It’s no longer a question of if or when — physicians are burnt out, plain and simple… and COVID-19 is only partially to blame for the strain. Long before the pandemic through a wrench in staffing, operations, and physical resources, hospitals were trying to do more with less, resulting in an increasing number of critical care physicians, and neurointerventionalists specifically, covering two or three hospitals at once — myself included.
Research shows that physicians who cover more than one hospital on-call have two times higher rates of burnout compared to those who covered a single hospital.
Add in physician shortages, increasing patient volumes, and the added strain of the global pandemic, on top of balancing personal and family schedules, and it is no wonder that we are nearing crisis levels of burnout. Physicians are looking for relief.
This burnout can not only negatively affect physician work-life balance and well-being, but also the quality and safety of care delivered to patients. In fact, some reports state that burnout triples the incidence of medical errors. To make matters worse, a study of neurointerventionalists found that physicians meeting criteria for burnout are 17 percent more likely to face malpractice lawsuits. Along with posing harm to patients, this can also hurt health systems financially and in public trust.
On the financial front, burnout in physicians has the potential to cost hospitals millions of dollars each year due to physician turnover and reduced clinical hours. Losing a full-time physician can cost health systems an average of $990,000 each, prompting the hospital to recruit and replace a physician, which costs between $500,000 and $1 million. The same report estimates that approximately $4.6 billion in costs related to physician turnover and reduced clinical hours is attributable to burnout each year in the United States.
Fortunately, emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and internet of things (IoT), have the potential to offer relief. These technologies are helping physicians manage a higher capacity of case volume, by taking over tedious tasks, streamlining and standardizing processes — ultimately resulting in more consistent, quality care.
As a practicing neurologist, I have personally begun to work more closely with these AI-based neuroimaging solutions, and my workload has become considerably more manageable. Even just the simple ability to receive alerts and access my workload from my phone has drastically improved my remaining work-life balance. Previously, I would have to physically go to the hospital setting or find a computer, which in turn would delay care for the patient. Now I have access to more clinical information and imaging at my fingertips, enabling faster and more data-driven decision making and faster treatment times.
AdhereHealth, a healthcare technology medication company in adherence insights and health outcomes, today announced a new partnership with Health Connect America (HCA), a multi-state mental and behavioral health services manager.
The new collaboration provides HCA’s pediatric and adult clients with immediate access to AdhereRX digital pharmacy services, including personalized compliance packaging and medication delivery services designed specifically for underserved, higher-risk patients.
“Our collaboration with AdhereHealth’s digital pharmacy will have a significant impact on the lives of our clients,” said Jennifer Perry, director of integrated care and health link services at Health Connect America. “Medication adherence is a real challenge for vulnerable individuals with mental illness and behavioral health issues, such as ADHD or developmental disabilities. We want to do more to help meet the complex needs of these higher-risk individuals to improve outcomes. Compliance packaging is a proven strategy with results that average 96 percent adherence.”
Research shows more than half of patients do not take their medications as advised. However, easy-to-use compliance packs, such as blister packs and dosage strips, can raise correct self-dosing and adherence rates to upwards of 96%, reducing the risk of nonadherence and avoidable hospitalizations.
“Health Connect America is a forward-looking organization that understands it takes the right tools and a personalized approach to meet the needs of higher risk, underserved populations,” said Jason Z. Rose, CEO of AdhereHealth. “Our AdhereRx digital pharmacy supports overcoming barriers of care and social determinants of health to keep these patients safe at home.”
Compliance packaging offers streamlined management of complicated medication routines. Paired with synchronized medication refills and pharmacist-led initiatives to enhance access, compliance packaging is crucial for any efficient, highly effective care management program.
Telehealth is far more than a technology that allows patients to be monitored virtually within a hospital by a specialist or at home by a provider. Although these are key areas for hospitals to utilize telehealth for patients to access specialists and for home care – there is so much more.
My definition of telehealth is that it is a healthcare strategy to be utilized to dramatically improve the care of patients and communities and to support families who care for patients.
4 Ways Telehealth Can Improve Hospital Operations
Telehealth can aid in reducing hospital readmissions as patient behaviors account for most of the readmissions from medication nonadherence, not scheduling follow-up appointments and, not having access to equipment or supplies.
Proactively utilizing telehealth for high-risk patients and for the elderly, to maintain care at home and ensure health outcomes.
Innovative areas where telehealth can be used include rehabilitation care, mental health resources, and even second opinions.
Telehealth can be used within hospital marketing campaigns to increase awareness and utilization of the service.
As a seasoned industry expert in the healthcare industry, and the CEO and founder of VIE Healthcare Consulting, I am considered a trusted advisor to hospital leaders on operational strategies within margin improvement, process improvements, technology/telehealth, the patient experience, and growth opportunities.
Since founding VIE in 1999, my team and I have achieved over $785 million in non-salary cost savings and revenue improvements for clients globally. My goal is to continuously encourage hospital leaders to achieve their boldest vision and in order to help them do so, I have created the healthcare sector’s only cost savings strategy methodology that is proven to extract unnecessary costs.
