Any healthcare facility that wants to keep its customers happy must have patient portals. It is easy to create these portals, but keeping the data safe from hackers can be tough. In the US, at least half of the healthcare consumers are using patient portals. About 80 percent of these patients have expressed their satisfaction with the level of ownership they have with their health data and the convenience of its accessibility.
Because of the security issues involved, the Affordable Care Act and meaningful use regulations have worked towards incentivizing the healthcare industry to make health records digital and more accessible to the patients. The portal allows patients to manage their personal details including medication lists and lab test results as well as financial information. This is enough data to set a patient up to hackers. Because the use of patient portal will keep rising, the risk will only get bigger, which means a better approach towards protecting this information needs to be realized.
How to Stay Compliant
The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) highlighted the protection of the rights of patients. It compels health providers to keep customer data confidential. HIPAA also introduces a measure of safety and imposes precise compliance standards. Breaches carry hefty penalties. Here are a few tactics to help you keep customer data safe:
1. Foster Security Mindset in Your Organization
Protected health information (PHI) according to HIPAA means more than just electronic records. Whether you are speaking on the phone or working on a physical file, the principles apply. Regulatory compliance in healthcare organizations means that every health facility must store customer data securely. The most ideal tool is remote access software. This software does not restrict a user to approved databases and desktop logins.
2. Focus on the People and Not Just the Data
EHRs- electronic health records can only be kept private when only the people permitted to see them are allowed to access. That means giving access to involved parties such as the lab, doctor, and the insurance provider. Breaches and lapses occur when too many people are involved. This is why categorizing them by persona is essential. If, for instance, the patient is at a critical condition, different labs may be involved. It is, therefore, crucial to customize the profile for each user.
3. Give Patients Full Access to Their Records
Patients want to be sure their personal data is stored safely and securely. This is why healthcare providers need to allow patients to view their medical records. Some patients download and send the details to a third party, which is inherently insecure. Instead of giving the data to patients in different copies, it is crucial that the EHR be stored in one database. Because the idea is to have the data accessed remotely, a single EHR version can be shared by different devices.
At the AHIMA19: Health Data and Information Conference, leaders in health information management (HIM) shared innovations in healthcare and addressed issues affecting patient access to their health records including the privacy, accuracy and interoperability of that information.
The annual meeting for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), AHIMA19, also highlighted inspiring stories of perseverance, empowerment and shared details of AHIMA’s global leadership.
Patient advocate Doug Lindsay shared his gripping story of transitioning from a wheelchair to walking again; Alexandra Mugge, deputy chief health informatics officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), outlined the benefits of interoperability and patient access; healthcare innovators pitched their ideas to a panel of experts for a $5,000 prize; and exhibitors and industry speakers shared their spectrum of knowledge with attendees gathered from across the globe.
Nearly three thousand HIM professionals gathered for the annual conference in September, held at Chicago’s historic McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America.
Information and Inspiration
Speakers addressed clinical documentation, data ownership, patient access to their medical records, interoperability and cybersecurity. These presentations provided important insights and updates on technology to help HIM professionals continue leading the industry in improving healthcare and changing lives.
Mugge told the crowd that interoperability and greater access to medical data is integral to improving healthcare outcomes for payers, patients, and providers.
“We believe electronic data exchange is the future of healthcare, and interoperability is the foundation of value-based care,” Mugge said. “Patients should know that the way they interact with the healthcare industry is changing. Patients are no longer passive participants in their care, they now have the ability to be empowered consumers of the healthcare industry through access to data that puts them in the driver’s seat to make the best and most informed decision about their health.”
Mugge assured attendees that privacy and security safeguards would remain in place as HIM professionals help shape the landscape of interoperability.
Lindsay found his own way to improve his health, seemingly against all odds. He was bedridden and home-bound for 11 years because of a debilitating illness that forced him to drop out of college at 21 years old.
Although Lindsay’s body was limited, his mind was strong and he was determined to walk again, and to live again.
That determination led Lindsay to create a surgery for what he learned was bilateral adrenal medullary hyperplasia. He then assembled a team of experts to perform the surgery, which eventually led to his recovery.
