'Meaningful Use' Explained
Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog
A pumpkin pie perspective on meaningful use for. Scroll down to
November 5.
Click here
MGMA to Feds: Pilot Meaningful Use
Joseph Goedert, Health Data Management
The federal government should conduct a small pilot project with a
number of vendors and a variety of physician practices before
incentive programs for meaningful use of electronic health records
start, the Medical Group Management Association recommends. The
pilot would ensure that the process of demonstrating meaningful use
is achievable and practical, the Englewood, Colo.-based association
said in a recent letter to David Blumenthal, M.D., national
coordinator for health information technology. "This pilot could
assist in determining potential roadblocks to program success and
identify solutions to those roadblocks."
Read more
Patient Satisfaction Increasing at Hospitals
Nationwide
Heather Comak, Health Leaders Media
Patients were more satisfied with their care at inpatient
facilities than during any of the previous six years, according to
a new report from Press Ganey Associates, Inc. The survey also
found that patients were more likely to recommend a facility at
which they'd received care to family and friends.
Read more
Are Our Elected Leaders Chasing The Wrong Healthcare
Dream?
Alyn Ford, Hospital Operating System Musings
Perhaps our elected leaders are chasing the wrong "system aim."
The white paper Hospital Operating System - Unleashing Throughput
Potential references the importance of system aim, an idea
popularized by Deming. What if our leaders altered their approach
and pursued affordable delivery of care rather than coverage as our
system aim for healthcare? Would we be taking a different course of
action?
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And more on how a Hospital Operating System can transform hospital
operations.
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No Hospital Savings with Electronic Records:
Study
Susan Heavey, Reuters
New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S.
hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare
costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study. A review of
roughly 4,000 hospitals from 2003 to 2007 found that while many had
moved away from the paper files that still dominate the U.S.
healthcare system, administrative costs actually rose, even among
the most high-tech institutions.
Read more
And additional comments in Healthcare IT News from four
health leaders.
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Clinic with Two Doors, A Symbol of Two-Tier
Care
Bill Dedman, MSNBC
In America, you get what you pay for. Those who pay more get
better service. That's the way it is in restaurants, and in health
care, too. But imagine a restaurant with one kitchen, one chef, but
two doors and two price lists. That's the model of health care that
some doctors are practicing.
Read more
Making IT Investment Decisions during Economic
Uncertainty
John Tempesco, Advance for Health Information
Executives
During a time of economic uncertainty, health care institutions
face tough decisions. Should we put healthcare technology
infrastructure upgrades on hold? Delay new technology purchases?
Cut back on the scope of new initiatives to live within shrinking
capital budgets? The process of selecting and implementing health
information technology (HIT), while daunting, can yield
improvements in organizational and provider efficiency,
effectiveness and quality of care that results in bottom-line
benefits greater than those achieved by delaying infrastructure
upgrades. Ultimately, this decision falls on the CFO's
shoulders.
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7 top technologies to watch in 2010
Diana Manos, HealthcareITNews
Electronic medical records and genetic testing are at the top of
ECRI Institute's recently released list of technologies to watch in
2010. The list could help health plan executives decide which
technologies they should prioritize, the institute said.
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Candid Reflections on Bad Behavior
Dr. Kenneth H. Cohn, Hospital Impact
I have been thinking a lot about the 2009 ACPE Doctor-Nurse
Behavior Study, which surveyed 2,124 physicians and 696 nurses. It
found that nearly 85 percent of respondents experienced degrading
comments at work, including yelling (73 percent), cursing (49
percent) and refusing to work together (38 percent). As I wrote in
my first book, Better Communication for Better Care, confronting a
physician creates fear, but in retrospect, we all benefit from
early intervention to avoid lapses in patient care suffers and even
burnout.
Read more
What's the Truth About Your Hospital's Financial
Health?
Philip Betbeze, Health Leaders Media
Only you know the truth about your hospital's health. But
generally, hospitals are struggling or just fine, depending on
whose study or survey methodology you believe. Within the past
week, two respected organizations-the American Hospital Association
and Thomson Reuters-have come out with a survey and a study,
respectively, that seem diametrically opposed to each other's
conclusions.
Read more
Why Do Some Hospitals Successfully Implement EHRs and
Others Fail?
