I had a very illuminating conversation with my son Abraham the other day. It happens a lot. It’s one of the reasons we went into business together – we illuminate each other!
Abe said “Googling is such an underrated skill.”
I thought about how easy Googling* is. Google Search boxes are in most browsers andmobile device home screens, plus products like Apple’s Siri enable fast and successful voice searches. The act of Googling itself is easier than ever. But how good are you are taking advantage of this access? If you need to know something quickly, do you know how to find it the fastest? What about something more arcane – a very specific document or file for a nice task? How about the number of milliliters in a cup, or the definition of “tomography”? How well can you “get the goods” from Google?
New AHRQ Guide Identifies Successful Design Methods for Development of Consumer Health IT
At Manage My Practice, we get lots of calls from people with ideas for healthcare products. They want to tell us their ideas and get our feedback. We love to hear about their ideas and strive to help them understand how healthcare works. Now we can also refer them to a new guide from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ.)
Since first hitting the market in January 2010, the iPad and its successors have been somewhat of an anomaly in healthcare technology. Outside of cutting edge clinical treatments, the healthcare industry normally lags behind other sectors in adopting new technology. Not so with the iPad, which has become a favorite of healthcare providers in both private practice and in hospital settings. Why, you ask? Because the iPad bypasses a lot of the usual frustrations providers have with technology. The iPad is small, lightweight, fast to start, easy to use, smaller than a patient chart, can fit into some whitecoat pockets, affordable, tactile, and has thousands of healthcare-related apps available.
At the time the first iPad was introduced, John Halamka, HIT rock star and CIO for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said “My general impression is that it’s not perfect for healthcare, but it is closer than other devices I’ve tried. It will definitely be worth a pilot.”
As managers, providers and employees, we always have to be looking ahead at how the technology on our horizon will affect how our organizations administer health care. In the spirit of looking forward to the future, we present “2.0 Tuesday”, a feature on Manage My Practice about how technology is impacting our practices, and our patient and population outcomes.
We hope you enjoy looking ahead with us, and share your ideas, reactions and comments below!
HealthCamp RDU and Health Innovation Week DC Bring Stakeholders Together for Conversations on the Future of Healthcare
Over the next two weeks two separate events will give stakeholders from all ends of the healthcare spectrum a chance to be a part of an open-ended conversation about the future of care. HealthCamp RDU on Wednesday May 23rd in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Health Innovation Week, beginning June 2nd in Washington D.C. will be fantastic gatherings for providers, patients, advocates, managers, and vendors to come together, engage in conversation, and share their own experiences and visions for the future. With the large-scale changes taking place in healthcare today, more than ever it is critical to share your point of view, and events that bring together such a wide range of attendees offer fantastic opportunities to do just that. Check out their sites for more information on these great events!
(via The Health Care Blog , Triangle Business Journal)
Overheard in the Healthcare Cloud
Phoenix Cardiac Surgery probably never thought they would be a poster child for HIPAA safeguards, but this 5-physician cardiothoracic practice in Prescott, Arizona has become famous for something no medical practice wants to be famous for – not protecting their patient information.
Today’s HHS Press Release reads as follows:
HHS settles case with Phoenix Cardiac Surgery for lack of HIPAA safeguards
MU Live! is a 30 minute talk radio style web and audio cast hosted by the folks at HITECH Answers. Experts discuss breaking news and issues on meaningful use as well as other health IT topics.
From HITECH Answers:
February 28, 2 pm EST: Our guest this week is leading practice management consultant and Health IT blogger of the year Mary Pat Whaley. We’ll discuss cloud-based EHRs and other practice implementation strategies with Mary Pat, a former practice administrator with lots of experience managing EHR implementations.
Becoming more productive is almost a lifestyle for some people.
Grand Rounds is a weekly summary of the best healthcare writing online, featuring stories, opinion and analysis from doctors, nurses, patients, researchers and administrators, as well as journalists. Each Tuesday, a different blogger takes the helm, publishing a new edition of Grand Rounds on their site. Each edition features the hosts picks for the ten best healthcare links of the week.
This week, one of my very favorite bloggers hosts Grand Rounds, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian of the famed blog 33charts.com. Dr. V. is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. If you’ve never read Dr. V’s blog, try it – his writing is excellent.
Here’s his intro:
Welcome to this edition of Medical Grand Rounds. I scoured the web and pulled together what I think are some of the more interesting posts and news items of the past couple of weeks. Ive tried to explore some voices that perhaps havent crossed your radar. Weve got sociologists, medical students, IT gurus, medical futurists and even a couple of doctors. Some of the discussions have related posts that you might find interesting. Posts are not listed in any particular order.
Give yourself a little gift and click here to read Grand Rounds.
A personal health record (or PHR) is an individual electronic health record that is stored securely on the Internet so it can be accessed by medical providers and caregivers who have permission.
PHRs allow the storage of all critical health history information in one place. In the event of an emergency, the patient, caregiver or family member can give providers access to health information. By having the most current information always available, duplicate or unnecessary tests can be avoided as can possible drug interactions. This benefit is achieved without having to rely on the memory or incomplete records of the patient. PHRs also allow patients, caregivers or third-party vendors to update information regularly over the Internet so that new data can always be accessed by stakeholders.
Although Personal Health Records have been around for more than 10 years, they have gained little traction. Amidst a healthcare environment that is increasingly supportive of the empowered patient, most patients have neither the time nor the knowledge to enter their own records into a PHR. Many PHRs can interface with an individual hospital or physicians EHR system, but most are unable to share information bi-directionally with more than one entity or flow seamlessly into a Health Information Exchange (HIE).
Just in case you haven’t had a chance (what have you been doing?) to focus on the January 1, 2012 deadline for the transition to 5010, take 5 minutes to read this post and make sure your healthcare group is on track. It is critical to have NO interruption in cash flow in January – a time when cash flow is already lower due to the new deductibles in play for many plans including Medicare.
The American Medical Association (AMA), in its “5010 Implementation Steps: Getting the Work Done in Time for the Deadline” recommends the following to protect your cash in January:
- Submit as many transactions as possible before Jan. 1, 2012.
- Decrease expenses before Jan. 1, 2012, to increase cash reserves.
- Consider establishing a line of credit with a financial institution.
- Research payers’ advance payment policies.
- Consider using manual or paper processes to complete transactions until the electronic transactions are fixed.
Note that HIPAA standards, including the ASC X12 Version 5010 and Version D.0 standards are national standards and apply to your transactions with all payers, not just with FFS Medicare. Therefore, you must be prepared to implement these transactions for your non-FFS Medicare business.
Beginning January 1, 2012 all electronic claims, eligibility and claim status inquiries must use Version 5010 or D.O.
