InterSystems announced the launch of InterSystems HealthShare Managed Connections, a service that enables healthcare organizations to take advantage of a network of connections to a vast number of patient records via a central hub and exchange data easily. Through the HealthShare Managed Connections hub, participants can exchange information in a safe, controlled, reliable, and efficient manner.
Most healthcare organizations today rely on one-to-one connections to their partners and to national networks. InterSystems is taking the approach of “build once, use many” to create connections which keep pace with changing requirements and standards.
The HealthShare Managed Connections hub transforms healthcare interoperability with faster onboarding as well as easier maintenance, time, and cost to connect healthcare data. The HealthShare Managed Connections vendor-agnostic connectivity means it doesn’t compete with national networks; it complements them.
Woodlock
“HealthShare Managed Connections allows users to connect to each other as well as to vast national networks, ultimately providing interoperability in a reusable and economical fashion that benefits everyone,” said Don Woodlock, vice president of HealthShare. “This central hub makes it easier to create a single, unified patient record and drive better healthcare outcomes.”
As a CommonWell Connector product, HealthShare Managed Connections empowers users with the ability to access the CommonWell Health Alliance network—representing more than 15,000 provider sites and 76 million individuals.
Through CommonWell, users have the added benefit of being able to leverage the Carequality Interoperability Framework, further increasing access to patient health information. To date, the CommonWell network has more than 219 million health records accessible for exchange, and on average, exchanges more than 70 million health-related records per month.
Nanocubes are structures unfamiliar to many outside of the nanobiotechnology discipline. By name, these structures almost sound like a popular children’s toy. Illustrations of nanocubes even appear somewhat illusory, with their vivid primary colors and playful shapes. However, it was during the process of building one of these tiny cubes that revealed brand new information about how molecules bind together in natural environments.
Studying Forces
Initially, researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Basic Science set out to build several tiny, self-assembling structures using the power of the interactions between the molecules that compose them. These researchers were particularly interested in how the hydrophobic effect and its associated forces caused two molecules to behave in relation to one another. Generally, two molecules that are surrounded by water tend to move toward one another, due to the chemical force of each to repel water.
By Vladimir Kuzmenko, SVP of sales and business development, NIX United.
Vladimir Kuzemko
As healthcare becomes increasingly complex, the role of technology is evolving to offer new and innovative solutions that allow healthcare practices the opportunity to better serve their patients. However, as technology evolves and changes, healthcare as a whole must also grow and adapt to thrive in a complex and ever-changing ecosystem.
As we embark on a new decade (in which we’re now well into the first year), I’d like to examine a few of the more pressing trends that forward-thinking practices embracing currently and for the foreseeable future.
Some of these adoptions may include new systems and technologies being implemented, as well as technologies that are best-placed to keep up in these rapidly-changing areas of any profitable practice.
More importantly, however, is how these technologies might impact healthcare and how forward-thinking organizations take advantage of these opportunities. With this is mind, here are six trends that may influence healthcare in 2020 and beyond.
Blockchain
You may hear the term blockchain and think, “what does cryptocurrency have to do with helping patients?” However, blockchain has evolved and has many more applications than just new forms of currency. For instance, many urgent healthcare issues may be solved by utilizing blockchain, including:
Secure health information transfer
Health data management
Reducing the number of counterfeit medicines on the market
In addition, blockchain technology can be used in innovative ways to allow organizations to access information on a secure channel that maintains privacy.
Electronic health records
For all the integration issues U.S. healthcare organizations experienced in integrating electronic health records into their practices in the last decade, there has been no more profound change in the practice of healthcare in the U.S.
These electronic records create opportunities to track and improve patient care and to find new, more efficient treatment methods by incorporating artificial intelligence technologies. Protecting a practice’s and the patient’s data privacy is also an issue that must be addressed beforehand, not after a breach has occurred.
Hayes, makers of integrated compliance and revenue integrity platform for the nation’s premier healthcare organizations, announced that it has entered a strategic partnership with ThoughtSpot, the leader in search and AI-driven analytics, to develop solutions that empower healthcare organizations to proactively manage and mitigate revenue and compliance risks.
Hayes’ flagship revenue integrity software platform, MDaudit Enterprise, is a powerful, cloud-based risk monitoring solution used by the nation’s foremost academic medical centers, hospitals and physician groups.
MDaudit is an enterprise-class platform that enables organizations to efficiently monitor medical claims for billing and coding accuracy, ensuring compliance with government and commercial payer requirements and maximizing the attainable level of revenue.
The platform accelerates productivity for revenue cycle and compliance professionals by providing workflow automation, risk monitoring, built-in analytics and benchmarking capabilities – all in a single, integrated platform. In the market since 2003, MDaudit is currently used to audit one in eight providers in the U.S.
The partnership will focus on integrating healthcare billing, compliance and revenue integrity domain expertise from Hayes and ThoughtSpot’s search and AI-powered platform into a single, comprehensive enterprise solution.
As a data protection standards and development certification organization, HITRUST helps organizations safeguard sensitive data and manage IT risk across all industries and throughout the third-party supply chain. Since it was founded in 2007, the HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) has become the gold standard for compliance framework in the healthcare industry as it addresses the requirements of existing standards and regulations including HIPAA, PCI, COBIT, NIST, ISO, FTC, and state laws.
To become HITRUST certified, an organization must first complete a HITRUST CSF Readiness assessment to determine if the current alignment of its security and privacy controls relates to the requirements defined in the HITRUST CSF. The organization can then select a certified HITRUST CSF Assessor Firm that will perform several risk assessments, audits, and quality assurance procedures over the course of two to four months.
