Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare, especially on its clinical side, where 62% of providers have already adopted an AI strategy. The American Hospital Association recently reported that when successfully implemented, clinical AI can improve patient outcomes and lower costs at each stage of the care cycle, from prevention and detection to diagnosis and treatment. Expect to see continued growth in AI adoption in 2020.
Here are a few of the most exciting AI trends to watch for:
Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) will become a core focus for healthcare AI solutions: AI has significant potential for helping reduce socioeconomic barriers to care. Across 2019, we have seen investment by CMS in the Accountable Health Communities Model, which is the first model to include social determinants of health. This model codifies what we already know — that socioeconomic factors influence an individual’s health and risk. Emerging AI technologies are actively creating value for patients by helping to make sense of large socioeconomic and environmental datasets, driving meaningful investments and action that will help to prevent avoidable utilization and guide effective distribution of community resources.
We will start to move into the “Slope of Enlightenment” within the Hype Cycle: Healthcare AI will move out of the “Trough of Disillusionment” as more evidence of AI’s ability to improve health outcomes emerge. AI-related topics will continue to gain prominence in research and the media. And the results of funded projects and pilots will become available to the broader industry.
The AI discussion will broaden beyond imaging and natural language processing: With the exponential increase in patient data, it’s only logical that it’s time for AI – the best way to synthesize that data – to have its moment. While imaging and natural language processing have dominated the healthcare AI conversation over the past few years, 2020 will mark an expanded understanding of AI solutions to include those focused on clinical decision support. These solutions integrate into existing clinical workflows to help direct resources to modifiable patients at risk of a target adverse event. Expect to see more investment and discussion around these solutions across 2020.
Vyne, a market leader in health information exchange and electronic healthcare communication management, announced today that it has acquired Renaissance Electronic Services, LLC, an Indianapolis-based technology company providing EDI products and services to dental practices across the United States.
This strategic investment bolsters Vyne’s current dental portfolio, which includes the market-leading FastAttach electronic claim attachment platform from NEA Powered by Vyne.
The acquisition brings together two leading dental technology solution providers to create a single source for the electronic management of dental claims and claim attachments. Benefits to dental practices include integrated workflows, lower operating costs, enhanced revenue cycle operations and improved practice communications.
“Vyne’s investment in Renaissance enables us to expand offerings for our dental clients, partners and payers,” said Vyne president and CEO Lindy Benton. “This growth opportunity represents a natural extension of our business following our 2019 acquisition by The Jordan Company.”
According to Benton, “Vyne and Renaissance share a common goal of empowering providers with technology solutions to better run their businesses. Uniting our companies means we’re able to strategically offer dental practices the unique opportunity to partner with a single organization that possesses more than 50 years of combined experience developing cutting-edge dental technology solutions.”
By Sara Laporte, vice president of orthopedics and surgical services, Landmark Hospitals.
Sara Laporte
Now more than ever, it is critical for information across the care continuum to be accurate. Data plays a crucial role in patient care, from electronic health/medical records (EHR/EMR) to predictive analytics. Digitization has been widely adopted and successful in improving workflow efficiency, enhancing the accuracy of communications, mitigating risk and improving safety for the benefit of patients.
There has been one communication tool that’s remained a final, manual holdout from a bygone era: patient room information displays. Communicating key information such as a patient’s diagnosis, allergies and DNR info, these signs are often printed on paper or handwritten on whiteboards.
What is the solution? Hospitals need to bring digital signage into the 21st century.
Why digitize information room displays?
• Handwritten = prone to human error. According to The Joint Commission, communication errors with patients or administrators are cited as one of the top three core factors underlying hospital sentinel events. In addition, anyone in a rush is more likely to input the wrong information, or scribble something that can easily be mistaken by another caregiver.
• Double the work. The information nurses are inputting onto these signs is exactly what’s already in their database. Having to access the data and re-input it manually amounts to grunt work that distracts nurses from what they do best, which is caring for patients. Over any given twenty-four hour period, manually re-inputting information can amount to forty-five minutes to an hour of precious time — potentially more if the patient’s condition is complex.
• Instant Translation. Another advantage of digital signage is that it’s multilingual at the touch of a button. The latest census indicates that twenty percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home. With digital signage, patient information can cross the language barrier at the push of a button.
At Landmark Hospitals, we looked to digital paper, a new Hospital of the Future solution allowing hospitals 21st century digital signage. Known by most people as the screen in their eReader, digital paper mimics the look of printed paper and provides the advantages of digital media. Made by E Ink, digital paper has particles within microcapsules coated onto a thin film layer, which act as a form of ink that can be digitally updated.
Why hospital of the future digital paper?
• Versatility. E Ink screens are now available in a range of formats, from medical admission forms, to patient door signs, to bedhead and bedside patient care signs, to large-format patient communication boards.
