CMS’s nod to outpatient total knee replacements gives hospitals a big leg up
Ambulatory Surgery Centers are yet to get Medicare coverage for total knee replacements, giving hospitals a headstart to win this population.
3 ways to improve care coordination through digitization
The disparate sea of digital tools can be overwhelming and burdensome for both patients and providers, causing confusion and poor use of the resources the hospital provides.
Health Executives on Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Hear executives from Quantum Health, Surescripts, EY, Clinical Architecture and Personify Health share their views on digital transformation in healthcare.
Tap into human nature to engage patients
There are three key dimensions that effective healthcare education must include to address patients’ emotional needs, impact their behavior and, ultimately, improve their health outcomes.
Direct-to-patient email and text communication is best for engaging patients in their care
Reaching your patients through the technology they already use is key to patient engagement, and email and text are the most effective way to reach patients of all ages.
5 ways hospitals can improve digital interactions with patients
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services clearly sees the connection between digital patient connections and value and is asking hospitals to engage patients throughout their entire episode, not only during the in-hospital stay.
How to effectively engage patients on social media
Three strategies for effectively engaging patients on social media.
The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
Does Your Technology Improve Patient Care & Outcomes?
The 2015 Medicare Access CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) outlines plans to overhaul reimbursements to physicians, based in part on their ability to provide quality care and to improve patient experience and outcomes. One of the main goals the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has for MACRA is for individual healthcare providers to use technology […]
Digital patient-provider connections are critical to value-based care
Digital connections and education are essential to value-based care.
API vs. Portal in Meaningful Use 3
As Meaningful Use moved to Stage 3 (MU3) in 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added APIs (application programming interface) as an alternative or complement to patient portals. But are these two digital health tools at odds with each other? And where do APIs fit in with Meaningful Use Stage 3? An […]
Here’s your MACRA primer (and don’t worry, it doesn’t ‘kill’ Meaningful Use)
The best way to view MACRA is as an evolution - not an end to - Meaningful Use.
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Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Are Patient Portals Going the Way of the Dinosaur? (Infographic)
Patient portals—websites allowing patients to easily and securely access their EHRs and even communicate with their providers—were one of the big recommendations of MU2 in 2012. CMS promoted portals as a way for patients to access their EHRs and for providers to demonstrate that their patients were actually doing this, calling the portal “a powerful […]
CMS’s Bundled Payment Plan for Joint Replacement Is Here to Stay
This week, CMS released its final rule for Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR), putting 790 hospitals on notice that hip and knee replacement reimbursements from the nation’s largest insurer will be tied to cost containment and high standards for patient care. CMS plans to test the initiative at those hospitals—selected from 67 metropolitan statistical […]
3 Reasons Providers Need to Manage the Entire Episode of Care
Preparing for the CMS Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Project The most important takeaway from the latest CMS effort to rein in costs, achieve positive patient outcomes and lower hospital readmission rates and complication rates is that hospitals must now manage the entire episode of care. CMS’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CCJR) bundled-payment program mandates […]
How can we improve quality and consistency of medical advice to patients?
Mothers commonly report receiving either no advice or recommendation inconsistent advice from each of the four sources we studied [doctors, birth hospital nurses, family, and media] regarding immunization, breastfeeding, sleep position, sleep location and pacifier use.
Is it time to give the term ‘patient engagement’ a rest?
With the proliferation of patient engagement technology phrases such as patient education, patient activation and patient/provider connections have increasingly become meaningless. They now mean everything and, therefore, nothing. What are we really trying to do to, for and with our patients? What should we seek in terms of involving them in their care? What does patient […]