At first, it was a trickle of pioneer practices across the country that signed up to become Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH). Today, the PCMH model has grown and proven itself by delivering better outcomes at a lower cost. The best outcome of all? Patients are happy with access to the team-oriented care that focuses on helping them get well and stay that way.
[Read more…] about PCMH Improves Practices and OutcomesEHR Challenges
Currently most physician practices in the US have transformed their patient paper records into electronic health records (EHR). Now that the dust has settled, what’s the level of satisfaction experienced by physicians? Results of two recent surveys provide interesting and conflicting information regarding the impact of EHRs on practices.
[Read more…] about EHR ChallengesThe Data Driven Medical Practice
Changing payment models; reducing costs while improving patient care; aging populations with rising rates of chronic disease; consumer expectations… How do health care institutions best manage these issues? What’s the best way to do that? Organizations need to become data driven. According to an IBM white paper, “They must treat data as a strategic asset and put processes and systems in place that allow them to access and analyze the right data to inform decision-making processes and drive actionable results.”
[Read more…] about The Data Driven Medical PracticeMaking Telemedicine Work
While the use of telemedicine is becoming more prevalent in a variety of settings, a recent survey by TechnologyAdvice Research suggests that many patients are still uncertain about using this option and question the quality of the diagnosis.
[Read more…] about Making Telemedicine WorkSocial Media and Medical Practices
Social media has become both a binding and a dividing force in our society. Platforms for communicating every action and desire have multiplied, evolved, and created new niches for discrete audiences. Many medical practices across the country utilize Facebook pages or Twitter feeds to communicate news, health tips, and helpful information to patients and potential patients.
[Read more…] about Social Media and Medical PracticesThe Internet of Medical Things
How do you react when a patient arrives for an appointment with a readout from a wearable fitness device? Maybe it mapped her sleep patterns for the past week. Or, maybe it tracked his heartrate through an entire half marathon. The patient is convinced that the advice from the wearable is of diagnostic quality and should be acted upon. Welcome to the internet of things.
[Read more…] about The Internet of Medical ThingsLet’s Google That
Today’s clinicians face many issues not even conceived by their parents’ or grandparents’ generation of physicians. In addition to coping with the complexities of electronic health records, digital x-rays, and robotic surgery, today’s clinicians must interface with Dr. Google, MD, DDS, OB/GYN, etc.
[Read more…] about Let’s Google ThatPCMH and Payment Reform
Last week JAMA published, “Effects of a Medical Home and Shared Savings Intervention on Quality and Utilization of Care.” The authors found that a large multi-payer patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program in northeast Pennsylvania (the Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative) achieved substantial reductions in unnecessary health care services, while improving the quality of care for its patients.
[Read more…] about PCMH and Payment ReformWhat’s a Datapalooza?
Datapalooza 2015 is taking place this week in Washington, D.C. First convened in 2010, this offshoot conference of the Health Data Initiative has grown into a major gathering of more than 2,000 health care industry thinkers. With a stated mission to “unleash the power of health data,” the conference attracts tech experts, government policy makers, data entrepreneurs, and health care system leaders; a heady mix of thinkers, do-ers, and creative disrupters sure to make headlines in the health care space. Datapalooza is organized by the Health Data Consortium and the W20 Group.
[Read more…] about What’s a Datapalooza?