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.”
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
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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