MyDigitalLife iTriage is a mobile health app for consumers gaining wide acceptance from providers as health systems move toward population health and value-based care. Created in 2008 by two Denver-based ER physicians, Peter Hudson and Wayne Guerra, iTriage has been downloaded by 14 million consumers from the iTunes and Google Play app stores, where it Read More
The cornerstones of healthcare transformation are patient engagement and coordinated care, facilitated by electronic health records (EHRs) that offer a comprehensive and shared view of patients. But who controls the information contained in EHRs—patients or providers? Patient privacy advocates believe patients should have control over who can access their EHRs, using the principles of Fair Read More
Getting patients engaged in their health is a priority of healthcare transformation, and the patient portal is a big part of the strategy. But the portal experience can leave you cold. Shawn Gross, Chief Digital Strategist at White Rhino shares, “I appreciate the communications I receive from my provider’s patient portal, but the interface experience Read More
Ask the Expert with Shawn Gross PwC’s healthcare group recently commented, “As patients behave more like consumers, healthcare organizations need to deliver a higher level of personalized service, satisfaction and overall experience—or risk losing business to the competition.” If you’re a healthcare marketer driven to deliver the best possible patient experience, wouldn’t you love to Read More
Patient engagement is the Holy Grail of healthcare. The theory is if patients take an active role in managing and maintaining their health, they will reap the benefits, staying healthier, spending less, and costing the system less. One way to get and keep patients engaged is through patient portals. But how do you get them Read More
eHealthcare Pulse In 2010, 100 primary care physicians affiliated with three health systems agreed to explore the impact of sharing clinical notes with patients in a project dubbed OpenNotes. The total panel for the initial trial was 20,000 patients from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, and Harborview Medical Read More
As if there weren’t enough pressures on providers and health systems, now they have to worry about competition from retail health clinics. Attention-grabbing headlines like this one from Forbes makes you wonder where all this is leading: “Healthcare for $4: Are You Ready For Wal-Mart To Be Your Doctor?” Health clinics operated by drugstore chains Read More
A growing percentage of the U.S. population does not speak English – greater than 35% in some states. How can hospitals and health systems cope with this potential safety issue? How does a teenager tell his doctor he has a “dolor de estómago” (stomach ache) if the doctor doesn’t speak Spanish? If an elderly woman Read More
By Lisa D. Ellis The latest technological approaches are helping healthcare facilities do their job better—and more efficiently—than ever before, right down to the very last detail. In fact, that’s where Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) comes in, offering on-demand video interpretation services to facilitate accurate communication for patients who are hearing impaired or have language Read More
by Joan Trezek “I changed doctors because we just weren’t communicating.” “I really like my doctor; I feel like I’m important and being listened to.” While phrases like patient engagement and shared decision making weren’t much in evidence a few years ago, they are very popular in today’s healthcare environment, where comments from both ends Read More
by Jennifer Busick In an episode of the TV series “Northern Exposure,” the fictional Alaskan hamlet of Cicely is tapped to participate in a drug trial. Residents line up to collect bottles of identical pills, one of which is an investigational new drug that may (or may not) prevent the common cold; the other, of Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis An innovative pairing of Google Glass and QR codes is transforming the way physicians “see” patients—and is ramping up the cutting-edge delivery of clinical care. Using technology in innovative ways Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), which is a major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School in Boston, has long been Read More
by Brian O’Neill Healthcare providers and payers have intrinsically known for years the importance of effective communication to high-quality care. But, truth be told, the system hasn’t always worked as well as it should. Primary care physicians have their challenges in communicating with specialists (including hospitalists). Physicians and nurses don’t always talk to each other Read More
by Lisa D. Ellis In today’s fastpaced healthcare environment, two innovative hospitals are finding new and exciting ways to leverage web-based technologies—both to strengthen their own internal strategies and also as vehicles to share research, training, and lessons learned within the broader medical community. Nicholson Center’s commitment to education The Florida Hospital Nicholson Center in Read More
by Jane Weber Brubaker When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in March 2010, it simultaneously ignited a firestorm of disruptions to established but unsustainable care delivery and reimbursement models and opened abundant opportunities for healthcare innovators. A new generation of digital health entrepreneurs has emerged to meet the challenges of healthcare Read More
by Brian O’Neill With healthcare reform bringing millions of newly insured patients into a system that already sees shortages in primary care physicians and select specialties, the industry is being pressured to become ever smarter about how providers, insurers, and patients themselves communicate and interact. Fortunately, affordable electronic communication tools are available today that support Read More
by Jennifer Busick Here’s the problem: You need a way to get critical healthcare information about a patient to a healthcare professional—or a group of healthcare professionals. Maybe a nurse needs to know that vital test results are ready. Perhaps an emergency room physician needs a neurosurgery consult. Or, perhaps the need is as simple Read More
by Richard ‘RJ’ Kedziora How do you define project failure? Is it when the project costs more than the original budget? Is it when the delivery date is long past and the project is still incomplete? Or is failure defined by a completed project that does not fulfill the agreed-on requirements? Maybe it’s all three. Read More
by Kris Rusch The near-universal access to at least some forms of information and communications technology in the United States makes it possible for hospitals to reach new patients with telemedicine while helping to address long-standing disparities in access to care, particularly for residents in rural areas. Telemedicine, also called telehealth or E-therapy, refers to Read More
// By Dan Dunlop // It has been said that the patient is the most underutilized resource in health- care. With the rise of the “connected patient,” clinicians, administrators, and marketers have started to place greater emphasis on patient insights and desires. Hospitals and health systems, how- ever, have been slow to address the changing Read More
by Sheryl S. Jackson Automating Process Reduces Need for Staff and Saves Advertising Dollars When the University of Utah Health Care added physician ratings to its website (as detailed in the May 2013 issue of eHST) to combat the less reliable results found on rating sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, or RateMDs, Matt Gove was Read More
by Cheryl Haas If you’re a business person and considering an outside contract for any kind of service, it’s accepted procedure that you will obtain at least three bids to compare price and quality before deciding which contractor to use. Likewise, if you’re buying a car, purchasing an airline ticket, or looking at hotels, it’s Read More
by Jane Weber Brubaker Cleveland Clinic was an early adopter of Epic’s electronic health record (EHR) beginning in 2000. In 2012, Cleveland Clinic launched MyPractice Healthcare Solutions, a branded version of the Epic EHR platform, to share best practices with other organizations. “Part of Cleveland Clinic’s mission is to share its experience and model of Read More
by Kris Rusch Scheduling medical and dental appointments can be a source of frustration for patients and providers alike. Patients often complain of long lags between the time they realize they need to see a practitioner and the date of the next available appointment. For people wanting to see specialty care providers, the next available Read More
Ask The Expert with Daniel Fell Recently, my 91-year-old father voiced considerable frustration about changes in his insurance plan. Rather than presenting changes in a clear, concise manner, the plan used language that only confused him more and forced him to spend hours on the phone talking to customer service representatives. At the time, I Read More