Friday, May 21, 2010

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

Survey: Privacy compliance has declined

Posted: 14 May 2006 01:56 AM PDT

Three years after federal rules governing the privacy of patients' medical records went into effect, compliance seems to have declined for 6 percent, according to an annual survey conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Read more about this at here.

E-book: Making E-Health Work

Posted: 14 May 2006 01:53 AM PDT

E-Health has become an integral part of present-day healthcare delivery. With healthcare consumers, increasingly the focus of most health systems, the widespread implementation of health information and communications technologies offers cost-effective opportunities to meet their increasingly sophisticated healthcare needs.Bankix Systems Ltd has released its latest e-book. It is a 200-page in-depth analysis of the issues involved in "Making E-Health Work," the e-book's title. Read more about this e-book at here.

Consumer tools: UCompareHealthCare Offers Free Reports on Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Physicians

Posted: 11 Mar 2006 01:01 AM PST

"UCompareHealthCare has just unveiled its Web site, ucomparehealthcare.com, which features free reports on the nation's nursing homes, hospitals and physicians to help consumers make informed healthcare decisions. I checked the web site and found it very informative for health consumers to help them make informed decision about their choices of doctors, hospitals and others." Read more about this at UCompareHealthCare

Articles: Direct to Consumer: Women are a powerful, but untapped, audience

Posted: 03 Feb 2006 12:04 AM PST

"Women influence many family decisions—from choosing what's for dinner to selecting the medications their children take. In fact, nearly two-thirds of women are responsible for family healthcare decisions, according to a 2004 national survey conducted by Plan for Your Health. Many women also assume the care-giving role outside their nuclear families. Today's middle-aged woman may also look after her parents and in-laws too, often determining how long they can live on their own and how to best care for them. In addition, she often influences the important health decisions of grandchildren, co-workers, and friends." Read more at PharmExec.

Consumer tools: Really Personal PHRs

Posted: 27 Jan 2006 01:05 AM PST

"If we're committed to fostering the adoption of personal health records, we should take a page out of the consumer marketing textbooks — not the primers of health IT marketers. This was my conclusion after attending a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Markle Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Quality Research and Quality. " Read more about this at iHealthBeat .

Consumer trends: Manhattan Predicts Online Health Trends

Posted: 27 Jan 2006 12:06 AM PST

"US healthcare specialist Manhattan Research has published a summary of the major trends for health and pharmaceutical marketers to consider in 2006. The trends chart the increased use of the web and other new technologies as a health information and communication tool for both patients and physicians." Read more at Daily Research News Online.

News: Wall Street Journal Looks at Tools That Identify Low-Cost Care Options

Posted: 26 Jan 2006 01:07 AM PST

"The Wall Street Journal on Thursday looked at efforts by insurers to provide patients with tools - including a cell phone Web browsing service - to help them find low-cost treatment options. Lumenos, a unit of WellPoint, in February will launch the cell phone service, which lets patients type drug names into their cell phones' Web browsers and get lists of lower-cost alternatives. The program is designed so that patients can ask their physicians about cost-effective alternatives while they still are at their appointments." Read more at iHealthBeat.

Consumer tools: Consumer Health Complete Now Available from EBSCO Publishing

Posted: 25 Jan 2006 12:09 AM PST

"In continuing with the company's goal of providing the most comprehensive collection of online health and wellness resources, EBSCO Publishing has announced the release of Consumer Health Complete (CHC). This full text database is designed to support consumer and patients' information needs as well as foster an overall
understanding of health-related topics." Read more at Managing Information News.

Florida Hospitals and Surgeons Launch Healthcare Quality Initiative

Posted: 21 May 2010 09:56 AM PDT

The Florida Hospital Association and the American College of Surgeons have launched an initiative to improve patient safety and the quality of surgical care while reducing costs in the state of Florida. The effort, called the Florida Surgical Care Initiative, was announced this week at the National Patient Safety Foundation’s 12 th Patient Safety Congress, taking place this week in Orlando .   The initiative will focus on four key areas: surgical site and urinary tract infections (two of the most common complications), colorectal surgery outcomes (an area with higher rates of complications), and elderly surgery outcomes (since elderly patients are more likely to experience complications). The initiative was developed based on the American College of Surgeons’ National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), which uses risk-adjusted, clinical, 30-day outcomes data to review and assess outcomes and complications related to surgical care.   “Before you can improve quality, you must first be able to accurately measure it,” said Clifford Ko, M.D., director of the NSQIP. “You wouldn’t want your doctor to determine the next steps in your care by looking at your billing information. Nor should we be relying on that information alone to judge the quality of the care provided. Unlike many quality improvement programs today, this initiative is based on collecting clinical information and following patients for 30 days after they leave the hospital.”

