Smartphones could help emergency department doctors quickly diagnose eye-related conditions, according to a new study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, Reuters reports (Pittman, Reuters, 7/11).
Study Details
For the study, researchers from Emory University collected data on 350 patients with headaches, changes in eyesight and other vision problems who sought treatment at EDs. The data included inner-eye photos taken by ED staff with an ocular camera.
Two ophthalmologists then reviewed and rated photo quality on a desktop computer. They also assessed 100 of the photos on an iPhone (Armstrong Moore, CNET News, 7/11).
Study Findings
According to the study, reviewers consistently rated the iPhone images as the same or higher quality compared with the same images viewed on the desktop computer.
One ophthalmologist said 53 of the images were the same quality, 46 were better on the iPhone and one was better on the desktop computer. The other ophthalmologist said 56 of the images were of equal quality, 42 were better on the iPhone and two were better on the desktop computer.
The findings suggest that the use of smartphones could allow ophthalmologists to remotely diagnose eye conditions and develop treatment plans (Reuters, 7/11).
Future Research
Valerie Biousse — one of the study’s authors — said she and her colleagues next plan to study whether smartphones can help expedite and improve acute patient care and ophthalmologists’ consultations (CNET News, 7/11).
Source: iHealthBeat
The global market for cloud computing in health care is expected to grow from $1.7 billion last year to reach $5.4 billion by 2017, according to a report by research firm MarketsandMarkets, Healthcare IT News reports (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 7/2).
Cloud Computing in Health Care
The report noted that two different categories of health IT systems are using cloud computing services:
Report Findings
According to the report, the health care cloud computing market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 20.5% between 2010 and 2017.
The report predicted that many health care organizations will set aside funds for cloud computing over the next five years as they work to deliver more services while reducing costs.
However, the report noted that certain challenges are hindering more widespread use of cloud computing services, such as:
Source: iHealthBeat
The Health Information Partnership for Tennessee — which was established three years ago to operate a health data exchange in the state — has announced that it is closing down, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 7/9).
Background on HIP TN
The Tennessee Office of eHealth received $11 million from the 2009 federal economic stimulus package to develop a statewide health information exchange, and it distributed the funds to HIP TN (Goedert, Health Data Management, 7/9).
Although HIP TN conducted tests and demonstrations of health data exchange among communities, it did not reach the point where it helped exchange clinical data in a production environment.
Reasons for Closing Down
Will Rice — executive director of Tennessee’s Office of eHealth Initiatives — said the HIP TN board voted to shut down the organization because it believed the exchange “was ahead of the game and somewhat premature.” He added that the state now is focused on helping health care providers meet the requirements of the meaningful use program.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Rice said, “[W]hile the state is not abandoning its effort of statewide HIE capacity, that’s a longer-term horizon than what’s needed to meet meaningful use.”
Promoting Use of Direct Project
According to Rice, Tennessee officials plan to focus their health data exchange efforts on promoting the use of the Direct Project’s clinical messaging protocol (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 7/9).
The Direct Project is a streamlined version of the Nationwide Health Information Network. It aims to facilitate online, standards-based exchange of medical data between health care providers (iHealthBeat, 6/21).
According to Rice, Tennessee has yet to spend more than 70% of the federal stimulus funding it received to establish a statewide health information exchange. Rice said he is confident that the remaining funds will be sufficient to promote education and awareness about the use of the Direct Project’s messaging protocol (Modern Healthcare, 7/9).
Source: iHealthBeat
A work group of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT plans to release draft recommendations for Stage 3 of the meaningful use program by August, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 7/8).
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
During a July 3 meeting, members of the Health IT Policy Committee’s meaningful use work group said that they hope to develop Stage 3 draft recommendations by Aug. 1 so a request for comment can be released by November and Stage 3 final recommendations can be published by May 2013 (Raths, Healthcare Informatics, 7/5).
