News

In today's data-driven health care system, no medical specialty is exempt from reporting on key performance metrics. Two, however, carry a heavier burden than most: cardiology and gastroenterology (GI).

For The Record »

Today’s hospital and health system executives cannot help but hear the clamor to advance data-driven care delivery models focused on proactive management of populations. Pressed by a sense of urgency to position for the future of risk-based reimbursement arrangements, executives can often overlook a cornerstone element to success with analytics: data normalization. In fact, it is not uncommon for a health system to invest millions of dollars in an analytics solution, only to realize later that the reports being produced are inaccurate or meaningless due to missing or poor quality data.

HIE Answers »

In a move designed to accelerate patient participation in and the effectiveness of population health initiatives, Everseat will integrate its web- and mobile-based patient scheduling platform into Visualize Health’s vHealth quality and value analytics tracking software. The companies announced the new partnership during HIMSS16 Conference & Exhibition, taking place February 29-March 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, where Visualize Health is demonstrating its population health analytics software in booth #14097.

Population health plays an integral role in healthcare organizations’ strategies to comply with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decision to tie 30 percent of all Medicare reimbursements to quality and cost performance by the end of 2016—rising to 50 percent by the end of 2018. It is a significant incentive for hospitals and health systems to find more effective ways to manage chronic conditions, reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates, and reduce or eliminate risk factors leading to preventable negative outcomes. 

“Population health, and the preventive care that is its foundation, is critical to success under today’s value-based reimbursement models. But effective population health requires integrating progressive financial and clinical data analytics and reporting with wide-spread patient outreach activities,” said Everseat CEO Jeff Peres. “These are the elements this partnership brings to the population health table. Visualize Health analyzes and tracks key quality metrics to identify at-risk patients and care gaps. Armed with this information, Everseat is then able to scan providers’ schedules to identify and alert these patients to available appointments. Patients get the care they need and providers are able to demonstrate the compliance and outcomes necessary for appropriate reimbursement under value-based care.”

Everseat removes patient non-compliance by making it easy for providers to interact with patients on everything from post-operative office visits, to routine physicals, to disease management reminders. Not only does this result in greater satisfaction among patients, but it also helps ensure they remain compliant with treatment plans. This, in turn, generates greater patient satisfaction and highest appropriate reimbursement levels.

“If providers are to be rewarded or penalized based on activity metrics and the population health data documented in the EHR, then it is imperative that they be provided with the tools they need to manage those metrics. Our partnership with Everseat makes that happen by bridging the gap between the story data tells and the actions it should prompt,” said Rob Bramblett, CEO, Visualize Health. “We deliver the robust and thoughtful analytics hospitals need to proactively manage and track performance and outcomes, while Everseat accelerates patient access by creating a direct connection between at-risk patients and the providers responsible for managing their health. Together, we can deliver improved population health outcomes and better reimbursements.”

Visualize Health enables clients to proactively manage and track their quality and value-based program activity and documentation related to the metrics against which they are reimbursed. Unlike other data analytics providers, Visualize Health allows access to its data by third parties, which enables its use for broader applications like population health. As a result, it drives higher reimbursements and mitigates the risk of participating in value-based programs.

About Everseat

Everseat is a patient-centered scheduling platform that helps patients get access to appointments they need with their healthcare providers. The Baltimore-based technology company offers a web-and mobile-based platform that enables provider organizations to post open appointments to the platform so that patients can find slots that work for their schedules via the free Everseat mobile and web apps. Appointments are posted and claimed in real-time, significantly increasing efficiency for the providers, and dramatically improving the patient experience. For more information, visit Everseat online at everseat.com or call 888-899-9506.

About Visualize Health

Based in Brentwood, TN, Visualize Health and its vHealth quality and value analytics tracking software provide physicians, hospitals and other provider organizations with robust analysis of financial and clinical data to proactively track and manage performance and quality metrics upon which reimbursements are based. The company takes a consultative approach, creating customized plans that prepares providers for outcomes-based reimbursements, including a variety of methods for change management. For more information, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , visit visualizehealth.co or call 855-508-4325.

In a previous set of interviews with Jim O’Brien, MD, MSc, Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety, Ohio Health Riverside Methodist Hospital and Stephen Claypool, MD, Medical Director, POC Advisor, Wolters Kluwer, we learned about the ravages of sepsis and how POC Advisor’s electronic surveillance and alerts assist in sepsis detection.