By Vik Panda, managing director North America, Dreem.
Vik Panda
Rumors had it that Apple wanted to help you track your sleep. Industry watchers said it’s in part about playing catchup with Fitbit and others. Although, Apple has never worried about being second or third, just whether they can be the best.
But when Apple’s big announcement came earlier this month, there was no mention of a sleep tracker.
There is indeed a pressing need for sleep health, but could Apple really have met that need with another tracker? They’ve already acquired Beddit, which is a sensor that fits under your sheet, and Tueo Health, which monitors respiration in sleeping children.
Where would Apple go with a brain wave tracker, or EEG? What about high quality digital coaching? What about data that can propel science? Can they bring an integrated solution forward?
A trillion dollars is a big number, but it’s not a real number if no one tangibly feels it, or understands the pain from poor health they feel is because they are not getting the kind of sleep they need or enough of it.
Drug advertisements will focus on the impact that bad health has on spending time with family, but let’s face it, our jobs and our ability to make a living is where health problems can plunge us into panic. Employers also feel the impact of sleep health, and they’re realizing just how important it is.
Sleeping on the job
Before joining a media interview recently, I met Bella Hughes of Shaka Tea in the green room. Bella shared that the trend for companies interested in her caffeine-free tea say their teams are dropping the stereotype of a stimulant-driven workplace. Even in Silicon Valley and its legendary all-nighter coding marathons and pantries stocked with “energy” boosters, the reality is sinking in that focus and results are driven by healthy sleep and conquering sleep disorders.
The dental industry experiences new and exciting tech developments every year, and 2019 is seemingly no exception. The innovations are not only modernizing practices, but they are leading to improved oral care and smaller appointment times, which can each support the patient experience.
If you are a dental practitioner or want to learn more about the industry, here are five exciting dental tech trends in 2019 to watch out for.
Laser Dentistry
One trend to watch is laser dentistry, which is helping dentists to provide more advanced care. For example, many oral health professionals are using it to:
It is expected to become a popular choice for dentists, as it could potentially shorten healing time, eliminate the need for anesthesia and can sterilize the gums to reduce the likelihood of an infection.
Digital Automation Technology
More dental practices are turning to digital automation technology software to streamline and organize internal processes.
For example, you could use the technology to:
Text appointment confirmations to patients
Schedule social media posts
Create in-house submission forms
Pre-record voicemails for follow-up appointments
Dental practice automation also helps ensure consistent office practices for patient record keeping, insurance billing practices and HIPAA record handling compliance. These compliance areas can be a source for dental board investigations.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence(AI) could one day transform the dental industry. For example, it has led to the invention of robo-dentists that are capable of performing minimally invasive dental procedures, such as teeth cleaning, filling cavities, extracting teeth and applying caps.
What is that one factor that separates one patient from another? Can one identify why two patients with the same illness but from different regions respond differently to a particular treatment? Do we need to cater to the needs of patients even after they leave the clinic?
These questions have always intrigued not only the physicians but every member who is involved in the care journey— care teams, communities, social workers, even patients themselves. And the answer lies in just one fact— even if these two patients appeared similar on paper, their lifestyles are very likely to differ: socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, family structure, and education.
All of this comes down to just one term: Social Determinants of Health.
This is one of the prime problems that has kept healthcare organizations in a situation of dilemma.
We are way past the statement that SDoH is just another hype
Have you ever tried to score a home run with one hand tied behind your back? This situation is similar to the condition of healthcare organizations in the value-based ecosystem. They are trying to get 100% of the task of healing a patient done with just 50% of the insights.
Social determinants matter because they can affect the health of the population residing in a particular region, for better or for worse. We have countless studies that show the importance of social determinants, yet we are not able to properly address them because we are not able to answer these questions:
How do we address the challenges that we don’t even know exist?
Who is responsible for addressing these challenges?
Is there any ideal strategy to address SDoH?
No matter how famous they are in healthcare, working with SDoH requires a drilled-down approach and something that we have in abundance- healthcare data. This data can be leveraged, and with the use of predictive analytics, organizations can accurately measure the at-risk population and advance preventive care methods in the ecosystem.