• Connected. E Ink-enabled signage is linked to hospital databases, allowing for automatic information updates without the need for manual updates by time-pressed nursing staff. Each individual sign integrates with the system as a whole, so information on the patient care signs, door signs, and patient communication boards is always up-to-date and consistent.
• Sustainable. Digital paper screens require 99% less power to operate than LCD screens. Most hospital signs made with digital paper require only small batteries to operate, making them easy to deploy. The low battery usage allows for continuous use in patient environments, all day and night, with the comforting look and feel of paper and no light pollution.
• Non-light-emitting. Some companies have introduced digitized whiteboards, with EHR/EMR data automatically updated onto a TV screen in patient rooms. The light pollution from these screens, however, is a significant concern. The bright lights of LCD screens can disrupt a person’s circadian rhythm, essentially resetting their personal clock to disrupt sleep patterns.
By Salman Rashid, creative marketer, RightPatient.
Budgets and costs regarding IT are expanding more than ever- healthcare providers are increasingly focusing on requirements that demand up to date facilities as well as stability.
This is the conclusion of a survey by the firm Navigant Consulting and also explains a few more insightful details. Health systems are confidently financing in spaces such as improved EHR systems, process automation, better revenue integrity, as well as attaining improvements in revenue cycle via third parties.
This survey was conducted via HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association) and its sample included more than 100 CFOs and revenue cycle members from health systems, as well as hospitals.
One of the main takeaways from the survey is that almost two-thirds of the sample stated that they face problems primarily related to EHR systems- either they underutilize their EHR systems, or else they are facing challenges with EHRs like getting better results or else cannot cope with the continuous upgrades. However, even with all these, patient misidentification persists within the healthcare system of the US and is still a top concern for most providers.
Payment concerns like out of pocket payments are also another challenge, according to the respondents- 85% of respondents feel that lack of insurance will be detrimental for the healthcare providers since they rely heavily on insurance payments. However, even in these cases, they face denied claims when patients are misidentified.
To face all these issues altogether, almost 70% of the sample agreed that increasing the budget is necessary to overcome them. However, fifty percent of the respondents stated that they are collaborating with third parties to maintain revenue cycle costs, better patient identification, as well as challenges like denied claims.
By Simon Mikail, co-founder and head of operations, 405 Ads.
Providing quality care and achieving better clinical outcomes for patients are two goals that drive most physicians and healthcare providers. Effective communication between patients and healthcare professionals including physicians, nurses, lab technicians, etc. is critically important for achieving these two goals.
Here in this post, we will share with you the top seven tips to improve communication at your healthcare practice:
Keep It Simple
Using simple, non-medical language can help establish a doctor-patient relationship that leads to better patient outcomes.
Patients are more likely to trust healthcare professionals who use simple language and common vocabulary that everyone can easily understand.
Anyone who interacts with patients at your healthcare practice should be advised to avoid using cryptic jargon including medical abbreviations, terminologies, and scientific terms.
The medical jargon does not help build trust and confidence; on the contrary, it leads to confusion.
Feedback Loop
When communicating with patients, doctors and other healthcare professionals may take a smile or nod to mean they ‘got the message.’
To make sure patients aren’t disappointed with treatment results in the future or silently doubt recommended treatment regimens, create a feedback loop in order to assess how well a patient understands the information concerning symptoms of a medical condition, doctor’s advice, diagnosis, and treatment options.
A feedback loop helps ensure that patients process the conversation more effectively; it can help bridge the communication gap and improve comprehension.
How you can create a feedback loop to improve communication at your healthcare practice:
Feedback Loop With Open-ended Questions: These are the questions asked during a medical interview that cannot be answered with a static response, or with a ‘yes,’ or ‘no.’ Open-ended questions can help you toobtain important information and quickly evaluate the degree of a patients’ understanding of the information conveyed during a conversation.
Feedback Loop with Teach-Back Method: After providing patients with an explanation about the symptoms, condition, precautions, or treatments, you can ask them to ‘teach you back’ what you just said. The teach-back method is helpful especially when you are dealing with patients who are aged and others, who demonstrate a lack of ability to process information conveyed by a doctor or support staff.
Feedback Loop With the Ask Me 3 Method: Created by health literacy specialists, the ‘Ask Me 3’ method encourages patients and their family members to ask three specific questions from healthcare service providers to better understand their condition and how they can stay healthy. These questions are – 1. ‘What is my main problem?’ 2. ‘What do I need to do?’ 3. ‘Why is it important for me to do this?’
Train Your Staff
In most healthcare organizations, big or small, fresh recruits participate in a mandatory training program.
It is crucial that you work to improve your health and overall well-being on a regular basis. However, as a busy man, you may not necessarily have the ability to track everything and keep up with your fitness goals. There are a variety of tech options readily available to help make reaching these goals so much easier for you. Most of these programs can be used on a smartphone or tablet, making it effortless to stay connected at all times.