For healthcare providers, developing a specific telehealth strategy is key to your overall strategic plan. To begin, I will provide you with five self-assessment strategies to help you further define, develop and deploy a comprehensive telehealth strategy in your organization.
Bring-your-own-device or BYOD policies are becoming not just an option, but in many cases necessary because of remote and work-from-home scenarios. BYOD is an increasing priority for IT admins to give employees secure access to the resources they need to do their jobs.
The use of zero-trust architecture is one way to create network security even with a BYOD policy, but there are other things to keep in mind as well. The following are things to know about BYOD policies in general and the cybersecurity implications.
BYOD policies
Under a BYOD IT policy, employees aren’t just permitted but are sometimes encouraged to bring their own devices to access systems and data. Devices can include laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
There are some general options as far as provisioning of access levels when employees use their own devices.
You can offer unlimited access for their personal devices. You can instead allow only access to non-sensitive data and systems on their devices. Another option is to provide access, but with IT control over devices and the fourth option is access, but with the prevention of local data storage on these devices.
There are significant benefits to a BYOD policy for many employers because it can promote productivity and managed risk. Many employees also prefer it. Employees can choose what devices they’re most comfortable using. Due to that comfort, employees are more likely to be productive because they already know how to use them. This might help with buy-in on new technology too.
BYOD policies can cut the costs for your business and alleviate pressure on the IT budget. While there are upsides, there are some potential risks.
From ordering pizza to managing your finances, new technology is changing the way we live our everyday life. And now, more than ever before, these innovations are finding ways to impact the healthcare industry in incredible ways!
Technology has become an integral part of the healthcare industry as it is filled in every corner of every hospital and has a significant impact on both healthcare workers & patients alike. These tech facilities have greatly assisted healthcare workers, transforming their works into more efficient processes with greater accuracy than ever before!
Nurses are the backbone of every healthcare team. Being a nurse is highly demanding & this hasn’t been highlighted better than during the COVID-19 pandemic. As nursing profession requires the core of what makes us human- it can never be replaced by technology.
Technology and the nursing profession are not replacements for one another; instead, they complement each other. In fact, the WHO’s State of the World’s Nursing Report 2020 emphasized the significance of technology in both nursing education and practice.
Let’s have a glance at the most promising ones.
Electronic Health Records (EHR)
EHRs are replacing traditional paper filing processes. Electronic health records are an excellent way for nursing experts to document care provided and retrieve information that can help prioritize patient needs. Moreover, data entered into computer systems can be accessed by the care team, which includes doctors & even patients when necessary.
While privacy and security continue to be a concern for Electronic Health Records, HIPAA laws ensure that the organizations preserve the confidentiality of electronic records. New technology like blockchain and cryptography are easing these concerns with its anonymity features, allowing easier access to various aspects of your medical history without compromising personal information or data breaches.
The electronic health records inform the registered nurses about the subsequent steps they need to take for a patient, supervising minor condition changes & providing them information instantly as reminders or alerts. Real-time health condition updates impact the accuracy and speed of medical care.
Catering to unceasing challenging situations and maintaining sanity control over senses are a few of the intrinsic characteristics of a daunting nursing occupation. Similarly, the nursing staff cannot utterly overlook the attendants of the patients and strictly deny their participation in attaining inclusive patient care. Thus, nurses are required to adeptly handle issues related to patients’ family members as well.
Apart from providing tailored service, nurses can play an active role in empowering patients and their attendants towards an extended rehabilitation process. For instance, nurses need to identify and disentangle barriers to a patient’s treatment. In addition, nurses should cultivate a conducive environment for the sake of patients. Similarly, engaging close associates to satisfy certain patients’ personalized needs can help achieve healthcare objectives holistically.
Hence, nurses’ contribution is vital to ensure patients’ well-being does not get compromised due to a tug of the war-like situation among different players. The following sections further explore what strategies nursing professionals should adopt to avoid such bottlenecks.
Acquire in-depth knowledge of the prerequisites
While addressing and resolving society’s diverse medical requirements, trainee nurses need to update and expand their awareness. Likewise, to execute medical procedures more efficiently, it is equally essential for learner nurses to adapt to socio-cultural and familial norms.
Hence, to efficiently understand and deliver as per healthcare-related requirements of the society, beginner-level nursing individuals should pursue advanced academic programs. Apart from that, advanced terminal degree programs like Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) can empower practicing nurses to make an impactful contribution to the overall healthcare sector.
Harris Healthcare’s Data Integrity Solution Business Unit – which includes patient data integrity powerhouses Just Associates, Inc., and QuadraMed Corporation – have entered a strategic partnership with RightPatient to integrate biometric patient identification into its existing suite of master patient index (MPI) management solutions.
