes professionals to analyze and score the projects to evaluate overall quality of the application. The application must have a sharing component, but that component isn’t part of the overall scoring procedure, in accordance to Smith, who calls it “a check-the-box exercise.” interoperability is a significant component for improving research.
Subsequently, AMIA advocates that a plan to share data should be scored during the expert review procedure of grant applications. “Making it scorable means you’ve to spend time and attention on data sharing,” Smith claims, while appreciating this would be a new and key step for researchers for improving research. “Few researchers are not well-versed in collecting, handling and sharing data.”
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Cyberattack: Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare informs patients after vendor is hacked
A third-party vendor serving Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare faced a cyberattack, resulting in the twelve-hospital delivery system sending breach notification letters to almost 5,454 affected sufferers.
Law enforcement notified Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare of the breach on the day of Nov. 17, 2016, and a Sentara investigation highlighted the vendor, which it declined to recognize in its announcement, as the target. Healthcare agencies mostly learn of cyberattacks as police in the course of investigating a tragedy find other facilities that also were affected. Police, Sentara and the vendor sustain to investigate the tragedy, in accordance to the notification letter.
The vendor doesn’t give direct care to patients, in accordance to a Sentara spokesperson; it gives information reporting and data benchmarking services. With the investigation ongoing, the agency won’t provide extra information about the vendor or its current relationship with the vendor.
The compromised sufferer information “relates to vascular and/or thoracic processes that took place between the time period of 2012 and 2015 at a Sentara hospital in Virginia, and was inappropriately accessed,” the agency has informed patients.
Data at risk involves sufferer names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, procedures, demographic data and medications.
Affected people are being offered one year of credit monitoring and recognize theft protection in the ProtectMyID Alert service of Experian. The vendor, in accordance to Sentara, is enhancing its security posture.
Law enforcement notified Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare of the breach on the day of Nov. 17, 2016, and a Sentara investigation highlighted the vendor, which it declined to recognize in its announcement, as the target. Healthcare agencies mostly learn of cyberattacks as police in the course of investigating a tragedy find other facilities that also were affected. Police, Sentara and the vendor sustain to investigate the tragedy, in accordance to the notification letter.
The vendor doesn’t give direct care to patients, in accordance to a Sentara spokesperson; it gives information reporting and data benchmarking services. With the investigation ongoing, the agency won’t provide extra information about the vendor or its current relationship with the vendor.
The compromised sufferer information “relates to vascular and/or thoracic processes that took place between the time period of 2012 and 2015 at a Sentara hospital in Virginia, and was inappropriately accessed,” the agency has informed patients.
Data at risk involves sufferer names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, procedures, demographic data and medications.
Affected people are being offered one year of credit monitoring and recognize theft protection in the ProtectMyID Alert service of Experian. The vendor, in accordance to Sentara, is enhancing its security posture.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Acquisition: Security vendors combine as Auxilio purchases CynergisTek
CynergisTek, a famous healthcare privacy and information security consultancy, now is part of document management/information technology security firm Auxilio following an acquisition. Security vendors will combine as Auxilio buys CynergisTek.
Auxilio will pay as much as $26.8M in cash, stock and seller debt with extra payments of as much as $7.5 million over 5 years if CynergisTek meets some financial performance metrics, for a possible complete cost of $34.3 million. Auxilio already owns data security vulnerability testing and assessment services firm Redspin and risk management vendor Delphiis, which will be combined into CynergisTek.
CynergisTek leaders Mac McMillan and Michael Mathews will merge with the board of the combined entity and have important ownership stakes. CynergisTek will operate independently, but chances exist to provide combined services over time, claimed Auxilio CEO Joe Flynn in a statement. “We’ve long stated our wish to expand our reach in healthcare information technology security, and this acquisition puts us in an instant leadership position in the category,” Flynn added.
Auxilio competes against such heavyweight document management firms as HealthPort and MRO, but is well-capitalized with great management, claims John Osberg, a merger and acquisition specialist at consultancy Informed Partners.
Auxilio purchasing CynergisTek to expand into the advisory services market is a smart move, Osberg considers. Auxilio has electronic technology to assist hospitals secure their written documentation by controlling whom, when and where documents can be printed. In essence, it specializes in automated risk assessment procedures. Security vendors will combine as Auxilio purchases CynergisTek.
Now, Auxilio will integrate its existing security holdings—Delphiis, RedSpin and CynergisTek--into a single cybersecurity agency. CynergisTek will increase its capability to offer information technology staffing services to hospitals.
Merging into Auxilio was a chance for CynergisTek to continue growth as a publicly held company, McMillan further adds. “The logic of the matter is, to take it to the next level will take more than our energy.”
While the final name of the entity isn’t still clear, McMillan, who’ll serve as president of Auxilio and CEO of CynergisTek, expects to keep the CynergisTek brand alive to maintain industry recognition.
CynergisTek, identified by security vendors research firm KLAS as the largest-rated healthcare firm for security consulting in the year of 2016, also brings revenue to Auxilio; having produced $15 million in revenue during the year of 2016 and $5 million in earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization.
Auxilio will pay as much as $26.8M in cash, stock and seller debt with extra payments of as much as $7.5 million over 5 years if CynergisTek meets some financial performance metrics, for a possible complete cost of $34.3 million. Auxilio already owns data security vulnerability testing and assessment services firm Redspin and risk management vendor Delphiis, which will be combined into CynergisTek.
CynergisTek leaders Mac McMillan and Michael Mathews will merge with the board of the combined entity and have important ownership stakes. CynergisTek will operate independently, but chances exist to provide combined services over time, claimed Auxilio CEO Joe Flynn in a statement. “We’ve long stated our wish to expand our reach in healthcare information technology security, and this acquisition puts us in an instant leadership position in the category,” Flynn added.
Auxilio competes against such heavyweight document management firms as HealthPort and MRO, but is well-capitalized with great management, claims John Osberg, a merger and acquisition specialist at consultancy Informed Partners.
Auxilio purchasing CynergisTek to expand into the advisory services market is a smart move, Osberg considers. Auxilio has electronic technology to assist hospitals secure their written documentation by controlling whom, when and where documents can be printed. In essence, it specializes in automated risk assessment procedures. Security vendors will combine as Auxilio purchases CynergisTek.
Now, Auxilio will integrate its existing security holdings—Delphiis, RedSpin and CynergisTek--into a single cybersecurity agency. CynergisTek will increase its capability to offer information technology staffing services to hospitals.
Merging into Auxilio was a chance for CynergisTek to continue growth as a publicly held company, McMillan further adds. “The logic of the matter is, to take it to the next level will take more than our energy.”
While the final name of the entity isn’t still clear, McMillan, who’ll serve as president of Auxilio and CEO of CynergisTek, expects to keep the CynergisTek brand alive to maintain industry recognition.
CynergisTek, identified by security vendors research firm KLAS as the largest-rated healthcare firm for security consulting in the year of 2016, also brings revenue to Auxilio; having produced $15 million in revenue during the year of 2016 and $5 million in earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Rise of Blockchain technology merits full-day conference at HIMSS17
The growth of blockchain technology as a potential tool within healthcare will rate closer examination during a day-long conference during HIMSS17 in the region of Orlando, Fla.
The conference, termed as Blockchain in Healthcare, a Rock Stars of Technology Event, will be on the day of Wednesday, February 22, at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition.
The event is being provided by the IEEE Computer Society and is being co-hosted with the Personal Connected Health Alliance. Organizers say the event will give healthcare business and Information technology professionals with the knowledge they require protecting and secure data; electronic health records (EHRs), connected devices and health information exchanges with blockchain technologies.
Proponents of blockchain technology consider that it could have wide applicability in healthcare. It enables the collection of data from a variety of sources, and keeps an audit trail of transactions, hence developing accountability and transparency in the data exchange procedure.
The utilization of blockchain in healthcare is emerging as one of the most controversial technologies of 2017, providing the promise of dealing security and data integrity problems related to the increasing volume of patient data handled by physicians, hospitals and insurance companies.
Key topics of the blockchain event at HIMSS17 involve:
The event at HIMSS17 will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. February 22 in room 414B, discovered on level 4 of the West Concourse of the Orange County Convention Center.
Further knowledge on the event, and links for registration can be found here.
The conference, termed as Blockchain in Healthcare, a Rock Stars of Technology Event, will be on the day of Wednesday, February 22, at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition.
The event is being provided by the IEEE Computer Society and is being co-hosted with the Personal Connected Health Alliance. Organizers say the event will give healthcare business and Information technology professionals with the knowledge they require protecting and secure data; electronic health records (EHRs), connected devices and health information exchanges with blockchain technologies.
Proponents of blockchain technology consider that it could have wide applicability in healthcare. It enables the collection of data from a variety of sources, and keeps an audit trail of transactions, hence developing accountability and transparency in the data exchange procedure.
The utilization of blockchain in healthcare is emerging as one of the most controversial technologies of 2017, providing the promise of dealing security and data integrity problems related to the increasing volume of patient data handled by physicians, hospitals and insurance companies.
Key topics of the blockchain event at HIMSS17 involve:
- Advancing Progress towards a Safe and Secure Nationwide System of Interoperable Health IT
- Blockchain Use-Cases and Opportunities in Healthcare
- Blockchains: Revealing the Hidden Cost of Trust
- Blockchain and Its Practical Use-Cases in Healthcare
- Computing the Contract: Why Smart Contracts are the Asset
- Defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with Blockchain in Healthcare: Challenge and Opportunities
The event at HIMSS17 will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. February 22 in room 414B, discovered on level 4 of the West Concourse of the Orange County Convention Center.