Weight Loss Apps
Losing weight is important, especially if you’re currently overweight or obese. Excess weight can contribute to many health-related problems for the average man, so it’s vital that you work on losing the extra pounds before they become an issue. Weight loss apps make losing weight easy, fun and even competitive. You simply download one of these apps, input all of your measurements and then track day-by-day to see how much weight you’re losing. You can even compare your results with others and check up on friends and family using the same app.
Meditation Programs
Stress plays a major role in most men’s lives. You’re stressed over your job; you’re constantly running after your kids and you’re not sleeping well at night. Meditation programs that can be used on mobile devices make it easier than ever before to de-stress when and where you want. You can make use of a five-minute meditation or an hour-long one, depending on how much time you have at the moment.
Nursing is known for being one of the most rewarding professions, providing you with tons of fantastic benefits, such as flexibility, and job security. If you’re the kind of person that likes to make a positive difference and to help those in need, pursuing a career in nursing may be the perfect fit for you. Nurses can work in a variety of environments, including hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s offices, and schools.
Like with any career, there may come a time where you wish to climb the ladder and take on more responsibilities and duties. Whether you’re after an increase in salary, or want to enter leadership and management roles, it’s important that you have a plan in place to ensure you reach your objectives and goals. To help get you started, here are ten tips on how to take your nursing career to the next level.
Begin Mapping Things Out
Before you can take your nursing career to the next level, it’s important that you map everything out first to help keep you on the right track. There are several questions that you should ask yourself, such as what are the things that you would like to get out of your career? Or, what things would you like to accomplish that you’re currently not able to do in the position you’re in?
Once you have worked out what you want, you will be able to determine which direction is best for you to follow in order to achieve your objectives and goals. For example, if you would like a career that’s fast-paced or challenging, emergency medicine may be the logical step to take.
Network
Like in most fields of work, it’s a case of not what you know, but who you know. If you have the motivation and drive to take your nursing career to the next level, it’s important that you know how to network. Some of the benefits of networking include:
Advancing your career
Building confidence
Gaining a different perspective
Accessing more job opportunities
Building strong connections
There are various things that you can do when it comes to networking with others in the nursing industry, such as joining associations, and attending conferences. Having the opportunity to network with other healthcare professionals can open more doors and provide you with key advice and support, which can help get your foot in the door when seeking employment.
Pursue Continuing Education
When working a nurse, there are several continuing education requirements that you need to meet in order to maintain your credentials and stay compliant in your field. While there are minimum requirements that need to be met, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and going the extra mile can help those in the nursing sector take you more seriously. If you’re serious about advancing your career, getting the right knowledge and skillset under your belt can help when seeking employment, especially in leadership positions.
Volunteer Your Time
While it can be challenging to find time to volunteer as a nursing professional, you may not be aware of all the benefits that it can bring to your career. Volunteering in general can help:
Build self-esteem
Improve confidence
Give you a sense of purpose
Increase social integration
Improve overall quality of life
If you’re wondering where to start, there are external opportunities that may be present within your sector. For example, your boss may be seeking a nurse who would like to take on more responsibility; therefore, stepping up to the plate and offering your services could not only help you earn respect and appreciation from management, but provide you with additional experience and skills that you can put on your resume to help you become more marketable to employers.
The rise of disruptive digital technologies has changed countless aspects of our lives. Whether we are getting a ride to the airport through a ride-sharing app or are sending Bitcoin to a family member overseas, these technologies have made our lives easier, better, and more efficient.
The same can be true in the healthcare industry. There are countless numbers of technologies that are changing the way that medicine is delivered. One of the most disruptive, however, is virtual medicine. In our app-first world, virtual medicine has become a great way for patients to get quality care from the comfort of their own homes. For healthcare providers, it has become easier to check-in with patients and diagnose patient conditions. And for society as a whole, virtual medicine can play a role in reducing total healthcare costs.
We are still in the early days of virtual medicine. Because of this, it is worth taking the time to analyze where virtual medicine is headed. By doing so, we can better anticipate the future and put in the hard work now to capitalize on that future.
Where We Are
Before talking about the future, however, it is necessary to understand where we are now. According to a First Stop Health survey of midsize to large employers, about 91 percent of those employers expect to offer virtual medicine by the end of this year. But having said this, a Willis Towers Watson survey from 2018 states that less than two percent of employers have actually used the service.
While the precise reason for this gap is up for debate, we can look at some more data. According to recent data from JD Power, a whopping 75 percent of Americans weren’t even aware that virtual medicine was an option. Moreover, knowledge about virtual medicine is lowest in rural areas. But even beyond the lack of knowledge about virtual medicine, other respondents also expressed concern about the quality of care that they would receive through virtual medicine. The thinking was that they would receive better overall care if they visited a physician or nurse in a physical doctor’s office.
Vyne