Doing so provides important protections against front-end contamination of the MPI and EMPI and helps eliminate the patient misidentification and safety issues created by “dirty” patient identification data. This is especially important now as spikes in remote patient registrations due to COVID-19 have led to a sharp increase in duplicate patient records.
“Biometric protections from RightPatient perfectly complement our existing suite of patient data integrity solutions by guarding against creation of new duplicate and overlaid patient records at the point of registration, while we focus on creating and maintaining a pristine MPI/EMPI environment and supporting rapid and accurate patient identification,” said Lora Hefton, executive vice president of the Harris Data Integrity Solution (DIS) Business Unit. “This partnership advances our ability to address key health information issues by reducing the volume of potential duplicate medical records while securing patient information and minimizing the ongoing cost of maintaining quality patient data.”
Mohu Sultana, CEO of RightPatient adds: “We live in a very uncertain time. Increased cybersecurity threats put hospitals at risk of losing millions of dollars due to medical identity theft. The long-term impact of COVID-19 is also a critical factor in properly treating patients as we move forward – hospitals must know who is who to ensure proper treatment plans. Reliable patient identification is more important than ever. Our partnership with Harris demonstrates the commitment of both organizations to protecting the entire community against financial loss while ensuring patient safety.”
RightPatient provides the healthcare industry with the most accurate, scalable, hygienic, and versatile HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based photo biometric patient identification service that also publishes patient photos in health records, wristbands, and other applications to improve patient safety.
With easy implementation and seamless integration into any electronic health record (EHR) system – including the SmartID Platform from QuadraMed – RightPatient solutions reduce denied claims, lower medical errors because of misidentification, and prevent duplicate medical records. They also ensure accurate patient identification at any point along the care continuum while protecting medical records against unauthorized access, ransomware attacks and other data breaches.
From data analysis to cleanups, Just Associates performs the critical tasks necessary for hospitals and health systems to achieve and maintain a highly accurate and quality MPI. Its state-of-the-art suite of identity management solutions and services includes continuous duplicate detection with IDSentry – which features HIM workflow and dashboard tools and identifies more true duplicates than systems relying on basic and intermediate patient matching algorithms – as well as IDManage for ongoing MPI management and IDResolve for customized MPI clean-up services.
QuadraMed brings together the expertise, systems knowledge and technology that enable delivery of tailored, value-added solutions that improve healthcare organizations’ financial outcomes and business processes while supporting delivery of quality patient care. Its flagship SmartID Platform is a HIPAA-compliant EMPI management platform that diagnoses, treats, and cures errors, delivering real-time duplicate and overlay detection and robust enterprise-wide patient search based on a probabilistic algorithm with up to 99% accuracy in matching patient records.
To learn more about integration of RightPatient into the MPI/EMPI patient matching and data integrity management solutions from Harris DIS, visit Just Associates’ virtual booth during the AHIMA21 Virtual Conference, taking place through Sept. 22, 2021.
Managed Markets Insight & Technology (MMIT) and Evaluate (a Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Hg portfolio company)—which joined forces last month to become a $1.6 billion global pharma commercial intelligence provider—announced the acquisition of Panalgo, a premier healthcare data analytics company that serves many of the largest biopharmaceutical, medical device and contract research organizations around the globe.
“MMIT/Evaluate and Panalgo share a vision of generating evidence and insights faster, all to help patients get timely access to lifesaving therapies,” said MMIT CEO Mike Gallup. The addition of Panalgo fits perfectly into our strategy of building a best-in-breed technology and services-driven healthcare business servicing pharma, biotech and beyond.”
With this acquisition, MMIT/Evaluate aim to transform the process of bringing drugs to market. By incorporating Panalgo’s flagship Instant Health Data (IHD) software, MMIT/Evaluate will offer customers an end-to-end commercialization platform that provides critical, data-driven insights instantly, allowing life sciences leaders to make better decisions faster.
“The ability to quickly generate insights, inform decisions on the effectiveness and safety of new treatments, and reduce barriers to accessing care, all fulfill a huge need in the marketplace,” said Panalgo CEO Joseph Menzin, Ph.D. “With Panalgo’s best-in-class platform, MMIT’s expansive base of over 1,300 biopharma and payer customers, and its gold-standard formulary data, we are well-equipped to support clients from end to end.”
On Nov. 1, 2021, Jordan Menzin, CTO, will become CEO of Panalgo, and Joseph Menzin will transition to the role of Executive Chairman. Panalgo will continue operating under its brand to provide the same innovative IHD software and high-quality customer support.
“I’m excited to lead this next phase of Panalgo’s growth,” said Jordan Menzin. “Together, we’ll help clients solve problems by leveraging quicker, more efficient insights—and, ultimately, get therapies into the hands of the patients who need them.”
Catering to unceasing challenging situations and maintaining sanity control over senses are a few of the intrinsic characteristics of a daunting nursing occupation. Similarly, the nursing staff cannot utterly overlook the attendants of the patients and strictly deny their participation in attaining inclusive patient care. Thus, nurses are required to adeptly handle issues related to patients’ family members as well.