Possible Draft Recommendations for Stage 3
The meaningful use work group’s subgroup on population health has recommended that Stage 3 of the meaningful use program require EHR systems to have the ability to:
Other Stage 3 recommendations under consideration would require hospitals and health care providers to use EHR systems to:
Source: iHealthBeat
Leveraging health IT to implement principles of patient-centered care can lead to improved health care outcomes, according to a report published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Medical News reports.
Patient-centered care is delivered in a way that takes a patient’s individual needs and preferences into account.
Report Details
For the report, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University’s Evidence-Based Practice Center reviewed 327 research articles published in 1998 or later. They examined whether the articles found that using health IT to implement patient-centered care led to improvements in:
Study Findings
According to the researchers, the prior studies suggest that using health IT to advance patient-centered care leads to improved clinical or process outcomes in most cases.
The report also found that certain barriers have posed challenges to using health IT to advance patient-centered care, including:
Source: iHealthBeat
On Thursday, UnitedHealthcare announced that it is implementing a “Blue Button” tool to let policyholders access and download their personal health records by clicking a button on the health plan’s website, MedCity News reports (Parmar, MedCity News, 7/5).
Background on Blue Button Tool
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs launched a Blue Button tool to help veterans access and exchange their personal health data in a standard, consistent manner. The VA project since has caught on in the private sector.
In March 2012, UnitedHealthcare launched a Blue Button tool for 500,000 people enrolled in policies with Health Plan of Nevada, a UnitedHealthcare company (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 7/5).
Details of the Announcement
In its announcement, UnitedHealthcare said that 12 million members of its employer-based plans will be able to use the Blue Button tool to access their personal health records by the end of this year.
By mid-2013, that number will grow to more than 26 million policyholders, UnitedHealthcare said (MedCity News, 7/5).
How UnitedHealthcare’s Blue Button Will Work
UnitedHealthcare policyholders will be able to use the Blue Button tool to view, download and print information such as claims data and health screening summaries.
Members’ PHRs also could include data like vital signs, current health conditions and recent procedures (Healthcare IT News, 7/5).
Source: iHealthBeat
Participating in health information exchanges can have financial benefits for both payers and health care providers, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, FierceEMR reports.
For the study, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers analyzed 4,639 emergency department encounters at three large Milwaukee facilities over a one-year period to determine the benefits of patients’ health data access through an HIE.
Study Findings
Researchers found that access to patient data through an HIE resulted in “net gains” for both payers and health care providers.
Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and preventing repeat ED visits were responsible for more than 70% of the total cost savings, according to the study.
Payers experienced financial benefits through decreased reimbursements because of reductions in tests, hospitalizations and ED visits.
Although health care providers saw a decrease in compensation for treating fewer commercial fee-for-service patients, it was offset by reduced spending on a larger group of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, according to the study. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are significantly lower, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 6/27).
Source: iHealthBeat
Health IT industry leaders are divided on how important the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the federal health reform law will be to the progress of health IT initiatives, InformationWeek reports (Terry, InformationWeek, 6/28).
On Thursday, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling upheld the major elements of the reform law.
Health IT Implications of Ruling
The Supreme Court ruling clears the way for health care providers to continue working on health IT projects related to the implementation of the reform law.
Although the reform law does not directly address health IT adoption, some of the law’s Medicare programs give preference to health care providers who have installed electronic health record systems.
Other health IT-related provisions of the reform law include:
Ruling Does Not Affect Meaningful Use Program
The Supreme Court ruling does not affect the meaningful use program, which was created by the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, not the 2010 health reform law. Under the stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments (iHealthBeat, 6/28).
How a Different Ruling Would Have Affected Health IT
Although health IT industry observers agree that the Supreme Court’s decision validates the reform law’s health IT-related provisions, they are divided about whether a decision striking down the law would have affected health IT efforts.
Bruce Merlin Fried — a health care attorney with SNR Denton in Washington, D.C. — said that if the court had ruled that the reform law was unconstitutional, “it would have thrown the entire health care system into chaos, as everyone tried to understand the implications.”
He said that as a result, CFOs likely would have halted spending until the situation was clearer.
However, Steve Bernstein — head of the health care law practice of McDermott Will & Emery in Boston — said that had the Supreme Court struck down the entire law, “I don’t think it would have mattered.”
