Healthcare IT Trends to Watch: Internet use for diagnosis, the future role of the doc, hospitals going green
Each day at Schwartz MSL, the Healthcare IT Practice shares news items on topics of interest to our clients. Following is a glimpse at some of the stories from the past week:
Using the Internet for Diagnoses
A survey by Wolters Kluwer concluded that both consumers and healthcare professionals are turning to the Internet for information about diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. The survey also showed a high level of trust among consumers who seek medical information online. You can read more about this in Nicole Lewis’ article in InformationWeek Healthcare.
The Role of the Physician in the Future
The Economist had a big spread last week about “squeezing out the doctor,” which stated that by 2030, 22% of people in the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) club of rich countries will be 65 or older, nearly double the share in 1990. But as chronic disease continues to rise, the demand for health care looks unlikely to be met by doctors in the way the past century’s was. Doctors look set to become much less central to health care—a process which, in some places, has already started.
Keys to Building a Successful ACO
Healthcare Finance News reported that to date, 32 organizations across the country are participating in the Pioneer ACO initiative, hoping to inspire others in their regions to follow suit. As the benefits of adopting this model become clear, more organizations are looking to explore the possibility of becoming an ACO. Michelle McNickle listed seven key elements to building a successful ACO including aligning the payment model with value, and developing the data model, IT infrastructure and tools to support reporting and analytics.
Benefits for Hospitals to Go Green
There are many reasons for a hospital to go green that executives understand well. There are the cost savings, the merits of taking on a social responsibility to foster community engagement and the awards and recognition attendant to taking on environmentally friendly practices. But green initiatives can also support marketing initiatives in three surprising ways.
EHR Incentive Payments Top $5B in Under 1 Year
More than $5 billion has been paid to eligible professionals and hospitals under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record incentive payment programs since the Medicare program began in May 2011 and the Medicaid program began in January 2011, according to a CMS report. In April, 86 more hospitals signed up for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, bringing the total number of registered hospitals to 3,569.
Mostashari: HIPAA Rules Out by Summer's End
The final omnibus HIPAA rule governing the privacy, security, breach notification and enforcement rules, and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, should be out by the end of summer, says Farzad Mostashari, national coordinator for health information technology. Mostashari also emphasized that awareness of the importance of technical and cultural considerations to assure privacy protections are at the center of everything ONC does.
Posted by Davida Dinerman on June 9, 2012 at 6:56 PM
