Meaningful Business Use has been good business but not perfect. In the early 2000s – even into the current decade – health care had some catching up to do when it came to technology. Much of the industry was paper-based and when technology was used, it was often in separate areas, creating silos of information that couldn’t communicate. The 2009... Read More
The global market for medical device connectivity is projected to top USD$33 billion by 2019, up significantly from USD$3.5 billion in 2013 – and that could have major implications for health-care providers. An increase in medical conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes – which require continuous monitoring – are driving growth in the integration of medical devices.... Read More
Starting your Patient Portal Technology is only the first step in the launch of a patient portal; administrators must make subsequent decisions about everything from patient login protocols to patient record revisions. Stage 2 of meaningful use requires that at least 5% of patients view, download and transmit their health-care information and also send secure electronic messages to their health-care... Read More
Standardized Coding On the surface, the move toward electronic medical records (EMRs) focuses on updating hardware and implementing software. Behind the scenes, however, an equally important shift is occurring in the development and implementation of code-standardization programs. The goal of a code-standardization program is to ensure that the health-care provider doesn’t have to think about code selection. In other words,... Read More
Tackling Stage 2 Some health-care organizations do not grasp the magnitude of the changes demanded by Stage 2 meaningful use, according to a panel convened at The Institute for Health Technology Transformation’s Denver Health IT Summit earlier this summer. In Stage 1 meaningful use, health-care providers had to demonstrate their ability to perform core tasks, which include data exchange, security,... Read More
Three Questions asked about ICD-10 It’s impossible to know what will happen on October 1, 2014, but you can get a head start on your preparations by asking your payers some questions about their ICD-10 plans. Will you conduct external testing? Medicare says CMS contractors will not conduct full external testing with business partners, meaning you won’t know for sure... Read More
Handy Mobile Apps for Physicians Patients are using mobile medical apps to take more responsibility for their well-being, but physicians can benefit from on-the-go technology as well. In fact, more and more doctors are incorporating mobile technology into their practices to be more efficient and effective. Here are three apps to consider. DrawMD (by Visible Health) With DrawMD for the... Read More
Are you getting the attention you need from your IT Partner? A great electric medical record (EMR) or practice management system is merely the critical first step to bringing your practice in the modern period; you must also use the systems appropriately. With regards to software, functionality is important to health-providers–but if most likely stuck on software operation, you might... Read More
Wherever Meaningful Use Stage a couple of is likely to trigger problems Meaningful Use Level 2 commences on January 1, 2014, even though a large number of health-care providers have executed electronic medical records (EMRs) in preparation, stumbling pads exist. Here are 3 of them. Getting patients to work with web sites. More than 50% of patients seen during the... Read More
The Future of Mobile Health-Care Congressional hearings on mobile health-care application regulation suggest the future is bright for this technology, say mHIMSS executives Tom Martin and David Collins. The hearings, held March 19-21, considered the importance of allowing innovation to flourish vs. the importance of regulation for patient safety. Discussed in the hearings were the dangers of strict FDA oversight... Read More