Further knowledge on the event, and links for registration can be found here.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Organizational complexity is the highest risk to cybersecurity
Some 83% of agencies consider that they are most at risk for cyberattack due to the organizational complexity, in accordance to a latest survey of organizations by the Ponemon Institute.
“Workers aren’t following corporate security requirements as an organizational complexity because they are too tough to be productive, plus policies hinder their capability to work in their preferred manner,” the research noted. “It’s no surprise that shadow IT is on the rise because workers need simpler ways to get their work done.”
The research, which was sponsored by Citrix, finds that workers are increasingly putting data on their personal devices, meaning vital organization information is accessible from any laptop, phone or tablet left sitting at a desk or coffee shop. And data assets are increasing, putting more data at risk, in accordance to 87% of survey respondents.
Survey results also discovered that security and IT experts are increasingly concerned about their current operations:
As for planning for the future:
“In every region of the world, businesses must agree to the fact that security practices and policies require evolving in case to deal with threats from disruptive technologies, cybercrime and compliance,” in accordance to Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
The organizations consider that they are most at risk for cyberattack due to the organizational complexity, in accordance to a latest survey of organizations by the Ponemon Institute.
“The research discloses respondents’ awareness of the need to challenge the status quo of their Information technology security strategies and consider a latest IT security architecture to safeguard their agencies from cyber risks,” Ponemon adds.
“Workers aren’t following corporate security requirements as an organizational complexity because they are too tough to be productive, plus policies hinder their capability to work in their preferred manner,” the research noted. “It’s no surprise that shadow IT is on the rise because workers need simpler ways to get their work done.”
The research, which was sponsored by Citrix, finds that workers are increasingly putting data on their personal devices, meaning vital organization information is accessible from any laptop, phone or tablet left sitting at a desk or coffee shop. And data assets are increasing, putting more data at risk, in accordance to 87% of survey respondents.
Survey results also discovered that security and IT experts are increasingly concerned about their current operations:
- 79% of respondents are worried about security breaches including high-value information.
- The protection of apps and data is more critical than ever, with 74% of organization saying that a latest IT security framework is required to improve security posture and decrease risk.
- 71% say there is threat from their inability to control employees’ devices and apps.
As for planning for the future:
- 73% say data management, 76% say configuration management, and 72% say app management, are the keys to decreasing the security risk over the next 2 years in building a new information technology infrastructure.
- 75% say their agency is not completely prepared to deal with the potential security risks resulting from Internet of Things (IoT).
“In every region of the world, businesses must agree to the fact that security practices and policies require evolving in case to deal with threats from disruptive technologies, cybercrime and compliance,” in accordance to Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
The organizations consider that they are most at risk for cyberattack due to the organizational complexity, in accordance to a latest survey of organizations by the Ponemon Institute.
“The research discloses respondents’ awareness of the need to challenge the status quo of their Information technology security strategies and consider a latest IT security architecture to safeguard their agencies from cyber risks,” Ponemon adds.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Genomic data sharing needs clinical information and standardization of lab
Michael Watson, executive director of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), knows about the worth of laboratory standardization and clinical genomic data sharing in case to deliver the best possible patient care.
Watson asserts that genomic data sharing is crucial to advancing medical breakthroughs for the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 rare genetic ailments, each of which can vary dramatically and be caused by a multitude of various genetic changes.
“I was a laboratory director for twenty years and rare diseases aren’t easy,” claims Watson. “No one person, no one institution, and no one state will ever have sufficient data to actually inform them to the degree that they could be informed to make better the healthcare.”
That is the stark realization behind the latest position statement that ACMG released previous week calling call for “broad sharing” of laboratory and clinical data derived from people who have undergone genomic testing.
“Data that underpins healthcare service delivery should be treated neither as intellectual property nor as a trade secret when other sufferers might benefit from the knowledge being immensely available,” in accordance to ACMG’s position statement.
Although, Watson is the first to appreciate that translating genetic data into healthcare use is a significant challenge.
“It is relatively straightforward to put out a position statement—executing what you are suggesting is the hard part,” he claims. “It takes lots and lots of information from people all over the country, both labs and clinics, to get the kind of information we require helping everybody improve the way they deliver care.”
ACMG’s position statement makes the case that extensive genomic data sharing is important and to improve care by making available the best genomic data sharing possible by which:
“Broad genomic data sharing is going to be significant,” Watson adds. “But, I think we are still trying to figure out how we do that.”
At the similar time, the ACMG points out that the “analytical issues of migrating and integrating clinical and laboratory data across the genome are daunting.” To deal these issues, the group calls for the standardization of laboratory and clinical data to enable data compatibility as well as interoperability between systems.
“If you are going to work out of an electronic health record (EHR) system, you need that type of consistency across labs and clinics all over the country so that the information that is put in the EHR is completely compatible with everybody else’s,” Watson claims.
He points to the Precision Medicine Initiative, an attempt to map the genomes of a million or more Americans and make the data available to researchers. Particularly, PMI is going to leverage EHRs to assist gather information for the national research cohort, with data about the study’s volunteers that can be derived from their records in terms of medical diagnoses, lab results, and what medications they are on.
Nevertheless, standards by which labs assess genomic variant classification are also significant to finally individualize and tailor treatments for sufferers, in accordance to Watson.
“If you look at the Precision Medicine Initiative, it is predicated on being capable to take data out of electronic health records (EHRs),” summarizes Watson. “That is a pretty complex issue to get your arms around in the absence of underlying standards.”
Watson asserts that genomic data sharing is crucial to advancing medical breakthroughs for the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 rare genetic ailments, each of which can vary dramatically and be caused by a multitude of various genetic changes.
“I was a laboratory director for twenty years and rare diseases aren’t easy,” claims Watson. “No one person, no one institution, and no one state will ever have sufficient data to actually inform them to the degree that they could be informed to make better the healthcare.”
That is the stark realization behind the latest position statement that ACMG released previous week calling call for “broad sharing” of laboratory and clinical data derived from people who have undergone genomic testing.
“Data that underpins healthcare service delivery should be treated neither as intellectual property nor as a trade secret when other sufferers might benefit from the knowledge being immensely available,” in accordance to ACMG’s position statement.
Although, Watson is the first to appreciate that translating genetic data into healthcare use is a significant challenge.
“It is relatively straightforward to put out a position statement—executing what you are suggesting is the hard part,” he claims. “It takes lots and lots of information from people all over the country, both labs and clinics, to get the kind of information we require helping everybody improve the way they deliver care.”
ACMG’s position statement makes the case that extensive genomic data sharing is important and to improve care by making available the best genomic data sharing possible by which:
- Important clinical attributes of the phenotype of those with genetic diseases can be described
- The qualitative strength of the link between genetic diseases and the underlying causative genes can be developed
- The classification of genomic variants across the range of benign to pathogenic can be created
- Differences in variant interpretation among laboratories can be reconciled
- The suitable classification of variants of uncertain significance can be made
- Standards used in variant classification can be improved
“Broad genomic data sharing is going to be significant,” Watson adds. “But, I think we are still trying to figure out how we do that.”
At the similar time, the ACMG points out that the “analytical issues of migrating and integrating clinical and laboratory data across the genome are daunting.” To deal these issues, the group calls for the standardization of laboratory and clinical data to enable data compatibility as well as interoperability between systems.
“If you are going to work out of an electronic health record (EHR) system, you need that type of consistency across labs and clinics all over the country so that the information that is put in the EHR is completely compatible with everybody else’s,” Watson claims.
He points to the Precision Medicine Initiative, an attempt to map the genomes of a million or more Americans and make the data available to researchers. Particularly, PMI is going to leverage EHRs to assist gather information for the national research cohort, with data about the study’s volunteers that can be derived from their records in terms of medical diagnoses, lab results, and what medications they are on.
Nevertheless, standards by which labs assess genomic variant classification are also significant to finally individualize and tailor treatments for sufferers, in accordance to Watson.
“If you look at the Precision Medicine Initiative, it is predicated on being capable to take data out of electronic health records (EHRs),” summarizes Watson. “That is a pretty complex issue to get your arms around in the absence of underlying standards.”
Saturday, January 14, 2017
FDA, IBM Watson Health partners to investigate application of blockchain technology
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and IBM Watson Health are establishing a partnership to examine potential ways that blockchain technology can be utilized in healthcare.
The agency and IBM subsidiary have signed a 2-year contract that will enable them to jointly investigate ways to use the emerging technology. Initial attempts will concentrate on oncology-related data.
Proponents of blockchain technology consider that it could have wide applicability in healthcare. It enables the collection of information from a variety of sources, and keeps an audit trail of transactions, thus developing accountability and transparency in the data exchange procedure.
The FDA and IBM Watson Health will look at ways blockchain technology can enable healthcare entities to work together with more trust. They consider the technology can support the exchange of “owner-mediated data from various sources,” like electronic health records (EHRs), clinical trials, genomic data and information collected from presently untapped information sources, like mobile devices, wearable’s and Internet of Thing devices.
Initial attempts of the partners will focus on how a blockchain framework can help public health efforts.