The best way, I think, is to look at this picture with a magnifying glass. Traditionally, the endpoint is the state-level analysis of SDoH. However, it is not the end but the beginning of the study that should go to the zip code level.
Here are some of the most interesting stories of how the leaders in the field of addressing the Social Determinants of Health addressed the populations’ needs and did the undoable.
What was the Humana way to deal with the non-clinical factors?
Humana has the Bold Goal Initiative, which is a population health strategy that is aimed at improving the health of the communities and making them 20% healthier by the year 2020. Their Healthy Days surveillance process is a robust and scalable metric. Based on this, they found that food insecurity and loneliness were among the top contributors to the total unhealthy days among the population they serve.
With their holistic and comprehensive approach, they built an analytic intervention pipeline to address these issues. One instance is their intervention with Papa Inc., where they connected college kids to seniors who needed companionship. As a result, 94% of members stated that the Papa Program helped them to feel more socially connected.
Humana was able to reduce the number of unhealthy days from 2015 to 2018 by simply addressing the non-clinical aspects of care delivery for their population.
Performance of Humana’s seven original Bold Goal communities (2015-2018) – Humana Medicare Advantage members
How MercyOne PHSO took the understanding of non-clinical factors from the zip code level to an individual patient level?
MercyOne PHSO, one of the largest ACOs in the Midwest, wanted to know the factors affecting their patients. They took the simple concept of asking the right questions and leveraged it to understand their patients.
While their patients entered the hospital or examination room, they asked them to complete a survey consisting of questions that depict the factors that affect their patients’ health, such as:
In the last 12 months, were you worried that your food would run out before you got money to buy more?
What is your living conditions today?
Do you face any difficulty in reaching out to your doctor?
Cloud technology application in healthcare is not new. Back in 2015, we created a post on cloud usage in healthcare, where we researched this topic and predicted that we will see the growth of this industry. And now in 2019, we see that we were right. Let us see what as changed in this area with time.
What are the benefits of using cloud technology in healthcare?
Although not yet fully implemented, cloud computing is popular with healthcare because it offers a lot of positive features that are essentials for improving the medical industry.
Improved data management and storage
It goes without saying that the healthcare industry deals with a lot of data that needs to be stored somewhere. And cloud data storage capacity is one of the biggest advantages of adopting cloud technology in this industry. Plus, keeping records on the cloud allows analyzing the data, which in its turn can help prevent major disease outbreaks.
Mobility and speed
For hardware servers, we run a speed test to verify if the connection is speedy enough, but it is a fact that cloud computing offers faster connection and access to required information, which oftentimes is key in healthcare. Additionally, storing data on the cloud allows healthcare professionals to be able to access it from anywhere at any given time. It also enhances more efficient collaboration between them, as information is synchronized in real-time. This way doctors can easily view samples, lab results, and share notes, which significantly improves patient care.
Lower cost
Compared to supercomputers, cloud computing costs far less. Also, upgrades of any of the various features of cloud tools are both faster and cheaper than those done for hardware solutions.
Challenges and risks of cloud application in healthcare
Even though cloud technology has many advantages for healthcare, nevertheless, there is a number of risks and challenges that slow down the transition process to the new system completely. The biggest ones of them are the following:
HIPAA compliance
Whatever cloud solution healthcare organizations decide to use, it must be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for secure data portability. It means that these principles should not only be understood and followed by medical facilities, but by cloud technology vendors as well. However, there are many cloud providers on the market now who offer HIPAA compliance.
By B.J. Boyle, vice president and general manager of post-acute insights, PointClickCare.
B.J. Boyle
In my last post, I discussed how our healthcare system is approaching a critical time in which the looming “silver tsunami” will drive baby boomers into hospitals and post acute care facilities in record numbers. Similarly, we will see dramatically increased patient transfers between care facilities, as an aging population moves between hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and senior living facilities in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, a seamless and accurate patient data transfer process is critical, given our current and predicted future nursing shortage, and the time-consuming and error-ridden nature of manual data transfers.
In order to determine if our system is optimized to deliver what is needed, PointClickCare recently conducted a Patient Transition Study in partnership with Definitive Healthcare, which found that alarmingly, many facilities haven’t yet fully embraced all of the possibilities of integrated electronic health record (EHR) platforms and are, instead, still relying on manual-based processes to handle patient transfers.