HIT Leaders and News »

The Health division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today the release of a new enterprise terminology management platform — the most powerful currently available in healthcare — allowing organizations to significantly improve system integration, interoperability and data analysis.

The Health division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today that medical informatics experts from Health Language^® will host a complimentary webinar to discuss best practices and lessons learned from the industry’s mammoth transition to ICD-10. Scheduled for February 9, 2016 at 1 p.m. EST, the event will provide insight into common ICD-10 clinical documentation challenges following the October 2015 go-live and solutions for improving reimbursement, reporting and patient tracking.

The Health division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today that its Sentri7^® solution has received the 2015/2016 Category Leader award for Clinical Decision Support-Surveillance in the 2015/2016 Best in KLAS: Software & Services report. The real-time clinical surveillance and decision support software previously earned the Category Leader designation in KLAS’ 2013 Best in KLAS report, which is conducted annually to rank the best-performing healthcare IT vendors in more than 100 market segments based on the aggregated experiences of thousands of healthcare providers.

Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced the release of a mobile version of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) toolkit from the American Nurses Foundation (ANF) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing). Developed by Lippincott Solutions, the free mobile app is designed to help nurses and other healthcare professionals gain rapid access to trusted PTSD information to support and inform care decisions.

PTSD is a serious mental disorder resulting from exposure to direct or indirect threat of death, serious injury or physical violence, including sexual violence. According to the National Center for PTSD, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 8 million adults suffer from PTSD. It is a particularly significant mental health issue among veterans; more than 533,700 veterans with a primary or secondary diagnosis of PTSD received treatment through VA medical facilities in 2013.

“The PTSD Toolkit was designed to simplify the process of helping the nation’s veterans and military service members by making it easier for nurses and other clinicians to obtain trusted information and support tools,” said Kate Judge, Executive Director of the ANF. “A mobile version of the toolkit aligns with our mission to eliminate misinformation about PTSD and connect clinicians with the clinical references and training resources they need to make the best treatment decisions for their patients.”

Developed by ANF and Penn Nursing in response to Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative launched in 2011 by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support service members, veterans, and their families, the PTSD Toolkit is a self-directed e-learning program designed to teach or reinforce nurses’ knowledge about the treatment of veterans with PTSD. It includes simulation tools based on real case studies that are designed to test treatment skills and practice interventions.

“PTSD is a complex disorder that is often accompanied by other equally devastating issues such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain, relationship problems, and substance abuse that can impact timely and accurate diagnosis,” said Jayne Marks, Vice President, Publishing, Wolters Kluwer, Health Learning, Research and Practice. “The PTSD Toolkit in app form provides nurses and other clinicians who work with patients who have or may have PTSD with immediate access to reliable information and simulations to help with diagnosis and treatment.”

The app version of the toolkit streamlines clinical workflows related to the care of PTSD patients. It helps improve care quality by providing clinicians with mobile access to valuable insight into the disorder, as well as a step-by-step process for diagnosing PTSD and the ability to request additional information that can be shared with others.

The PTSD toolkit app has been enhanced with nine topics from Lippincott Solutions, including Alcohol Withdrawal Management, Reality Orientation, Suicide Precautions, Family Therapy and Depression or Hostility Monitoring and Precautions. A series of comprehensive, integrated software applications from Wolters Kluwer that helps organizations make evidence actionable at the bedside, Lippincott Solutions includes advanced online workflow technology, current evidence-based clinical information, and professional development tools for the practicing nurse.

Available for Android™ and iOS platforms, the app is available for download from Google Play and the Apple Store, or visit www.LippincottSolutions.com/PTSD.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2014 annual revenues of €3.7 billion. The group serves customers in over 170 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).

Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information about our products and organization, visit www.wolterskluwerhealth.com, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube.

About the American Nurses Foundation

The American Nurses Foundation (ANF) is the charitable and philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation’s 3.4 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates. The Foundation supports programs that transform the nation’s health through the power of nursing.

About The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing and is ranked the #1 graduate nursing school in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. Penn Nursing is consistently among the nation’s top recipients of nursing research funding from the National Institutes of Health and prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through research, education, and practice.

For more information about Penn Nursing, visit www.nursing.upenn.edu, follow @PennNursing and @PennNursingDean on Twitter, like us on Facebook and Instagram, and follow us on LinkedIn.