“One aspect of the role of FDA as a regulatory science agency is to conduct research that informs the development of latest tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of all FDA-regulated products,” claimed Sean Khozin, MD, senior medical officer, Office of hematology and oncology products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA. “By studying blockchain technology, the FDA is investing to the advancement of clinical research by testing novel frameworks for protective exchange of worthy patient-level health data at scale.”
It is this wider view of patient data that will help researchers in making better research initiatives, states Shahram Ebadollahi, vice president for innovations and chief science officer for IBM Watson Health.
“One of the problems in research is the availability of a longitudinal record of patient information that gives a 360 degree view of the patient,” Ebadollahi claims. “There is been no central place to put the data. Blockchain provides the chance to produce value and outcomes on the distributed ledger, interoperability, privacy and security, while putting the sufferer in the center.
The initiative will be constructed on IBM’s work in establishing and advancing blockchain technology, Ebadollahi adds. For instance, IBM is a founding member and key contributor to the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger project, a key underpinning for blockchain.
Under the research contract, the FDA will work straightly with IBM Watson Health. It will leverage the agency’s technical and organizational resources from its Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED) initiative. “That is an FDA big data initiative created to support novel scientific research using huge clinical trial datasets and emerging pipelines of data from sources like electronic medical record systems, biometric monitoring devices and wearable technologies,” Khozin asserts.
IBM Watson Health and the FDA plan to share earlier or initial research findings by the end of 2017 year, he adds.
The federal agency observes a variety of potential benefits from inquiring how blockchain could be used in healthcare and focusing efforts on indicating its value in specific use cases, Khozin adds.
“Huge amounts of patient data are generated in the public health sector,” he notes. “This data has the potential to assist researchers to develop more effective and safer treatments for sufferers, particularly in life-threatening disease areas such as cancer, which has observed a huge rise in the use of personalized and targeted therapies for disease treatment.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to support secure exchange of huge volumes of data while ensuring sufferer privacy and maintaining data integrity,” he adds. “These are crucial features of a scalable data exchange ecosystem that can support high-quality research while protecting against breaches of sensitive patient-level information.”
The initiative offers IBM and its Watson Health division a chance to demonstrate whether blockchain can live up to the hype that is growing around its potential to meet vexing problems in healthcare IT.
As the promise of blockchain in healthcare becomes more obvious, IBM will work to define and develop the technological solution for a scalable and decentralized information sharing ecosystem, Ebadollahi says.
“The healthcare industry is undergoing important modifications because of the vast amounts of disparate data being generated. Blockchain technology gives a greatly secure, decentralized framework for information sharing that will accelerate innovation throughout the industry,” he claims.
The initial focus on oncology with the FDA makes sense because it is “a domain to test the technology and observe how it maps to several use cases,” he further adds. “We are looking to build a patient-mediated electronic health data exchange. There are several reasons for doing this, chief among them the problem of trust—can you put faith in the data you are looking at. With blockchain, we feel it can be a remedy for that.
“We are very excited about this, and there is no better partner for us than the FDA,” Ebadollahi claims. “They know about our information of blockchain, and this offers us a matter of mutual interest from which the public can gain benefit.”
The agency and IBM subsidiary have signed a 2-year contract that will enable them to jointly investigate ways to use the emerging technology. Initial attempts will concentrate on oncology-related data.
Proponents of blockchain technology consider that it could have wide applicability in healthcare. It enables the collection of information from a variety of sources, and keeps an audit trail of transactions, thus developing accountability and transparency in the data exchange procedure.
The FDA and IBM Watson Health will look at ways blockchain technology can enable healthcare entities to work together with more trust. They consider the technology can support the exchange of “owner-mediated data from various sources,” like electronic health records (EHRs), clinical trials, genomic data and information collected from presently untapped information sources, like mobile devices, wearable’s and Internet of Thing devices.
Initial attempts of the partners will focus on how a blockchain framework can help public health efforts.
“One aspect of the role of FDA as a regulatory science agency is to conduct research that informs the development of latest tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of all FDA-regulated products,” claimed Sean Khozin, MD, senior medical officer, Office of hematology and oncology products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA. “By studying blockchain technology, the FDA is investing to the advancement of clinical research by testing novel frameworks for protective exchange of worthy patient-level health data at scale.”
It is this wider view of patient data that will help researchers in making better research initiatives, states Shahram Ebadollahi, vice president for innovations and chief science officer for IBM Watson Health.
“One of the problems in research is the availability of a longitudinal record of patient information that gives a 360 degree view of the patient,” Ebadollahi claims. “There is been no central place to put the data. Blockchain provides the chance to produce value and outcomes on the distributed ledger, interoperability, privacy and security, while putting the sufferer in the center.
The initiative will be constructed on IBM’s work in establishing and advancing blockchain technology, Ebadollahi adds. For instance, IBM is a founding member and key contributor to the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger project, a key underpinning for blockchain.
Under the research contract, the FDA will work straightly with IBM Watson Health. It will leverage the agency’s technical and organizational resources from its Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED) initiative. “That is an FDA big data initiative created to support novel scientific research using huge clinical trial datasets and emerging pipelines of data from sources like electronic medical record systems, biometric monitoring devices and wearable technologies,” Khozin asserts.
IBM Watson Health and the FDA plan to share earlier or initial research findings by the end of 2017 year, he adds.
The federal agency observes a variety of potential benefits from inquiring how blockchain could be used in healthcare and focusing efforts on indicating its value in specific use cases, Khozin adds.
“Huge amounts of patient data are generated in the public health sector,” he notes. “This data has the potential to assist researchers to develop more effective and safer treatments for sufferers, particularly in life-threatening disease areas such as cancer, which has observed a huge rise in the use of personalized and targeted therapies for disease treatment.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to support secure exchange of huge volumes of data while ensuring sufferer privacy and maintaining data integrity,” he adds. “These are crucial features of a scalable data exchange ecosystem that can support high-quality research while protecting against breaches of sensitive patient-level information.”
The initiative offers IBM and its Watson Health division a chance to demonstrate whether blockchain can live up to the hype that is growing around its potential to meet vexing problems in healthcare IT.
As the promise of blockchain in healthcare becomes more obvious, IBM will work to define and develop the technological solution for a scalable and decentralized information sharing ecosystem, Ebadollahi says.
“The healthcare industry is undergoing important modifications because of the vast amounts of disparate data being generated. Blockchain technology gives a greatly secure, decentralized framework for information sharing that will accelerate innovation throughout the industry,” he claims.
The initial focus on oncology with the FDA makes sense because it is “a domain to test the technology and observe how it maps to several use cases,” he further adds. “We are looking to build a patient-mediated electronic health data exchange. There are several reasons for doing this, chief among them the problem of trust—can you put faith in the data you are looking at. With blockchain, we feel it can be a remedy for that.
“We are very excited about this, and there is no better partner for us than the FDA,” Ebadollahi claims. “They know about our information of blockchain, and this offers us a matter of mutual interest from which the public can gain benefit.”
Friday, January 13, 2017
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta reaches HIMSS Stage 7 of EMRAM
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the greatest pediatric clinical care providers in the country, has reached HIMSS Stage 7 of Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM), becoming the 1st hospital in Georgia to acquire acute care Stage 7.
The 3-hospital pediatric healthcare system indicated advanced use of information technology (IT) to make better patient care and advanced data analytics capabilities to drive improvements predicting claim for emergency services and patient acuity changes, in accordance to HIMSS Analytics executives.
EMRAM of HIMSS Analytics is a methodology for verifying the progress and affect of electronic health record (EHR) systems at hospitals, which involves 8 stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology to optimize healthcare and the treatment sufferers get.
An Epic electronic health record system (EHR), which was 1st implemented in the year of 2004, integrates research, quality and clinical care components across Children’s several hospital and outpatient facilities in the region of Georgia.
“Particularly in the inpatient space, we’ve been a ground-breaking agency building out in pediatrics Epic content and workflows long before most folks were,” claims Jeremy Meller, vice president of information technology at Children’s. “It has assisted us to build a powerful foundation over time to be capable to execute the more advanced capabilities of Epic, including patient safety such as barcode medication administration.”
Among Children’s technology capabilities, the pediatric provider is capable to capture discrete information into the EHR as well as big data systems to give advanced analytical capabilities to improve care.
“We’ve a complete continuum of capabilities involving population and disease management, where we can take the data and recognize trends in sufferer health status, as well as the capability to integrate external data,” claims Meller.
“One of the regions of predictive analytics we’ve is predicting emergency department volumes,” he further adds. “Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has one of the busiest pediatric emergency departments in the whole country, and it is very significant that we’re capable to precisely predict volumes so that we can give suitable staffing and expertise to look after the patients. We are capable to take in everything from seasonal trends to disease or infection patterns, as well as air quality—which all have an effect.”
As the healthcare industry transitions from fee-for-service to value-based care, Meller asserts that Children’s Healthcare is well positioned to deliver quality care to its sufferers through advanced analytics capabilities.
“Their data analytics are cutting edge,” claims Philip Bradley, regional director in HIMSS Analytics’ healthcare advisory services group.
HIMSS Stage 7 represents the greatest EMRAM level. Only 4.6% of hospitals in the U.S. have acquired Stage 7 and with the designation Children’s Healthcare has become the 1st hospital in Georgia to achieve acute care HIMSS Stage 7.