Respondents to the survey, which included c-suite executives from acute and post-acute care facilities, explained their current data sharing policies, interoperability issues, as well as other care delivery and coordination concerns in this important blinded voice-of-customer quantitative study. The data shows that while EHRs are nearly ubiquitous in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, many healthcare professionals still struggle with — or have reservations about — sharing critical patient information with their care partners.
Instead of relying on secure, simple, HIPAA-certified technology to streamline patient transitions, providers have been utilizing manual processes like phone calls and faxes — systems that require a human touch and are prone to inefficiencies, mismatched details, and omissions.
The Over-Reliance on Manual Processes = Inefficiency
As patients move from acute-care facilities to LTPACs, the sharing of critical patient information and associated data safely and securely is extremely important for coordinating care. But despite best efforts and intentions, many providers still aren’t sharing all patient data and information.
The most startling findings from the survey dive into the number of acute care and LTPAC facilities that still use manual-only strategies to coordinate patient care. In fact, thirty-six percent of acute care providers use manual-only strategies to coordinate patient transitions with the LTPAC community, compared with only 7 percent of LTPACs with acute care providers. Although a majority (84 percent) of LTPACs use a mix of digital and manual strategies to manage processes, only 56 percent of acute care providers do.
One respondent to the survey, a CEO of an LTPAC facility, explained that their local hospital “uses faxes to accommodate HIPAA and [to] be confidential.” He (or she) found this particularly frustrating as it creates more work and slows down care delivery: “Almost everything we touch is obtuse. You have to search it out, figure it out, and confirm it by phone,” adding that the absence of standardized forms and data-entry fields makes faxes especially inefficient.
Bill Gates once said, “The two areas that are changing … are information technology and medical technology. Those are the things that will be very different 20 years from now than it is today.” Already, advances in electronic health technologies have saved many lives, with the number of heart attack fatalities reduced by over 50%, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Upgrading basic equipment at home, offices, and schools can help cope with emergency situations, save lives, and improve the quality of life of patients.
Defibrillators for Cardiac Arrest
Roughly 610,000 people die of heart disease in the US, making it is the leading cause of death for men and women according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each year, around 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Responding to a heart attack swiftly is essential to saving a life. Using automated external defibrillators (AED) to deliver electric shock, reset the cardiac rhythm, and restore circulation can be a great help to victims. In combination with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), an AED improves the chances of survival of a person who is experiencing cardiac arrest.
Smart Insulin Pumps and Glucose Monitors
Another leading cause of death in the US is diabetes, with over 80,000 diabetes-related deaths occurring per year, according to the CDC. Although there is no cure, diabetes is a manageable disease and smart devices enable patients and healthcare providers to control it’s symptoms properly. Monitoring glucose levels is important when planning meals, activities, and medications. It also allows for timely and quick responses to high or low blood sugar levels. In this regard, continuous glucose monitors can keep an eye on a patient’s levels, day or night. Treatment devices include smart insulin pumps and glucagon formulations. Pumps can also collect valuable data to prevent insulin overdose, as well as connect to a mobile device using an app to monitor the status of the pump.
Bluetooth Enabled Smart Inhalers
There are more than 25 million adults with asthma, and 1 out of 12 school-aged children also have the condition, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Inhalers are the primary treatment options for those with asthma and if taken correctly, will be effective for 90% of patients. However, research indicates that only 50% of patients have their condition under control. Using Bluetooth-enabled inhalers can improve asthma management. A tiny device fitted to the inhaler will record the date and time of each dose and data will be sent to the smartphones to enable patients to monitor and keep track of their condition.
Electronic health technologies have an important role in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases. By using them properly, they can also save more lives and help those with chronic conditions.
The dental industry experiences new and exciting tech developments every year, and 2019 is seemingly no exception. The innovations are not only modernizing practices, but they are leading to improved oral care and smaller appointment times, which can each support the patient experience.
Is there any ideal strategy to address SDoH? 
Cloud technology application in healthcare is not new. Back in 2015, we created a 
Bill Gates once said