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Bill Designed To Expand Telehealth Services for Service Members - iHealthBeat

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:21:47 -0000

Comments:

A bill (HR 1832), by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), would help expand access to telehealth services to veterans across the U.S., the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Last week, the Servicemembers' Telemedicine and E-Health Portability Act -- also known as the STEP Act -- was added to the $690 billion Defense authorization bill (Prine, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 5/28). The STEP Act has received widespread bipartisan support, according to National Journal.

- Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: remote health services, remote patient monitoring

by: Valerie Steinmetz

Telecommunications Providers Expanding Telehealth Services - iHealthBeat

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:19:54 -0000

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Telecommunications providers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon have taken on a larger role in telehealth services, according to a new IDC Health Insights report, InformationWeek reports. - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: mhealth, remote patient monitoring

by: Valerie Steinmetz

Use of E-Prescribing Grows Dramatically - National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:54:53 -0000

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"The number of electronic prescriptions increased 181% from 2008 to 2009, according to the 2009 National Progress Report on E-Prescribing, published by Surescripts, operator of the largest e-prescription network that connects prescribers’ e-prescribing software to pharmacies. Over 190 million e-prescriptions were routed in 2009, compared with 68 million in 2008, and 29 million in 2007." - A W

Tags: medop, cwf1

by: A W

Computerized Physician Order Entry

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:46:09 -0000

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"The potential benefits for patients, payers and providers led national experts in health care quality and safety to recommend computerized physician order entry as one of Leapfrog’s recommended practices. Recent research shows that if this Leapfrog practice was implemented in all urban hospitals in the U.S we could prevent as many as 3 million serious medication errors each year. Studies have also shown that CPOE reduces length of stay; reduces repeat tests; reduces turnaround times for laboratory, pharmacy and radiology requests; as well as delivering cost savings." - A W

Tags: medop, cwf1

by: A W

Denver Health, Microsoft, EMC team for diabetes text messaging program | mobihealthnews

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:34:26 -0000

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This week hospital group Denver Health, Microsoft, and EMC announced early results from a text message powered diabetes program that aimed to help patients better self manage their condition.
While the companies were not forthcoming with specific details around the program’s results: Hersey wrote that participating patients are more engaged in the management of their disease, according to Denver Health, and doctors are able to quickly identify patients suffering from dangerously high and low blood sugar readings. - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: mhealth

by: Valerie Steinmetz

Army looks to put medical training, health records onto mobile devices | Government Health IT

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:48:08 -0000

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The Army's Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) organization is getting ready for the day when mobile devices such as smartphones may be fielded to soldiers.

MC4 is preparing for the eventuality that remote, computerized training modules could be loaded on iPads, iPhones and Android-based devices. Beyond that, electronic medical record applications could also make their way to the handheld gadgets. - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: mhealth

by: Valerie Steinmetz

Survey: Most U.S. Adults Want Their Care To Include Health IT - iHealthBeat

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:27:21 -0000

Comments:

Key Health IT-Related Findings from Commonwealth Fund survey:

92% of respondents said it is important or very important for physicians to be able to share data electronically with other physicians;
88% of respondents said it is important or very important for physicians to use electronic health records; and
85% of respondents said they support policies that would improve care coordination and provide access to transparent information about health care costs and quality (CMIO, 4/8). - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: IT, care coordination, EHR

by: Valerie Steinmetz

New National Survey Finds Personal Health Records Motivate Consumers to Improve Their Health - CHCF.org

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:09:22 -0000

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Americans who have access to their health information through personal health records (PHRs) report that they know more about their health, ask more questions, and take better care of themselves than when their health information was less accessible to them in paper records, according to a ground-breaking study released today by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: phr, IT

by: Valerie Steinmetz

VA To Tap Open-Source Tools To Upgrade E-Health Record System - iHealthBeat

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:13:41 -0000

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"The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving forward with plans to modernize its electronic health record system based on open-source software, Bloomberg reports.

Open-source software is publicly accessible and can be shared with other organizations.

In its draft request for proposals, VA said it is seeking contractors to build and manage a group of software developers that will oversee an update to the agency's 28-year-old VistA EHR system (Engleman, Bloomberg, 4/1)." - A W

Tags: VHA, open source, cwf1

by: A W

Accountable Care Organizations: Commonwealth Fund Resources - The Commonwealth Fund

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:30:57 -0000

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"Today the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its proposed regulations for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Under the Affordable Care Act, ACOs, which are organizations made up of groups of health care providers, have the opportunity to share in Medicare savings derived from improvements in the quality and efficiency of care. Read the regulations and review the Fund publications below." - A W

Tags: ACOs

by: A W

Medication Use Leading to Emergency Department Visits for Adverse Drug Events in Older Adults

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:49:24 -0000

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"Background: The Beers criteria identify inappropriate use of medications in older adults. The number of and risk for adverse events from these medications are unknown.

Objective: To estimate the number of and risk for emergency department visits for adverse events involving Beers criteria medications compared with other medications.

Design: Nationally representative, public health surveillance of adverse drug events and a cross-sectional survey of outpatient medical visits.

Setting: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance System, 2004–2005; National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2004; and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2004.

Participants: Persons 65 years of age or older seeking emergency department and outpatient care.

Measurements: Estimated number of and risks for emergency department visits for adverse drug events involving Beers criteria medications and other medications.

