Page 17 of 21 • Showing 12 of 252 articles
Chronic diseases are an epidemic in the U.S. At least 60% of Americans have a chronic condition, while 42% had more than one. These conditions are a major drain on healthcare costs. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), chronic illness accounts for 86% of the nation’s $2.7 trillion annual healthcare expenditures.
Ben Henson
Information Technology is such an embedded part of healthcare delivery today that the recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean should really make all providers stop and think of how effective their current disaster plans really are. As Irma made clear, a community doesn’t have to be even remotely close to coastal waters to be impacted.
Ben Henson
Everyone is using multiple instant messaging apps these days. People around the world are embracing the idea of this quick, and easy way of communication with the health care provider. But, when it is linked with facilitating the patients with a desirable alternative, such as texting, to communicate with the physicians, it accompanies the risk of data privacy issues even for the doctors who try to stay HIPAA compliant.
Ben Henson
Busy practices and ambulatory services centers know how much manpower it takes to share information with patients. Even more so when that information is time sensitive or condition critical. They know the pain of trying to collect the necessary forms, set up referrals, and contact no-shows and cancellations. They know the should survey patients about quality, satisfaction, and more. Making the reasons to use secure texting with patients abundant.
Any healthcare organization dealing with the country’s opioid crisis, understands the gravity of the situation. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 115 people in the U.S. die from opioid overdose a day. Those casualties are impacting the country in many ways. There’s the cost, which is rising every day.
Ben Henson
In the wake of a second massive cyber attack and personal information breach by another Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance company, healthcare organizations all over the country are scrambling to put systems in place to make sure that the do not fall victim to the same fate. The first security breach 6 weeks ago by Anthem Blue Cross has compromised the personal information of over 80 million of current and former customers and employees from as far back as 2004 – including the records of Anthem CEO and president, Joseph Swedish.
Developing and executing a digital strategy does not have to be an all-consuming or lengthy and painful experience per Ed Marx, former CIO of the Cleveland Clinic and best-selling author of Healthcare Digital Transformation.
Bobbi Weber
Healthcare is starting to wake up. More than ever there is an eye toward long-term strategy instead of the typical approach to fix the immediate need with something tactical but not sustainable. This pandemic has caused our industry to think a bit differently, inspiring many to look for improved processes, especially within the world of digital care coordination.
Those that treat individuals with mental illness understand the importance of communication. Medical directive compliance can be a hard battle. Real-time communication is a great asset to have. Imagine how helpful patient and provider texting could be. As much as mental health providers would like to simply give out their number to patients, that’s not a viable or compliant solution.
Ben Henson
Senior tech adoption is rising, with 76% of adults over 65 using smartphones, leading to improved healthcare.
Bobbi Weber
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the second most common cardiac surgical procedure performed in the United States. Unfortunately, this surgery is associated with a high number of unplanned hospital readmissions. According to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, the average readmission rate after CABG surgery is 15.1% and, they note, some hospitals may have significantly higher unplanned readmission rates.
Ben Henson
It might seem like a pointless question - smartphones vs. pagers? Glance down at all the apps and features on your phone. You’ll have 100 reasons why it’s preferable to a little black box that only transmits limited numeric combinations. So why do clinicians across the world still rely on this outdated technology?