HITInsight Blog Archives

Mental Health Needs Its Own Legislative Solution

Submitted by Irv Lichtenwald on Mon, 08/15/2016 - 14:03

Representative Tim Murphy’s Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis bill was approved by the House with near unanimity in early July. Among other objectives, the legislation seeks to expand the availability of psychiatric hospital beds, create a new assistant secretary for mental health and substance use disorders at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and promote early treatment and intervention for young people who show signs of mental illness.

Categories: 
Behavioral Health

WSJ: Medsphere chairman talks new health IT and barriers to acceptance

Submitted by david.macfarlane on Tue, 07/19/2016 - 17:00

Few if any physicians, administrators or policy experts have more experience in the American healthcare arena than Kenneth W. Kizer, MD. The Medsphere chairman and director of the Institute for Population Health Improvement at UC Davis has served as the top health official for California and undersecretary of health for the VA. Kizer was also the founding president and chief executive for the National Quality Forum, which focuses on healthcare performance measures and quality standards.

Categories: 
Patient Portals, Telemedicine, Population Health

Are you ready for the oncoming wave of revenue cycle change?

Submitted by Mordy Pelleg on Mon, 07/18/2016 - 17:00

A few weeks ago, I offered up 10 best practices for successful revenue cycle management. Any practice that implements these regular behaviors will be on a more stable financial foundation. The truth, however, is that things are changing rapidly in healthcare, which is news to exactly no one. So, on top of these 10 recommendations, you also have to manage changes that impact revenue. 

Categories: 
Outpatient Care, Practice Management, Revenue Cycle Management

How can we commit to better mental health care right now?

Submitted by Irv Lichtenwald on Tue, 07/12/2016 - 17:00

Restoring lost beds, expanding health IT incentives and rapidly embracing ACOs are steps forward in addressing America’s mental health crisis

Chances are good someone close to you is suffering from a mental health disorder right now. You may not know it. While paranoid schizophrenia is pretty obvious, major depression can be hidden during periodic interaction.

Categories: 
Behavioral Health

Are you leaving money on the table that your practice needs?

Submitted by Mordy Pelleg on Mon, 06/20/2016 - 17:00

For clinicians working in the complex American healthcare system, getting paid for every single procedure, service and visit has always been something of a challenge. Yes, fee-for-service medicine created a fairly linear relationship between effort and remuneration, but even in that scenario many hospitals and practices have teetered on the edge of solvency, in part for lack of efficient billing practices.

Categories: 
Outpatient Care, Practice Management, Revenue Cycle Management

Ponemon Study: Healthcare aware of security threats, but not really ready for them

Submitted by D'Arcy Gue on Tue, 05/24/2016 - 13:14

You may be suffering from IT security fatigue at this point, for which I offer a half-hearted apology.

Yes, only half-hearted, because the numbers say healthcare is aware of various security threats but still remains vulnerable, making it imperative that the subject stay top of mind until patient data is reliably protected.

Categories: 
Security

Patients are consumers, too. Your portal strategy should embrace both.

Submitted by Irv Lichtenwald on Wed, 05/18/2016 - 10:43

Patient engagement is easy, right? Just create a portal and tell patients it’s there.

Of course, no one who puts a little thought into this idea believes it can be so simple. Healthcare isn’t “Field of Dreams,” after all. We can build it. They still might not come.

Categories: 
Patient Portals, Meaningful Use

Remember the Omnibus HIPAA Rule? Maybe it's time for a refresher.

Submitted by D'Arcy Gue on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 15:25

Have the HIPAA security and privacy rules been around so long they fade into the background? Perhaps so, which could be problematic. You see, the 2013 Omnibus HIPAA Rule strictly defines the liability and obligations of all business associates, which vendors with access to PHI must understand. As must providers, many of whom are still using pre-2013 business associate agreements. Along with general liability and obligations for business associates, the Omnibus Rule also expands financial liability and enforcement, and introduces altogether new privacy and security provisions.

Categories: 
Security

Practice Management: Look for these 10 essentials when evaluating IT solutions.

Submitted by Mordy Pelleg on Tue, 05/03/2016 - 13:08

If you’re looking for greater efficiency, effective operations and increased billing, practice management systems (PMS) are proven to meet those requirements.

But not all solutions are the same. If you’re shopping for a PMS, make sure you get the functionality that truly makes your practice better by looking for these ten characteristics:

Categories: 
Outpatient Care, Practice Management

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