The HITRUST CSF has 19 different domains including healthcare data protection and privacy, endpoint protection, mobile device security, incident management, and disaster recovery. An organization will be scored on these assessments and must meet a minimum compliance level to become HITRUST certified.
Research has shown 97 percent of organizations that pursue a HITRUST Certified Security Framework certification rapidly improve their information security posture to meet certification and, most importantly, maintain their security posture. Furthermore, with a mature information protection program in place, organizations are less likely to suffer a breach and are more likely to be able to contain and minimize the impact of a breach, should one occur.
Organizations that implement a robust information security continuous monitoring (ISCM) program such as HITRUST to continually assess the state of their information security controls not only achieve higher levels of maturity, but also make better and more timely decisions.
By Frannie Raede, MPH, PhD, program manager, commercial development, Pillo Health.
In the U.S., 25% to 50% of all adults fail to take their prescribed medications on time, contributing to poor health outcomes, over-utilization of healthcare services, and significant cost increases. Failing to follow prescribed treatment regimens can have tragic consequences for patients and their families, and lead to complaints filed against pharmacists and physicians. One study estimates that medication non-adherence causes approximately 125,000 deaths and 10% of hospitalizations annually, and costs the U.S. healthcare system up to $289 billion each year.
Forgetfulness is the primary cause of non-adherence, but there are many other reasons why a patient doesn’t follow a treatment protocol, such as carelessness, fear, supply, cost, lack of information, or not understanding instructions.
Medication non-adherence is too costly to ignore, both in terms of the price to our healthcare system and the overall health and wellbeing of our nation. As the U.S. population ages, the problem will become more acute, with a greater number of older adults battling chronic diseases and conditions.
So, what can be done to reverse the trend?
Insufficient Information
Current adherence measurements do not paint a clear picture of medication habits, which can impact progress (or lack thereof) relayed between a patient and their provider.
The most frequently used measure of adherence is the Medication Possession Ratio (MPR), where an 80% MPR is considered passing. This is defined as the number of days in supply period, over the difference between the first and last fill dates. MPR ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 representing full adherence. The possession ratio is equal to the total day’s supply fill in a period, divided by the number of days in a period. This ratio is then multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage of possession.
In theory, an 80% MPR means a patient is taking most of the medication they are prescribed during a certain time frame, but this measurement is not precise. The calculations are usually based on insurance claims data, and therefore do not account for the use of free samples or regimen changes. They also do not provide information beyond possession—for instance, if the medication was taken, if the correct dose was used, or if it was taken at the right time.
These measurements often assume that patients are taking their medications correctly just because they picked them up from the pharmacy. To provide optimal care, healthcare providers need to better understand their patients’ medication behaviors so they can track progress and intervene when necessary, especially in cases where it’s essential a medication is taken correctly to protect a patient’s health.
With the fourth technological revolution in full swing, more and more digital innovations are changing the world we live in. From having virtual assistants on our devices to directly transforming computer designs to objects through 3D printing, it’s safe to say that these emerging technologies have made many aspects of our lives more efficient.
This is why it’s imperative for healthcare professionals today to utilize technology to improve their practice and enhance patient experiences. Not only will it help treat patients more effectively, but it will also help streamline the numerous services in the healthcare system. With this in mind, here are technological advancements that could positively shape the state of healthcare and the patient experience:
Wearable technology
Wearable technology first came to prominence in the healthcare industry with the development of fitness trackers. These are smart devices that are incorporated into clothing or worn as an accessory, which help patients proactively monitor their health by informing them of their heart rate, blood pressure, and physical activity statistics. Now, the data collected by wearables is becoming much more advanced, as a new design can even help detect breast cancer.
For many patients, visiting the hospital or their doctor’s clinic can be a double-edged sword. Although seeing their physicians helps keep their health in-check, some people find their visits to be a hassle, as commuting or simply moving around can be a tiring and costly activity for them. Thankfully, through virtual healthcare innovations, patients don’t have to experience such inconveniences.
Anesthesia billing can be tremendously complicated. Small errors can result in delays and a failure to collect. To improve revenue cycles, we’ve compiled some key ideas that will make an impact on your billing and collections.
#1: How is the charge established?
There are a number of factors that can affect anesthesia billings, but the process can be broken down to a relatively simple formula. Charges are established by adding base units, time units, and modifiers, and then multiplying by your fee per unit. In other words:
(Base Unit + Time Units + Modifiers) x Fee Per Unit = Charge Amount
#2: Accurate Start and Stop Times
The industry follows Medicare’s definition for anesthesia billing start and stop times. Anesthesia billing start and stop times are based on the continual presence of an anesthesia provider. It is critically important to record accurate start and stop times. Do not round your time, and never guess when the start or stop time was.
#3: Understanding Billing Modifiers
Billing modifiers can have a big impact on your charge amounts. There are a number of modifiers that come into play including physical status, medical direction, anesthetic type, and add-on codes. These modifiers can affect your charge amounts in a variety of ways so it’s important to understand each modifier and the role they play in billing.
#4: Documentation is critical
Accurate documentation is the difference between success and failure in generating cashflow. You can have the best systems available, but if the information that you feed into the system is inaccurate or incomplete, your billings and collections will suffer. Pay close attention to your start and stop times and record them accurately. Keep up with the billing modifiers that we discussed in #3. If you log these accurately, your revenue cycle management is set up for success.
By Frannie Raede, MPH, PhD, program manager, commercial development, 