Client News Coverage

Governance + Technology = Advancing Evidence-Based Medicine

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, February 27, 2012.

The use of point-of-care decision support technology in hospitals is key to successfully accelerating the adoption of clinical best practices. Physician champions and hospital executives have realized that without a fast and reliable way of standardizing care to support use of the latest evidence, the potential for raising the bar on quality initiatives is minimized at best.

Executive Insight»

Tracking Quality Measures

Posted in Client News Coverage on Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

National quality initiatives are raising the bar on performance. Are specialty centers ready?

The quality agenda in gastroenterology has gained new momentum in recent years. As the specialty pursues improved quality, better patient outcomes and lower cost of care, endoscopy centers are under increased pressure to track, report and benchmark key quality and performance measures.

Executive Insight»

GIQuIC Readiness: Equipping Endoscopy Centers to Maximize the Potential of National Quality Initiatives

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, February 06, 2012.

It's a new day for quality reporting in ambulatory surgery centers. Many have already recognized the benefits and are engaged in tracking and improving performance indicators. For the others, reality is about to arrive as federal regulations take effect that now up the ante for all ASCs.

Becker's ASC Review»

High Stakes for Finance in Transition to ICD-10

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, February 01, 2012.

October 1, 2013 marks the day that healthcare organizations must comply with the most significant–and underestimated–mandate in recent history.  That is the date by which hospitals, health systems, physician practices, insurance companies and any other organization covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must have completed their transition to the ICD-10 code set.

Kforce Kronicle»

Taking CDS to the Next Level for Medication Management

Posted in Client News Coverage on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Consider the following scenario. A patient in a hospital acquires pneumonia. When the attending physician enters an order for the antibiotic ceftriaxone, an alert pops up indicating that the patient is allergic to the medication. Based on the information provided, the physician chooses another appropriate medication.

Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare»

3 reasons to let HIE customers define services

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, January 23, 2012.

Long-term sustainability is one of the critical challenges facing health information exchange (HIE) initiatives. In its recent report, 2011 Report on Health Information Exchange: Sustainable HIE in a Changing Landscape, eHealth Initiative identified just 24 out of the 196 active HIEs around the country that categorized themselves as sustainable.

Government Health IT»

Outlook 2012: Whatever ACA’s Legal Outcome, ACOs Will Survive in Medicare

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, January 12, 2012.

Medicare’s ACO programs, which are tied to the Affordable Care Act, could find themselves in a vulnerable position in 2012, with both a Supreme Court decision on the reform statute and potential budget cuts looming on the horizon. But some say that no matter what the legal and political outcomes are next year, ACOs will find a way to survive in the Medicare space.

AIS Health»

A critical choice for optimum patient care

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, January 02, 2012.

The use of clinical decision support (CDS) to elevate patient care is a solid strategy in any healthcare environment. And while the benefits of decision-support tools are expected to be far reaching across the patient-care continuum, there are likely no areas more primed for realizing their potential than critical care.

Health Management Technology»

Order Set Integration: A Critical Step to Advancing Care

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, December 07, 2011.

Standardization of care and adoption of evidence-based medicine into clinical practice are two central tenets of meaningful use of EHRs. At Sibley Memorial Hospital, we have found the integration of evidence-based order sets with the EHR for point-of-care access as one way to accomplish these goals.

CMIO»

7 health IT tactics in the uphill ACO battle

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, November 21, 2011.

Responding to concerns that its original regulations stymied reform efforts, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made a number of concessions in its final Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) rules. Nonetheless, many organizations remain hesitant about entering the ACO fray and continue weighing the pros and cons of setting up the infrastructure demanded by CMS.

Government Health IT»

ASCs Face Unique Meaningful Use Challenges—Understanding the 50% Rule and How to Respond

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, November 10, 2011.

Twenty-seven billion dollars in potential incentive payments would make any industry take action. When coupled with steep future penalties for noncompliance, the stakes for achieving meaningful use (MU) go even higher.

For the Record»

Commentary: Why RECs and HIEs need each other

Posted in Client News Coverage on Friday, October 14, 2011.

Regional Extension Centers (RECs) and health information exchange (HIE) initiatives share a common purpose: enabling the exchange of patient information to improve health outcomes and care quality. Their individual goals and objectives are also complementary. RECs support physicians in the selection, implementation and use of electronic health records (EHRs), while HIEs provide the infrastructure across which the information collected by those EHRs can be exchanged.

Government Health IT»

5 Steps for a Successful Joint Commission Infection Control Survey

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, October 05, 2011.

The Joint Commission has upped the ante on infection prevention, a move that has many hospitals scrambling to prepare for surveys that now encompass more than just a review of historical outcomes data.

Becker's ASC Review»

ASCs Face Unique Meaningful Use Challenges - Understanding the 50% Rule and How to Respond

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, September 26, 2011.

Twenty-seven billion dollars in potential incentive payments would make any industry take action. When coupled with steep future penalties for noncompliance, the stakes for achieving meaningful use (MU) go even higher.

For the Record»

State HIEs Face Assessment Deadline to Maintain Federal Monies

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, September 26, 2011.

A critical deadline is looming for states and state-designated entities awarded monies under the State Health Information Exchange (HIE) Cooperative Agreement Program: Progress Assessments and updated Strategic and Operational Plans.

For the Record»