Children’s Healthcare will be honored next month at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in the place of Orlando, Fla.
The 3-hospital pediatric healthcare system indicated advanced use of information technology (IT) to make better patient care and advanced data analytics capabilities to drive improvements predicting claim for emergency services and patient acuity changes, in accordance to HIMSS Analytics executives.
EMRAM of HIMSS Analytics is a methodology for verifying the progress and affect of electronic health record (EHR) systems at hospitals, which involves 8 stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology to optimize healthcare and the treatment sufferers get.
An Epic electronic health record system (EHR), which was 1st implemented in the year of 2004, integrates research, quality and clinical care components across Children’s several hospital and outpatient facilities in the region of Georgia.
“Particularly in the inpatient space, we’ve been a ground-breaking agency building out in pediatrics Epic content and workflows long before most folks were,” claims Jeremy Meller, vice president of information technology at Children’s. “It has assisted us to build a powerful foundation over time to be capable to execute the more advanced capabilities of Epic, including patient safety such as barcode medication administration.”
Among Children’s technology capabilities, the pediatric provider is capable to capture discrete information into the EHR as well as big data systems to give advanced analytical capabilities to improve care.
“We’ve a complete continuum of capabilities involving population and disease management, where we can take the data and recognize trends in sufferer health status, as well as the capability to integrate external data,” claims Meller.
“One of the regions of predictive analytics we’ve is predicting emergency department volumes,” he further adds. “Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has one of the busiest pediatric emergency departments in the whole country, and it is very significant that we’re capable to precisely predict volumes so that we can give suitable staffing and expertise to look after the patients. We are capable to take in everything from seasonal trends to disease or infection patterns, as well as air quality—which all have an effect.”
As the healthcare industry transitions from fee-for-service to value-based care, Meller asserts that Children’s Healthcare is well positioned to deliver quality care to its sufferers through advanced analytics capabilities.
“Their data analytics are cutting edge,” claims Philip Bradley, regional director in HIMSS Analytics’ healthcare advisory services group.
HIMSS Stage 7 represents the greatest EMRAM level. Only 4.6% of hospitals in the U.S. have acquired Stage 7 and with the designation Children’s Healthcare has become the 1st hospital in Georgia to achieve acute care HIMSS Stage 7.
Children’s Healthcare will be honored next month at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in the place of Orlando, Fla.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Presence Health agrees to pay HIPAA fine for slow breach response
Presence Health has accepted to pay $475,000 for slow breach response and execute a corrective action plan for failures to comply with the HIPAA breach notification rule.
The sanctions applied on the agency by the HHS Office for Civil Rights are the 1st enforcement action focused on the deficiency of timely breach notification or slow breach response, in accordance to OCR.
“Covered entities require having clear policies and processes in place to respond to the Breach Notification Rule’s timeliness requirements,” claims OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels. “Individuals require prompt notice of a breach of their unsecured PHI so they can take action that could assist to reduce any potential harm caused by the breach.”
Presence operates eleven hospitals across the Illinois, as well as physician practices and long-term care facilities.
OCR became aware of worse consumer breach notification provisions or slow breach response at Presence in the year of late January 2014 after one of its hospitals, Presence St. Joseph Medical Center, notified the agency of a breach of paper records in the month of October 2013. In its report, the hospital claimed that, due to the miscommunication between workforce members, “there was a delay in its provision of breach notifications,” in accordance to OCR.
In inquiring the October 2013 breach, OCR discovered 3 violations of the requirement to notify affected individuals and the media within sixty days of discovery. Presence did not notify affected individuals of the breach until 104 days after discovery, didn’t notify media until 106 days after discovery and didn’t notify HHS and OCR until 101 days after discovery. OCR also came to know that Presence didn’t release notifications following smaller breaches in the year of 2015 and 2016.
Presence Health released the following statement:
“Because patient privacy is a top priority at Presence Health, we’re working diligently with the OCR on all measures needed under the corrective action plan, involving extra associate training in HIPAA policies and processed. This is the culmination of a several-year procedure working with the OCR to resolve a matter we voluntarily reported to the OCR in the year of 2014 related to an isolated tragedy including paper records at a surgery center situated in Joliet, Illinois. This tragedy didn’t include any electronic records and didn’t involve any disclosure of patient contact or financial data. We’re confident that reports on our progress to rapidly execute revised policies and processes will be positive.”
The sanctions applied on the agency by the HHS Office for Civil Rights are the 1st enforcement action focused on the deficiency of timely breach notification or slow breach response, in accordance to OCR.
“Covered entities require having clear policies and processes in place to respond to the Breach Notification Rule’s timeliness requirements,” claims OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels. “Individuals require prompt notice of a breach of their unsecured PHI so they can take action that could assist to reduce any potential harm caused by the breach.”
Presence operates eleven hospitals across the Illinois, as well as physician practices and long-term care facilities.
OCR became aware of worse consumer breach notification provisions or slow breach response at Presence in the year of late January 2014 after one of its hospitals, Presence St. Joseph Medical Center, notified the agency of a breach of paper records in the month of October 2013. In its report, the hospital claimed that, due to the miscommunication between workforce members, “there was a delay in its provision of breach notifications,” in accordance to OCR.
In inquiring the October 2013 breach, OCR discovered 3 violations of the requirement to notify affected individuals and the media within sixty days of discovery. Presence did not notify affected individuals of the breach until 104 days after discovery, didn’t notify media until 106 days after discovery and didn’t notify HHS and OCR until 101 days after discovery. OCR also came to know that Presence didn’t release notifications following smaller breaches in the year of 2015 and 2016.
Presence Health released the following statement:
“Because patient privacy is a top priority at Presence Health, we’re working diligently with the OCR on all measures needed under the corrective action plan, involving extra associate training in HIPAA policies and processed. This is the culmination of a several-year procedure working with the OCR to resolve a matter we voluntarily reported to the OCR in the year of 2014 related to an isolated tragedy including paper records at a surgery center situated in Joliet, Illinois. This tragedy didn’t include any electronic records and didn’t involve any disclosure of patient contact or financial data. We’re confident that reports on our progress to rapidly execute revised policies and processes will be positive.”
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
DNA sequencing firm partners with big HIT players
Illumina, a key vendor of DNA sequencing firm to enable clinicians and researchers to read and comprehend genetic variations, is partnering with IBM and Philips in separate genomic research projects.
IBM will integrate its Watson for Genomics decision support product, deployed on technology from Quest Diagnostics, with solid tumor profiling panel of Illumina that can depict a set of variants across 170 different kinds of genes to assist in development of personalized treatment options for cancer sufferers.
This will speed a procedure that generally now takes about a week to complete. The challenge in genomic testing is the expertise needed to give interpretation services, claims Rob Merkel, vice president of oncology and genomics at IBM Watson Health, and Watson can do the process in about 5 minutes.
“Illumina, the DNA sequencing firm, will integrate our interpretations into its latest 170-gene panel,” Merkel states. “When you sequence a tumor against healthy tissue, you can observe variations between healthy tissue and the tumor by comparing the DNA side by side.”
To do this, Watson compares the DNA to develop molecular profile analyses to recognize aberrations causing the tumor, establish biological pathways of the tumor and conduct drug analyses, all to verify what medicines and/or clinical trials are best suitable for the sufferer.
In its agreement with Philips, Illumina will integrate its DNA sequencing with Philips’ cloud-based genomics platform to support the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of genomics information during cancer research.
Both agencies are seeking U.S. healthcare systems to work with them in establishing oncology precision medicine programs. Participating researchers will have approach to advanced analytics, thorough learning technologies and a range of reference materials.
The aim is to seek new ways to quickly and precisely interpret genomic findings in the context of a sufferer’s condition, in accordance to Philips.
“While cancer sufferers can have hundreds of gene variants in their tumors, merely a small number might really drive the individual’s specific cancer or might have actionable therapeutic implications for a specific patient. The sufferer’s history, related lab tests and cancer type are required for a meaningful interpretation of the genomic data,” a Philips spokesman points out.
IBM will integrate its Watson for Genomics decision support product, deployed on technology from Quest Diagnostics, with solid tumor profiling panel of Illumina that can depict a set of variants across 170 different kinds of genes to assist in development of personalized treatment options for cancer sufferers.
This will speed a procedure that generally now takes about a week to complete. The challenge in genomic testing is the expertise needed to give interpretation services, claims Rob Merkel, vice president of oncology and genomics at IBM Watson Health, and Watson can do the process in about 5 minutes.
“Illumina, the DNA sequencing firm, will integrate our interpretations into its latest 170-gene panel,” Merkel states. “When you sequence a tumor against healthy tissue, you can observe variations between healthy tissue and the tumor by comparing the DNA side by side.”
To do this, Watson compares the DNA to develop molecular profile analyses to recognize aberrations causing the tumor, establish biological pathways of the tumor and conduct drug analyses, all to verify what medicines and/or clinical trials are best suitable for the sufferer.
In its agreement with Philips, Illumina will integrate its DNA sequencing with Philips’ cloud-based genomics platform to support the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of genomics information during cancer research.
Both agencies are seeking U.S. healthcare systems to work with them in establishing oncology precision medicine programs. Participating researchers will have approach to advanced analytics, thorough learning technologies and a range of reference materials.
The aim is to seek new ways to quickly and precisely interpret genomic findings in the context of a sufferer’s condition, in accordance to Philips.