Bernstein said there would have been “a momentary pause by providers and health plans,” but the market has driven reform efforts for the past two years (InformationWeek, 6/28).
Health IT Industry Leaders Look Ahead
Dave Roberts — vice president of government relations at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society — said the high court’s decision means hospitals will begin to see a drop in uncompensated care, which will allow them to increase their investments in health IT beyond EHRs (Goedert, Health Data Management, 6/28).
William Bria — chair of the Association of Medical Directors for Information Systems and corporate director for medical informatics at Shriners Hospitals for Children — said that because the health reform law incentivizes wellness over episodes of care, patients will turn to technology to become more engaged in their health care.
Steven Davidson — senior vice president and chief medical informatics officer for Maimonides Medical Center in New York — noted that the reform law will place more focus on caring for specific populations, rather than just individuals. He said that the challenge will be that “the vast majority of physicians in practice today … have never trained to do population health care” and that “the vendors are really just beginning to deliver population health tools” (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 6/28).
Roberts noted that patient identification also is a challenge. He said, “If a nationwide solution isn’t proposed, it will be difficult to implement nationwide exchange of data” (Health Data Management, 6/28).
Source: iHealthBeat
Many physicians are using YouTube to network, educate patients and learn from other physicians, American Medical News reports.
Ways Physicians Use YouTube
Physician-to-patient videos, in which a physician discusses specific health issues, are the most common type of videos posted by physicians.
In addition, some physicians use YouTube to build their personal brand by putting their expertise on video. The videos help them gain attention from colleagues, who can comment on the videos or share them with other networks.
Ralph Henderson — president of health care staffing at AMN Healthcare, a health care workforce management firm — said some physician researchers use YouTube to post presentations that accompany studies. The videos then can be accessed by colleagues who are unable to attend medical meetings and conferences.
Michael Banks — president of The Doctors Channel, a video-sharing website for physicians — said, “Physicians, we have found, like to learn and get educated in an ecosystem that they can trust.”
ONC’s YouTube Channel
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has created a YouTube channel for doctors and other health IT stakeholders to share success stories related to the use of health IT.
The channel also includes videos that offer guidance to health care providers who might be considering implementing health IT systems (Dolan, American Medical News, 6/18).
Source: iHealthBeat
Primary care practices can reduce pressure on local emergency departments by offering integrated after-hours health care services that allow for the sharing of electronic health records, according to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, Modern Physician reports.
Researchers based the study on interviews with 44 primary care physicians, practice managers, nurses and health plan representatives from 28 organizations (Daly, Modern Physician, 6/5).
Key Findings
Researchers found that the following features contributed to successful after-hours health care models:
According to the study, one interviewee said that the “most critical piece of setting up after-hours care is information exchange in real time” (Hitt, Medscape, 6/6).
Implications
Although smaller practices have fewer resources with which to provide after-hours care, researchers said they could play a key role in curbing unnecessary ED use because more than 70% of office visits are to practices with five or fewer primary care physicians.
Researchers also noted that planning grants from payers or foundations could help small practices develop after-hours health care programs (Modern Physician, 6/5).
Source: iHealthBeat
MGMA Supports ICD-10 Testing With Outside Organizations
July 30, 2013
Report: Many EHR Users Set To Replace Systems Within the Next Year
July 30, 2013
Providers, Vendors Urge Congress To Delay Meaningful Use Stage 2
July 30, 2013
Many Doctors May Find Meeting ‘Meaningful Use’ Requirements a Challenge
June 28, 2013
When it Comes to ICD-10 Physician Documentation: Collaborate and Educate
June 28, 2013
The Slow Crawl Toward Improved EHR Usability and Interoperability
June 28, 2013
Efficient Patient Communication and Engagement
June 13, 2013
ONC Issues Guidance on Stage 2 Transition of Care Requirements
May 31, 2013
Drugmakers Leverage Doctor, Patient Data To Market Their Products
May 31, 2013
Consumer Organizations Defend Meaningful Use Program
May 31, 2013