Carrie Vaughan, for HealthLeaders Media
An interesting column from my colleague Carrie Vaughan. Turns out
one of the CIOs she talked to recently didn't discuss technical
expertise or fancy features as key to the successful implementation
of an EHR. It's all about governance. Even CEOs can learn something
from her conversation with Chuck Podesta, senior vice president and
chief information officer for Fletcher Allen Health Care, about its
conversion to an EHR.
Read more
Senate Retains Tighter HIPAA Transactions
Joseph Goedert, Health Data Management
The consolidated Senate health reform bill includes language to
significantly tighten the HIPAA transaction standards and other
administrative simplification provisions. Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid has released the 2,074-page bill, which marries
provisions of legislation from the Health and Finance Committees.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is available at http://reid.senate.gov/.
Read more
Another New Frontier
Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, The Hospitalist
More and more, hospitalists have a leading role in improving the
function of the hospital as a cohesive force in the healthcare
community. Hospitalists are active in performance-improvement
strategies, both in the implementation as well as the measurement
and reporting of outcomes. Hospitalists are expected by other
hospital health professionals to actively participate in the team
approach to healthcare. As hospitals work to reinvent themselves to
meet the challenges of the 21st century, whether driven by The
Joint Commission, insurers, the business community, or government,
the C-suite sees "their" hospitalists as part of the calculus for
change.
Read more
Survey: Hospital Spending Shows Signs of
Stabilizing
HealthImaging.com
Hospital capital spending in 2009 may end up a bit higher than
originally projected-and procedure decline expectations are
moderating--based on the findings of October's installment of
MEDACorp's quarterly hospital administrator survey, conducted by
the Boston healthcare investment firm Leerink Swann. The MEDACorp
survey, for the first time since October 2008, noted a trend toward
smaller projected capital budget declines at participating
hospitals.
Read more
Pink Gloves Dance - Video for a good
cause
Emily Somers created, directed and choreographed this video in
Portland last week for her Medline glove division as a fundraiser
for breast cancer awareness. I don't know how she got so many
employees, doctors and patients to participate, but it started to
really catch on and they all had a lot of fun doing it. When the
video gets 1 million hits, Medline will be making a huge
contribution to the hospital, as well as offering free mammograms
for the community. Please check it out. It's an easy and great way
to donate to a wonderful cause, and who hasn't been touched by
breast cancer?
View
video
Exclusive Interview: Lessons from Wayne Sensor's Fall at
Alegent Health
Philip Betbeze, HealthLeaders Media
I've gotten huge response from my column last week about the
difficulty of large-scale culture change at hospitals and health
systems, epitomized by the sudden resignation of Wayne Sensor as
CEO of Omaha's Alegent Health after two physician confidence votes
went against him. Much of that response has been in support of
Sensor, some has been in support of the docs, and almost all has
been off the record or otherwise anonymous. "There are probably not
a lot of CEOs who would be comfortable talking about this," Wayne
Sensor told me earlier this week. "But my greatest desire is to
help others who wish to lead transformation." Sensor wanted me to
share with other hospital executives the five main lessons he's
learned on this difficult journey.
Read more
Lots of Baby Steps Beat Occasional Giant
Leaps
HarvardBusiness.org, The Change Master blog
Quit waiting for transformative breakthroughs and focus on small,
fast improvements to stay ahead of the pack, suggests Rosabeth Moss
Kanter. "Steady progress -- step by single step -- can win internal
support and the external race for share of market," she writes.
"Especially if you take each step quickly."
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Is Everyone In Your Team On The Same
Page?
IndustryWeek
Alignment is the essence of good management, but how can you tell
whether everyone in your team is united? Executives shouldn't
simply assume that everyone understands their company's goals,
Gaurav Gupta writes. Even when there's no open disagreement between
employees, it's vital to spend time and energy making sure that
everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Read more
Don't Let Difficult Conversations Catch You Off
Balance
HarvardBusiness.org, How We Work blog
Active communication is the key to handling awkward conversations,
says Peter Bregman: ask lots of questions, actually listen to the
answers and repeat what you're told to make it clear that you're
paying attention. If you can make genuine communication your
instinctive response to conflict, says Bregman, you can defuse most
situations before they spiral out of control.
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