“While cancer sufferers can have hundreds of gene variants in their tumors, merely a small number might really drive the individual’s specific cancer or might have actionable therapeutic implications for a specific patient. The sufferer’s history, related lab tests and cancer type are required for a meaningful interpretation of the genomic data,” a Philips spokesman points out.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Smartphone apps are developed to mitigate anxiety and depression
A suite of smartphone apps developed by Northwestern Medicine has victoriously mitigated depression and anxiety symptoms in study participants by 50%, an efficacy rate similar to that generally acquired through psychotherapy or antidepressant medication.
That is the conclusion of a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently released in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Northwestern’s IntelliCare is a suite of thirteen apps that, when utilized together, target common causes of depression and anxiety, like sleep issues, social isolation, deficiency of activity and obsessive thinking.
“We analyzed that depression and anxiety rates decreased by about half, which is equivalent to what we see with most types of psychotherapy and with medications,” claims Emily Lattie, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University.
The research involved ninety-six participants who had access to the IntelliCare apps and got 8 weeks of coaching to assist with their use. Coaching involved an initial phone call plus 2 or 3 text messages each week over the 8 weeks of the study. An algorithm suggested new smartphone apps per week to assist participants learn different skills and strategies.
Most of the study’s participants utilized the Smartphone apps on their smartphones as many as 3 or 4 times each day, or an average of 195 times total. At the similar time, the average length of use for each app was less than one minute, in accordance to Lattie. “This is a quite low time commitment,” she claims. “There is not a lot reading or content in these apps. It is actually prompts to do things differently.”
However more than 20% of Americans experience important symptoms of anxiety and depression yearly, Lattie points out that the vast majority of those with mental health issues do not get treatment.
“There are many hurdles to treatment, involving cost, availability and people being uncomfortable with traditional treatment methods,” she claims. Although, with more than 70% of Americans presently having smartphones, Lattie consider the IntelliCare apps can make effective solutions more accessible to clients.
The different apps concentrate on several strategies so that individuals can pick and select what is useful for them, as well as get suggestions deployed on their past use of the apps so they can sustain to find new strategies that can be helpful,” states Lattie, adding that the smartphone apps were designed by Northwestern clinicians and based on validated techniques utilize by therapists.
Among the thirteen apps established at Northwestern’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies are:
Individual apps or the whole IntelliCare suite can be downloaded for free from the Google Play online store. In accordance to Lattie, the apps will also be available online later this year at the iTunes Store.
She adds that a bigger randomized control trial funded by NIH has been inaugurated that will involve 300 participants, with a control arm. In that trial, few participants will get coaching and app suggestions deployed on past use while others will not.
That is the conclusion of a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently released in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Northwestern’s IntelliCare is a suite of thirteen apps that, when utilized together, target common causes of depression and anxiety, like sleep issues, social isolation, deficiency of activity and obsessive thinking.
“We analyzed that depression and anxiety rates decreased by about half, which is equivalent to what we see with most types of psychotherapy and with medications,” claims Emily Lattie, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University.
The research involved ninety-six participants who had access to the IntelliCare apps and got 8 weeks of coaching to assist with their use. Coaching involved an initial phone call plus 2 or 3 text messages each week over the 8 weeks of the study. An algorithm suggested new smartphone apps per week to assist participants learn different skills and strategies.
Most of the study’s participants utilized the Smartphone apps on their smartphones as many as 3 or 4 times each day, or an average of 195 times total. At the similar time, the average length of use for each app was less than one minute, in accordance to Lattie. “This is a quite low time commitment,” she claims. “There is not a lot reading or content in these apps. It is actually prompts to do things differently.”
However more than 20% of Americans experience important symptoms of anxiety and depression yearly, Lattie points out that the vast majority of those with mental health issues do not get treatment.
“There are many hurdles to treatment, involving cost, availability and people being uncomfortable with traditional treatment methods,” she claims. Although, with more than 70% of Americans presently having smartphones, Lattie consider the IntelliCare apps can make effective solutions more accessible to clients.
The different apps concentrate on several strategies so that individuals can pick and select what is useful for them, as well as get suggestions deployed on their past use of the apps so they can sustain to find new strategies that can be helpful,” states Lattie, adding that the smartphone apps were designed by Northwestern clinicians and based on validated techniques utilize by therapists.
Among the thirteen apps established at Northwestern’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies are:
- Daily Feats: developed to encourage individuals to add worthwhile and rewarding tasks into their day to increase overall satisfaction in life.
- Purple Chill: meant to assist users unwind with audio recordings that instruct them through exercises to de-stress and worry less.
- Slumber Time: created to ease individuals into a good night’s rest.
- My Mantra: intended to assist users create encouraging mantras to mention their strengths and values.
Individual apps or the whole IntelliCare suite can be downloaded for free from the Google Play online store. In accordance to Lattie, the apps will also be available online later this year at the iTunes Store.
She adds that a bigger randomized control trial funded by NIH has been inaugurated that will involve 300 participants, with a control arm. In that trial, few participants will get coaching and app suggestions deployed on past use while others will not.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Patients Doubtful at Health IT Due to Privacy and Security Concerns
More than half of customers, 57%, with contact experience to hospital, physician or ancillary provider's technology this last year report being doubtful at the overall benefits of health information technology (IT) due to security concerns like patient portals, mobile apps, and electronic health records (EHRs) mainly because of the recently reported data hacking and a perceived deficiency of privacy protection by providers, in accordance to a Black Book survey.
For the survey, Black Book surveyed 12,090 customers with the target of judging sufferer adoption and acceptance of technology.
The survey results discovered that the amount of available health data is increasing so is the hesitancy for customers to share that information because of industry privacy and security concerns. The unwillingness of sufferers to comprehensively divulge all their medical information increased to 87% in the fourth quarter of 2016.
“Fewer consumers at this point in time don’t need their digital health histories to extend beyond their physician and hospital, initially measured in the year of 2013 at 66% who were willing to divulge entire personal health data to acquire enhanced care,” the study authors wrote. “Particularly alarming to respondents were the uncertainties that their pharmacy prescriptions (90%), mental health notes (99%) and chronic condition (81%) data is being shared beyond their selected provider and payer to retailers, employers, and or the government without their acknowledgement.”
Because of these security concerns, the survey discovered that 89% of consumers with 2016 provider visits report withholding health information during visits. 93% expressed security concerns over their financial information. 69% of sufferers confirm their belief that their current primary care physician doesn’t demonstrate enough technology prowesses for them to trust divulging all their personal information.
At the similar time, the survey respondents related that more technology the physician is perceived as using to handle the patient's healthcare, the higher the trust level sufferers had in their provider. 84% of patients said their trust in their provider is influenced by how the provider utilizes the technology, instead of merely 5% of consumers had any issue in trusting in the actual technology.
Among the highlights from the survey:
"In this age of healthcare consumerism people need to receive care via technologically enabled alternatives such as telemedicine visits, secure email communications with their practitioner, and access to records and scheduling," the survey report authors wrote.
For the survey, Black Book surveyed 12,090 customers with the target of judging sufferer adoption and acceptance of technology.
The survey results discovered that the amount of available health data is increasing so is the hesitancy for customers to share that information because of industry privacy and security concerns. The unwillingness of sufferers to comprehensively divulge all their medical information increased to 87% in the fourth quarter of 2016.
“Fewer consumers at this point in time don’t need their digital health histories to extend beyond their physician and hospital, initially measured in the year of 2013 at 66% who were willing to divulge entire personal health data to acquire enhanced care,” the study authors wrote. “Particularly alarming to respondents were the uncertainties that their pharmacy prescriptions (90%), mental health notes (99%) and chronic condition (81%) data is being shared beyond their selected provider and payer to retailers, employers, and or the government without their acknowledgement.”
Because of these security concerns, the survey discovered that 89% of consumers with 2016 provider visits report withholding health information during visits. 93% expressed security concerns over their financial information. 69% of sufferers confirm their belief that their current primary care physician doesn’t demonstrate enough technology prowesses for them to trust divulging all their personal information.
At the similar time, the survey respondents related that more technology the physician is perceived as using to handle the patient's healthcare, the higher the trust level sufferers had in their provider. 84% of patients said their trust in their provider is influenced by how the provider utilizes the technology, instead of merely 5% of consumers had any issue in trusting in the actual technology.
Among the highlights from the survey:
- Hospitals over 400 beds have the most success with patient technology satisfaction and usability.
- Sufferer from hospitals under 200 beds are the most challenged by the patient portals, engagement tools and monitoring systems offered at discharge. 92% of sufferers express difficulty understanding the instructions or use of the technological applications.
- 96% of physician office patients claimed that they left their visit with poorly communicated or miscommunicated instructions on patient portal use.
- 91% of individuals with wearables consider their physician practice's medical record system should store that health related data as requested.
- 72% of sufferers that have used patient portals and healthcare information sites in the year of 2016 state they believe their primary care doctor has less technology acumen then they do.
- 94% of sufferers with health or activity trackers said their physician, when inquired, informed them the practice had no capability or interest in coordinating their outcomes currently through their EHR.
- Four in 10 patients attempted to utilize the portal given by their physician, but 83 found it difficult to navigate when at home.
- 91% of sufferers who find their apps and devices relevant to their health improvement felt slighted by their primary care physician and staff. 24% of those consumers are considering changing to a physician more experienced in newer technologies.