SDForum, IBM to Host HIT Symposium

Posted: 20 May 2010 07:24 AM PDT

SDForum  (San Jose, Calif.) has announced that it will host its first ever symposium on healthcare information technology in partnership with  IBM (Armonk, N.Y.). The event is being hosted by Pillsbury Winthrop on Tuesday June 8th, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. PT in Palo Alto. Experts, investors and executives including Lonne Jaffe of IBM, Brian Ascher of Venrock and Adam Bosworth of KEAS will speak about opportunities for innovation in healthcare IT, and potential problems that the industry faces. The forum will focus on the current need for efficient and economic delivery of healthcare, and who in Silicon Valley is responding effectively to this need. "The increased use of healthcare information technology can enable clinicians to make more evidence-based treatment decisions, decisions that are based on a comprehensive view of a patient's medical history and the latest analytics comparing the effectiveness of all available treatment options," said Lonne Jaffe, Director Public Sector Solutions, IBM. "By enabling physicians, hospitals, labs, pharmacies, payers, and patients to collaborate more effectively, healthcare information technology can also dramatically lower the costs of delivering care, helping to make the economics of the healthcare industry more sustainable." Attendees to the symposium will have the opportunity to share insights and network with business executives, startups and investors in the healthcare information technology market.

Zipnosis.com Offers Online Diagnosis, Prescriptions

Posted: 19 May 2010 09:02 AM PDT

Minneapolis-based  Zipnosis has started a one-year pilot this month with local provider  Park Nicollet Health Services to diagnose and prescribe medication for minor ailments like the common cold, allergies, or bladder infections online. Consumers fill out a survey at Zipnosis’ website, which is then sent to two nurse practitioners on duty at Park Nicollet’s Quick Check center who review the answers and send back a diagnosis. The process takes about an hour, and consumers can pick up their prescriptions at their local pharmacy, all without talking to a clinician in person or on the phone. Some local doctors, however, warn the program could lead to misdiagnosis. Dr. Benjamin Whitten, president of the Minnesota Medical Association, said his personal view is that "written information and checklists" can't replace seeing a patient in person. Over 300 people statewide have already used the service. The program is led by Rick Krieger, who previously cofounded a company that became MinuteClinic.

Parents Favor eServices

Posted: 18 May 2010 08:39 AM PDT

A national poll by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., reports that one-half of parents are interested in accomplishing administrative and clinical tasks through email or online, suggesting “ePediatrics” could become commonplace. Knowledge Networks, Inc.  conducted the poll in January 2010, asking 1,612 parents across the U.S. about their communication with their children’s healthcare providers. While half responded they favored electronic communication, less than 15% of parents reported that they currently do or are able to communicate in such a manner. Questions about the security of email, an inability to be reimbursed for electronic services, and a perceived susceptibility to medical liability are possible reasons for many physicians’ reluctance to adopt more electronic services.

Study Finds HIT Expansion Could Save $261 Billion

Posted: 18 May 2010 07:55 AM PDT

A report from the Commission on U.S. Federal Leadership in Health and Medicine has found that the stimulus-fueled expansion of health IT could save as much as $261 billion over the next 10 years and begin the groundwork for an interoperable, patient-centered health system that could result in savings and better provided care. The report, A 21st Century Roadmap for Advancing America’s Health: The Path from Peril to Progress , a project of the private-sector Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, cites that savings are contingent on widespread adoption of EHRs, but also the adoption of health IT to improve clinical decision making and providing safeguards against medical errors. Researchers say the recently enacted healthcare reform law, in combination with the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, encourage national standards regarding electronic data submission to prevent fraud, standardized payment rules, and state level health information exchanges.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)