Results: Among U.S. patients 65 years of age or older, an estimated 177 504 emergency department visits (95% CI, 100 155 to 254 854 visits) for adverse drug events occurred both years. An estimated 3.6% (CI, 2.8% to 4.5%) of these visits were for adverse events medications considered to be always potentially inappropriate, according to the Beers criteria, and 33.3% (CI, 27.8% to 38.7%) of visits were for adverse events from 3 other medications (warfarin [17.3%], insulin [13.0%], and digoxin [3.2%]). Accounting for outpatient prescription frequency, the risk for emergency department visits for adverse events due to these 3 medications was 35 times (CI, 9.6 to 61) greater than that for medications considered to be always potentially inappropriate.

Limitation: Adverse events were identified only in emergency departments.

Conclusion: Compared with other medications, Beers criteria medications caused low numbers of and few risks for emergency department visits for adverse events. Performance measures and interventi - A W

Tags: medop, cwf1

by: A W

Social media sites help patients make healthcare decisions | Healthcare IT News

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:05:30 -0000

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"LINCOLN, NE – One in five Americans use social media websites as a source of healthcare information, according to National Research Corp.'s Ticker survey, which bills itself as the largest, most up-to-date poll on consumer healthcare opinions and behaviors." - A W

Tags: social networking, tyze

by: A W

Report Warns of 'Digital Divide' in Personal Health Record Use - iHealthBeat

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:58:32 -0000

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"Racial and ethnic minority populations are significantly less likely than whites to adopt an online personal health record to access and coordinate their medical data, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Modern Healthcare reports." - A W

Tags: PHR, health disparities

by: A W

Poll: U.S. Residents Not Embracing Social Media To Talk With Physicians - iHealthBeat

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:21:54 -0000

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"Americans generally are willing to use the Internet for some health care functions, but they have not embraced social media as a way to communicate with physicians, according to a poll by Capstrat and Public Policy Polling, Healthcare IT News reports (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 3/24)." - A W

Tags: social media

by: A W

The ACO Model — A Three-Year Financial Loss? | Health Policy and Reform

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:42:30 -0000

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"The accountable care organization (ACO) model is rather controversial among health care experts. Its proponents tout the potential savings and coordinated care that could be achieved through this model.1 Others, however, point out that the model is not without risks, such as the potential for anticompetitive effects as providers leverage it to concentrate market power.2,3 While experts are trying to clarify such matters, many health care executives and physician practices are deciding whether to move forward with becoming ACOs. Yet they may be unaware that the limited data suggest that most organizations will lose money in the first 3 years under the ACO model." - A W

Tags: ACOs

by: A W

CMS Innovation Center Website Launched To Collect Best Practices - iHealthBeat

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:25:41 -0000

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"On Monday, CMS launched a website for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to serve as a warehouse of new care models for Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, Government Health IT reports." - A W

Tags: CMS, CMMI

by: A W

Money saved when using mHealth technologies

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:59:00 -0000

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It is projected that by the year 2014 public and private healthcare providers could save between $1.96 billion and $5.83 billion in healthcare costs worldwide by utilizing mHealth technologies for health monitoring. The Juniper Report further indicates that most of these cost savings could be generated by the U.S. and Canadian markets due to those countries’ high healthcare costs, complex health care system structures, and potential for deployment of more advanced remote monitoring technologies. - Valerie Steinmetz

Tags: mhealth, remote patient monitoring

by: Valerie Steinmetz

Telemedicine Could Aid Patient Care Following Disasters, Study Finds - iHealthBeat

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:03:00 -0000

Comments:

"Using health IT tools after a major disaster to link first responders with remote specialists could significantly improve patient outcomes, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Medical Systems, Healthcare IT News reports.

For the study, researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of California-Davis compared standard emergency department-based triage and treatment following a disaster with telemedicine-enabled links between remote specialists and immediate responders.

Researchers found that using a telemedicine "hub" to handle communications between outside experts and first responders could decrease both patient wait times and hospitalization rates at nearby hospitals, in addition to increasing the chances of appropriate care for patients with life-threatening injuries." - A W

Tags: telemedicine

by: A W

Integrating Care through Bundled Payments — Lessons from the Netherlands | Health Policy and Reform

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:47:22 -0000

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"In industrialized countries, the number of people with chronic diseases continues to increase, putting tremendous pressure on health care systems. At the same time, there is a growing need for more patient-centered care.1 Various approaches to addressing these challenges have been introduced, including, in the United States, the concept of the accountable care organization (ACO) — a vehicle for implementing comprehensive payment reform and redesign of the health care system in an effort to control growth in health care costs and improve value.2-4 In the Netherlands, numerous initiatives were introduced to enhance the quality and continuity of care for chronic diseases, but their fragmentary funding hampered the establishment of long-term programs. In 2007, the Dutch minister of health therefore approved the introduction of a bundled-payment approach for integrated chronic care, initially on an experimental basis with a focus on diabetes. In 2010, the bundled-payment concept was approved for nationwide implementation for diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and vascular risk management." - A W

Tags: ACOs

by: A W

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California: A Window of Opportunity for State Policy Makers - CHCF.org

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:01:03 -0000

Comments:

"Health care reform, as enacted in the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), establishes the framework for sweeping changes to the nation's health care financing mechanisms and delivery approaches.

This document by the California Health and Human Services Agency examines the challenges facing California during this transitional period. This report resulted from an internal assessment and was funded by CHCF and the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

The authors of the report evaluate eight areas of policy-advancement opportunity for California under the ACA: " - A W

Tags: ACA, Sierra

by: A W