"In this age of healthcare consumerism people need to receive care via technologically enabled alternatives such as telemedicine visits, secure email communications with their practitioner, and access to records and scheduling," the survey report authors wrote.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Health Officials: Baby born in Travis County with microcephaly has threatening Zika virus
Austin health officials confirmed this week that a baby born with microcephaly in Travis County in the month of September has the threatening Zika virus.
However, the case of infant is the 1st confirmed case of congenital transmission of the Zika virus in Travis County, authorities with Austin Public Health don’t consider the the virus was acquired locally.
The mother of baby emigrated last August from Central America, where she lived for most of her pregnancy, health officials claimed on Friday. She reported symptoms consistent with having the Zika virus early in her pregnancy before her child was born in the month of September.
In accordance to health authorities, 294 cases of Zika-related illness have been reported in the place of Texas, as of Dec. 30, 2016. The cases involve twenty pregnant ladies, 2 infants infected before birth and 2 people who had sex with overseas travelers.
20 people have tested positive for Zika in the region of Travis County, involving 6 pregnant ladies, health authorities said. Each case was through travel-associated infections.
Health officials said that the Zika virus is spread to people significantly through the bite of infected mosquitoes as well as through sexual transmission in some cases.
The most usual symptoms related to the Zika virus are rash, fever, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). So far, no vaccine exists for the threatening Zika virus.
Zika infection in pregnant ladies can cause microcephaly and other extreme fetal brain defects, health officials stated.
The threatening Zika virus also has been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, an unusual sickness of the nervous system in which the immune system of persons damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
Further information on the threatening Zika virus, involving updated situation reports for Travis County, please visit: austintexas.gov/zika.
However, the case of infant is the 1st confirmed case of congenital transmission of the Zika virus in Travis County, authorities with Austin Public Health don’t consider the the virus was acquired locally.
The mother of baby emigrated last August from Central America, where she lived for most of her pregnancy, health officials claimed on Friday. She reported symptoms consistent with having the Zika virus early in her pregnancy before her child was born in the month of September.
In accordance to health authorities, 294 cases of Zika-related illness have been reported in the place of Texas, as of Dec. 30, 2016. The cases involve twenty pregnant ladies, 2 infants infected before birth and 2 people who had sex with overseas travelers.
20 people have tested positive for Zika in the region of Travis County, involving 6 pregnant ladies, health authorities said. Each case was through travel-associated infections.
Health officials said that the Zika virus is spread to people significantly through the bite of infected mosquitoes as well as through sexual transmission in some cases.
The most usual symptoms related to the Zika virus are rash, fever, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). So far, no vaccine exists for the threatening Zika virus.
Zika infection in pregnant ladies can cause microcephaly and other extreme fetal brain defects, health officials stated.
The threatening Zika virus also has been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, an unusual sickness of the nervous system in which the immune system of persons damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
Further information on the threatening Zika virus, involving updated situation reports for Travis County, please visit: austintexas.gov/zika.
Why sharing information will assist advance genomic treatment
A professional agency is calling for the open sharing of sufferers’ laboratory and clinical data to complement the outcomes of their genetic testing. Sharing information will assist the advance genomic treatment.
The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics took the position in the latest edition of its journal, Genetics in Medicine. The group is taking the position because it considers that the release of that information is crucial to ensuring that sufferers receive “the most informed care possible.”
Additionally, sharing information will enable clinical laboratories that are working with the outcomes of genetic and genomic testing to acquire the best results possible, the agency considers. And it claims that better data sharing practices are more likely to acquire results that give benefits to overall medical research and genomic treatment.
The position comes from ACMG’s board of directors and is proposed as an educational resource for medical geneticists, genomic treatment and other healthcare providers. Sharing information will assist the advance genomic treatment.
The agency notes that, specifically in treating rare genetic ailments, there is a broad variety in “clinical presentation and molecular etiology of genetic disorders.” With the 5,000 to 7,000 rare genetic diseases confronting clinicians, a collaborative approach in gathering intelligence on these diseases is critical, the organization claims.
“No single provider, laboratory, medical center, state or even individual country will generally possess enough knowledge to deliver the best care for sufferers,” it asserts.
Because genetic testing tracks variants that need specialized care that requires data to be immensely shared among providers in case to acquire the most effective treatment, ACMG claims.
“Data that underpins healthcare service delivery should be treated neither as intellectual property nor as a trade secret when other sufferers might benefit from the knowledge being extremely available,” the agency’s position paper notes.
“Sharing information in this precompetitive space will give both a resource for clinical laboratories interpreting test results and clinical validity data that can benefit device manufacturers establishing new tests and testing platforms,” the statement further adds.
Making clinical data more widely available also can make existing datasets richer, making better the chances that they can be utilized to assist solve vexing medical issues.
“Contributing to public clinical databases in the pre-competitive space identifies that information about genetic diseases is dense and accumulating quickly, and that data science is boosting the use of big data,” the article notes. “Moreover, the shift to public databases being populated by de-identified case-level data from electronic health records (EHRs) will speed the time to ‘publication’ of what are necessarily case reports in real time.”
The ACMG paper points out that the significance of data sharing is being more widely identified as crucial in gaining more benefits from genomic testing and information being collected during clinical care of sufferers.
The significance of data sharing for both research and clinical care recently was mentioned by a policy of the National Institutes of Health, which set a directive for its funded investigators to responsibly share data on genomic variants and phenotype data. That will give the robust information important to improve clinical care and empower device and drug manufacturers that are establishing tests and treatments for sufferers.
Although, acquiring the open sharing of information will be complex, the position paper admits.
“The analytic issues of migrating and integrating clinical and laboratory data across the genome are daunting,” the agency notes. “Standardization of laboratory and clinical data will enable data compatibility and interoperability between information systems.” Also, making the security of data systems is crucial in enabling data to be shared safely.
The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics took the position in the latest edition of its journal, Genetics in Medicine. The group is taking the position because it considers that the release of that information is crucial to ensuring that sufferers receive “the most informed care possible.”
Additionally, sharing information will enable clinical laboratories that are working with the outcomes of genetic and genomic testing to acquire the best results possible, the agency considers. And it claims that better data sharing practices are more likely to acquire results that give benefits to overall medical research and genomic treatment.
The position comes from ACMG’s board of directors and is proposed as an educational resource for medical geneticists, genomic treatment and other healthcare providers. Sharing information will assist the advance genomic treatment.
The agency notes that, specifically in treating rare genetic ailments, there is a broad variety in “clinical presentation and molecular etiology of genetic disorders.” With the 5,000 to 7,000 rare genetic diseases confronting clinicians, a collaborative approach in gathering intelligence on these diseases is critical, the organization claims.
“No single provider, laboratory, medical center, state or even individual country will generally possess enough knowledge to deliver the best care for sufferers,” it asserts.
Because genetic testing tracks variants that need specialized care that requires data to be immensely shared among providers in case to acquire the most effective treatment, ACMG claims.
“Data that underpins healthcare service delivery should be treated neither as intellectual property nor as a trade secret when other sufferers might benefit from the knowledge being extremely available,” the agency’s position paper notes.
“Sharing information in this precompetitive space will give both a resource for clinical laboratories interpreting test results and clinical validity data that can benefit device manufacturers establishing new tests and testing platforms,” the statement further adds.
Making clinical data more widely available also can make existing datasets richer, making better the chances that they can be utilized to assist solve vexing medical issues.
“Contributing to public clinical databases in the pre-competitive space identifies that information about genetic diseases is dense and accumulating quickly, and that data science is boosting the use of big data,” the article notes. “Moreover, the shift to public databases being populated by de-identified case-level data from electronic health records (EHRs) will speed the time to ‘publication’ of what are necessarily case reports in real time.”
The ACMG paper points out that the significance of data sharing is being more widely identified as crucial in gaining more benefits from genomic testing and information being collected during clinical care of sufferers.
The significance of data sharing for both research and clinical care recently was mentioned by a policy of the National Institutes of Health, which set a directive for its funded investigators to responsibly share data on genomic variants and phenotype data. That will give the robust information important to improve clinical care and empower device and drug manufacturers that are establishing tests and treatments for sufferers.
Although, acquiring the open sharing of information will be complex, the position paper admits.
“The analytic issues of migrating and integrating clinical and laboratory data across the genome are daunting,” the agency notes. “Standardization of laboratory and clinical data will enable data compatibility and interoperability between information systems.” Also, making the security of data systems is crucial in enabling data to be shared safely.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Many providers putting population health tools to use
The population health management market sustains to move toward maturity, in accordance to Bradley Hunter, research director at KLAS Enterprises, in a latest report. Previous year, the industry shifted from trying population health management tools and population health tools to using them in improving care practices, he points out. The percentage of providers predicting financial risk for the care of sufferers remained very small overall across the nation, but that percentage of providers entering these agreements sustains to grow.
Subsequently, in describing the advances of population health in the year of 2016, “The training wheels are off,” Hunter claims.
Although, providers interviewed for the report told Hunter and other researchers that a big challenge remains—getting physicians and other clinicians to use population health tools. As in the past, providers faced with any change in technology mostly do not need to use it, and getting them to adopt latest tools is complex.
Although, few physicians are coming around to the promise of population health, specifically when population health tools are integrated with an electronic health records (EHRs) system, which, when merged with insurance information, enables clinicians to see potential benefits from using population health management tools. That sustains a minority of clinicians for now, Hunter claims. Most have to be brought along over time and to them, these are merely more tools they are being compelled to use.
Even clinicians who’re ready for population health tools might find themselves waiting on their electronic health records (EHRs) vendor to be capable to accept population health data in the EHR. Just a handful of huge vendors and best-of-breed companies are capable of integrating data at this time period. Furthermore, each version of an EHR vendor’s product has differences that will make integration of outside applications more complicated.
With providers getting prepared for value-based care, KLAS rated pop health vendors for product readiness; in preparing the report, Hunter and coworkers also questioned providers on the capabilities of their technology partners. Vendors ENLI and i2i led in ease of information aggregation. Athenahealth, Optum and Wellcentive acquired good marks for merging claims and clinical information. The report offers ENLI, Cerner and Wellcentive good marks for overall flexibility and being capable to rapidly adapt to latest requirements.
More in-depth Information about the report, “Population Health Management 2016,” can be found here.
Subsequently, in describing the advances of population health in the year of 2016, “The training wheels are off,” Hunter claims.
Although, providers interviewed for the report told Hunter and other researchers that a big challenge remains—getting physicians and other clinicians to use population health tools. As in the past, providers faced with any change in technology mostly do not need to use it, and getting them to adopt latest tools is complex.
Although, few physicians are coming around to the promise of population health, specifically when population health tools are integrated with an electronic health records (EHRs) system, which, when merged with insurance information, enables clinicians to see potential benefits from using population health management tools. That sustains a minority of clinicians for now, Hunter claims. Most have to be brought along over time and to them, these are merely more tools they are being compelled to use.
Even clinicians who’re ready for population health tools might find themselves waiting on their electronic health records (EHRs) vendor to be capable to accept population health data in the EHR. Just a handful of huge vendors and best-of-breed companies are capable of integrating data at this time period. Furthermore, each version of an EHR vendor’s product has differences that will make integration of outside applications more complicated.
With providers getting prepared for value-based care, KLAS rated pop health vendors for product readiness; in preparing the report, Hunter and coworkers also questioned providers on the capabilities of their technology partners. Vendors ENLI and i2i led in ease of information aggregation. Athenahealth, Optum and Wellcentive acquired good marks for merging claims and clinical information. The report offers ENLI, Cerner and Wellcentive good marks for overall flexibility and being capable to rapidly adapt to latest requirements.
More in-depth Information about the report, “Population Health Management 2016,” can be found here.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Why Northwell is expanding the telehealth technologies and services
Northwell Health in the New York State is enlarging the telehealth technologies and services across its enterprise of twenty-one hospitals and 550 outpatient facilities that involve physician practices, imaging centers, surgical centers, laboratories, skilled nursing facilities, home healthcare and medical/air ambulance services.
The agency is working with telehealth vendor Avizia and also has made an undisclosed equity investment in the company. The investment and other funding that Avizia has gained bring its complete capital to $18 million.
Northwell already utilizes telehealth technologies to support a remote virtual intensive care unit program with specialists assisting critical care teams, as well as a telestroke program enabling neurologists to rapidly evaluate sufferers. Now, these programs will enlarge to all existing facilities.
Moreover, the agency, which already uses tablet computers to remotely monitor sufferers in their homes, will adopt technology and service from the vendor to support virtual consultations among the physicians.
“This partnership with Avizia will surely make better the Northwell’s capability to communicate care plans across the care continuum, as well as suitably handle care in more cost-effective settings for sufferers,” claimed Thomas Thornton, senior vice president and executive director of Northwell Ventures, which made the investment in Avizia.
Thornton also touted the end-to-end capabilities of vendor and open technology architecture that eases integration. The company serves and facilitates more than 400 healthcare agencies in 37 nations, as well as 8 of the top ten U.S. healthcare agencies and organizations.
The agency is working with telehealth vendor Avizia and also has made an undisclosed equity investment in the company. The investment and other funding that Avizia has gained bring its complete capital to $18 million.
Northwell already utilizes telehealth technologies to support a remote virtual intensive care unit program with specialists assisting critical care teams, as well as a telestroke program enabling neurologists to rapidly evaluate sufferers. Now, these programs will enlarge to all existing facilities.
Moreover, the agency, which already uses tablet computers to remotely monitor sufferers in their homes, will adopt technology and service from the vendor to support virtual consultations among the physicians.
“This partnership with Avizia will surely make better the Northwell’s capability to communicate care plans across the care continuum, as well as suitably handle care in more cost-effective settings for sufferers,” claimed Thomas Thornton, senior vice president and executive director of Northwell Ventures, which made the investment in Avizia.
Thornton also touted the end-to-end capabilities of vendor and open technology architecture that eases integration. The company serves and facilitates more than 400 healthcare agencies in 37 nations, as well as 8 of the top ten U.S. healthcare agencies and organizations.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Three Midwest exchanges start sharing patient data
3 health information exchanges (HIE) in the Midwest exchanges are exchanging sufferer data in an important step forward to establish and test a Patient Centered Data Home that could serve as a model for exchanging information between HIEs nationwide.
The 3 Midwest exchanges step is part of a larger pilot funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to improve interoperability between HIEs. It is the 3rd and greatest pilot for the Strategic HIE Collaborative (SHIEC), which is advancing the Patient Centered Data Home effort.
Organizers consider the approach can instantly tie together the 48 HIEs that are members of SHIEC.
The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), Michiana Health Information Network (MHIN) and East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN) are exchanging data reached an agreement to enable data-sharing among their HIEs, making sure that a sufferer’s healthcare record follows them wherever they seek care.
3 health information exchanges (HIE) in the Midwest exchanges are exchanging sufferer data in an important step forward to establish and test a Patient Centered Data Home.
Those HIEs, and 4 others, are part of the PCDH Heartland initiative. The aim is for all 7 to eventually sufferer data, enabling providers utilizing those exchanges to access that information.
The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative is a proposed national trade association for HIEs that is acting as the project lead. The other pilots are already in production. SHIEC is a not-for-profit national consortium of statewide, regional and community health information exchanges and a trade association that helps member organizations through the exchange of concepts and business practices as well as through public education and advocacy.
“This is an amazing first initiative toward a much larger goal,” said John Kansky, president and CEO of IHIE, which is deployed in Indianapolis. “At the completion of this pilot, we will be exchanging health information among 7 HIEs and across 5 states.”
Other Heartland partners involve Great Lakes Health Connect (Grand Rapids, Mich.), HealthLinc (Bloomington, Ind.), the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (Frankfort), and The Health Collaborative (Cincinnati).
Each of SHIEC’s PCDH pilots, involving the Heartland initiative, is utilizing a standards-based approach to make sure that the PCDH is both cost-effective and scalable and finally benefits the patient. Victorious implementation will indicate that the PCDH can enable HIEs nationwide to seamlessly deliver data across state lines, across health systems and across referral regions.
The technology “isn’t the hard part, by any means,” Kansky says. “It is using available standards. The hard part is always getting humans and agencies to agree on what we are going to do, getting through the legal agreements, and settling different rules in several states about permissions. Tech individuals are mostly waiting on the rest of us to get the details laid out.”
“Due to the tourism in East Tennessee, etHIN has medical information on sufferers from all 50 states and beyond who were treated by an etHIN participant while traveling here,” claimed Leigh Sterling, Executive Director of etHIN, Knoxville. “The Heartland Project will permit us to notify the sufferer’s home health information exchange that a patient living there was treated in the etHIN region. Knowing about medical events that appear outside their regional area will permit the hometown physicians to develop a more complete patient medical record, thus giving more informed care for their sufferers.”
Kansky observes other use cases for information exchange. As an instance, he notes that several residents of northwestern Indiana regularly commute to Chicago for work, and hence could be regularly treated by providers in both Indiana and Illinois. “HIE tends to respect state lines, and this is an attempt to figure out how best to exchange that information.”
By linking one HIE region to another, the expanse of interoperability begins to cover the nation, executives say.
“Each of our agencies is victoriously exchanging healthcare data with providers in our own communities,” stated Kelly Hahaj, CEO of South Bend, Ind.-based MHIN. “It makes sense that the next evolution is to link our networks to enable a person’s medical data to be available whenever and wherever care occurs, suitable and securely.”
ONC is funding the initiative for twelve months, hoping it to enable the secure exchange of sufferer health records.
3 health information exchanges (HIE) in the Midwest exchanges are exchanging sufferer data in an important step forward to establish and test a Patient Centered Data Home.
The 3 Midwest exchanges step is part of a larger pilot funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to improve interoperability between HIEs. It is the 3rd and greatest pilot for the Strategic HIE Collaborative (SHIEC), which is advancing the Patient Centered Data Home effort.
Organizers consider the approach can instantly tie together the 48 HIEs that are members of SHIEC.
The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), Michiana Health Information Network (MHIN) and East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN) are exchanging data reached an agreement to enable data-sharing among their HIEs, making sure that a sufferer’s healthcare record follows them wherever they seek care.
3 health information exchanges (HIE) in the Midwest exchanges are exchanging sufferer data in an important step forward to establish and test a Patient Centered Data Home.
Those HIEs, and 4 others, are part of the PCDH Heartland initiative. The aim is for all 7 to eventually sufferer data, enabling providers utilizing those exchanges to access that information.
The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative is a proposed national trade association for HIEs that is acting as the project lead. The other pilots are already in production. SHIEC is a not-for-profit national consortium of statewide, regional and community health information exchanges and a trade association that helps member organizations through the exchange of concepts and business practices as well as through public education and advocacy.
“This is an amazing first initiative toward a much larger goal,” said John Kansky, president and CEO of IHIE, which is deployed in Indianapolis. “At the completion of this pilot, we will be exchanging health information among 7 HIEs and across 5 states.”
Other Heartland partners involve Great Lakes Health Connect (Grand Rapids, Mich.), HealthLinc (Bloomington, Ind.), the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (Frankfort), and The Health Collaborative (Cincinnati).
Each of SHIEC’s PCDH pilots, involving the Heartland initiative, is utilizing a standards-based approach to make sure that the PCDH is both cost-effective and scalable and finally benefits the patient. Victorious implementation will indicate that the PCDH can enable HIEs nationwide to seamlessly deliver data across state lines, across health systems and across referral regions.
The technology “isn’t the hard part, by any means,” Kansky says. “It is using available standards. The hard part is always getting humans and agencies to agree on what we are going to do, getting through the legal agreements, and settling different rules in several states about permissions. Tech individuals are mostly waiting on the rest of us to get the details laid out.”
“Due to the tourism in East Tennessee, etHIN has medical information on sufferers from all 50 states and beyond who were treated by an etHIN participant while traveling here,” claimed Leigh Sterling, Executive Director of etHIN, Knoxville. “The Heartland Project will permit us to notify the sufferer’s home health information exchange that a patient living there was treated in the etHIN region. Knowing about medical events that appear outside their regional area will permit the hometown physicians to develop a more complete patient medical record, thus giving more informed care for their sufferers.”
Kansky observes other use cases for information exchange. As an instance, he notes that several residents of northwestern Indiana regularly commute to Chicago for work, and hence could be regularly treated by providers in both Indiana and Illinois. “HIE tends to respect state lines, and this is an attempt to figure out how best to exchange that information.”
By linking one HIE region to another, the expanse of interoperability begins to cover the nation, executives say.
“Each of our agencies is victoriously exchanging healthcare data with providers in our own communities,” stated Kelly Hahaj, CEO of South Bend, Ind.-based MHIN. “It makes sense that the next evolution is to link our networks to enable a person’s medical data to be available whenever and wherever care occurs, suitable and securely.”
ONC is funding the initiative for twelve months, hoping it to enable the secure exchange of sufferer health records.
3 health information exchanges (HIE) in the Midwest exchanges are exchanging sufferer data in an important step forward to establish and test a Patient Centered Data Home.
Monday, January 2, 2017
CHIME Calls for Modifications to the standards of Meaningful Use Requirements
Providers express interest in reducing stressful and restrictive regulatory Meaningful Use requirements.
In the reaction to allegedly overzealous requirements for Medicare meaningful use, Medicaid meaningful use, and meaningful use measures under MIPS, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has released comments advocating for increased flexibility in meaningful use requirements.
The current meaningful use requirements or standards reportedly hinder optimization of information technology systems to make better patient care.
In its suggestions, CHIME called for a 90-day reporting period in the years of 2016 and 2017 for meaningful use requirements providers rather than the previously mandated full-year period as well as fewer requirements and lower thresholds for Medicare hospitals.
A ninety-day reporting period will enable providers to familiarize themselves with latest electronic health record (EHR) installations and technology.
Less stringent regulatory requirements will also enable providers to develop new technologies more freely and efficiently.
In the comments, CHIME emphasized “the complexity of overall reporting requirements Medicare providers and clinicians must meet is degrading their capability to optimize use of technology and has put them in a continual state of churn directed at meeting government requirements.”
A policy claiming a complete year of electronic clinical quality reporting (eCQMs) beginning in 2017 was a requirement CHIME deemed unsupportable, along with misaligned reporting periods for several programs that change in different years.
CHIME also took issue with the 3 sets of requirements CMS recognized as mandatory and suggested a single set of requirements to expedite efficient data exchange and aide private sector initiatives targeted at improving patient identification at a national level.
In accordance to the letter, Medicaid providers are hoped to meet Modified Stage 2 Requirements/Meaningful Use Stage 3, the changes executed in the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule, and the ACI performance category of MIPS modeled after meaningful use.
CHIME claimed these 3 distinct sets of requirements could be consolidated into one streamlined set, stating “we suggest CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) decrease the variability among the reporting programs and better synchronize the reporting requirements” as the present regulations might overwhelm providers.
In terms of reporting periods, CHIME asserts “reporting periods will be out of sync for Meaningful Use providers and MIPS clinicians” provided that meaningful use providers have a 90-day reporting period for the years of 2016 and 2017 while MIPS has a 90-day reporting period for 2017 and 2018, confusing several providers.
In light of recent complaints, CHIME recommended that CMS synchronize the reporting periods and change the 90-day reporting period from a 2-year stipulation to a permanent one.
Vendor readiness has also been flagged as problematic after members demonstrated they don’t anticipate getting their Version 2015 Certified EHR technology (CEHRT) before the year of 2018.
This delay could impact other CMS programs and put certain smaller providers at threat of missing a whole reporting year. Since CMS has made CEHRT compulsory for several programs, involving the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+), CHIME suggested assessing whether vendors will have the capability to deliver essential products to providers in time to meet Stage 3 requirements in 2017 or 2018.
“CHIME again emphasizes CMS postpone requiring the use of Stage 3 / Stage 3-like measures until no earlier than the year of 2019,” the letter read, noting the disparate timelines.
CHIME also sees problems regarding interoperability in the coming years, maintaining they have “continuously advocated for the requirement for making better the state of interoperability.”
Stage 3 requirements in 2017 operate under a higher grade of interoperability than presently available.
CHIME also recommended a way to meet regulatory requirements and also improve interoperability.
“We suggest CMS work with ONC to make sure that a single set of standards are adopted to facilitate more seamless data exchange and provide support to private sector initiatives concentrated on improving patient identification at a national level.”
In the reaction to allegedly overzealous requirements for Medicare meaningful use, Medicaid meaningful use, and meaningful use measures under MIPS, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has released comments advocating for increased flexibility in meaningful use requirements.
The current meaningful use requirements or standards reportedly hinder optimization of information technology systems to make better patient care.
In its suggestions, CHIME called for a 90-day reporting period in the years of 2016 and 2017 for meaningful use requirements providers rather than the previously mandated full-year period as well as fewer requirements and lower thresholds for Medicare hospitals.
A ninety-day reporting period will enable providers to familiarize themselves with latest electronic health record (EHR) installations and technology.
Less stringent regulatory requirements will also enable providers to develop new technologies more freely and efficiently.
In the comments, CHIME emphasized “the complexity of overall reporting requirements Medicare providers and clinicians must meet is degrading their capability to optimize use of technology and has put them in a continual state of churn directed at meeting government requirements.”
A policy claiming a complete year of electronic clinical quality reporting (eCQMs) beginning in 2017 was a requirement CHIME deemed unsupportable, along with misaligned reporting periods for several programs that change in different years.
CHIME also took issue with the 3 sets of requirements CMS recognized as mandatory and suggested a single set of requirements to expedite efficient data exchange and aide private sector initiatives targeted at improving patient identification at a national level.
In accordance to the letter, Medicaid providers are hoped to meet Modified Stage 2 Requirements/Meaningful Use Stage 3, the changes executed in the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule, and the ACI performance category of MIPS modeled after meaningful use.
CHIME claimed these 3 distinct sets of requirements could be consolidated into one streamlined set, stating “we suggest CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) decrease the variability among the reporting programs and better synchronize the reporting requirements” as the present regulations might overwhelm providers.
In terms of reporting periods, CHIME asserts “reporting periods will be out of sync for Meaningful Use providers and MIPS clinicians” provided that meaningful use providers have a 90-day reporting period for the years of 2016 and 2017 while MIPS has a 90-day reporting period for 2017 and 2018, confusing several providers.
In light of recent complaints, CHIME recommended that CMS synchronize the reporting periods and change the 90-day reporting period from a 2-year stipulation to a permanent one.
Vendor readiness has also been flagged as problematic after members demonstrated they don’t anticipate getting their Version 2015 Certified EHR technology (CEHRT) before the year of 2018.
This delay could impact other CMS programs and put certain smaller providers at threat of missing a whole reporting year. Since CMS has made CEHRT compulsory for several programs, involving the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+), CHIME suggested assessing whether vendors will have the capability to deliver essential products to providers in time to meet Stage 3 requirements in 2017 or 2018.
“CHIME again emphasizes CMS postpone requiring the use of Stage 3 / Stage 3-like measures until no earlier than the year of 2019,” the letter read, noting the disparate timelines.
CHIME also sees problems regarding interoperability in the coming years, maintaining they have “continuously advocated for the requirement for making better the state of interoperability.”
Stage 3 requirements in 2017 operate under a higher grade of interoperability than presently available.
CHIME also recommended a way to meet regulatory requirements and also improve interoperability.
“We suggest CMS work with ONC to make sure that a single set of standards are adopted to facilitate more seamless data exchange and provide support to private sector initiatives concentrated on improving patient identification at a national level.”
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