health information technology
SPOTLIGHT: IT helps groups improve P4P performance
IT investment programs may seem nice to have, rather than necessary, to many non-technical managers. But that could turn out to be a short-sighted view. According to a new study, the more California... Read more...
ALSO NOTED: WI price hotline proves popular; Nurse recruitment in NY; and much more...
> A Milwaukee-area health system is getting hundreds of calls a month to its hotline giving patients pre-visit price quotes. Article
> Here's a look at how some Buffalo, N.Y.-area hospital systems are attracting new nursing hires. Article
> The new head of the …
SPOTLIGHT: Improving community treatment for chronic illness
Improving community treatment for chronic illness
Local and regional health markets handle chronic illness very differently--sometimes to a patient's detriment. But new research suggests provider communities can improve care dramatically by using tools like information technology and publicly-reported performance measures. The key is to get these community members to work together. Report (.pdf)
Trend: Medicaid programs offer P4P incentives
A new survey by the Commonwealth Fund has concluded that more than half of U.S. states have begun rewarding doctors for delivering quality care to Medicaid patients. What's more, almost 85 percent of Medicaid programs plan to have pay-for-performance programs in place within five years, many of which rely on improved use of health information technology, researchers said. The study suggests that states are moving much more quickly than Medicare administrators, analysts say. CMS is …
... Read more...Catholic Healthcare West plans $9B investment
Catholic Healthcare West, which operates 42 hospitals across California, Arizona and Nevada, has set plans to spend $9 billion on capital projects over the next 10 years. CHW plans to use the money to build new hospitals, add seismic improvements to hospitals in earthquake zones, add health information technology and buy new clinical equipment, as well as making acquisitions where it makes sense. This plan, which would allocate $900 million for each year, represents a big jump in spending …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Albany hospitals and groups fight for MDs; Schwarzenegger issues HIT mandate; and much more...
> In Albany, hospitals and medical groups are fighting for the same physicians. Article
> Jumping on board an initiative kicked off by HHS secretary Michael Leavitt, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed an order pushing healthcare providers to adopt more health information technology and make pricing and quality information more readily available. …
... Read more...Kaiser awards $7M to CA "safety net" hospitals
Kaiser Permanente announced yesterday that it was awarding $7 million to a group of California's public hospitals and clinic, with funding aimed at helping these "safety net" providers offer better preventive care. The $7 million was broken down into a total of 57 smaller grants, awarded through Kaiser's Health Information Technology Initiative. About $5 million of the funds will help the hospitals and clinics stay up to date with preventive technology such as automation for mammogram …
... Read more...Drug errors harm 1.5 million per year: IOM
Medication errors harm 1.5 million people a year in the U.S., kill several thousand and cost the nation's healthcare system at least $3.5 billion, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. They're so common that patients should expect to experience an average of one for each day they're in the hospital, although most don't cause harm, the report said.
While information technology can play a key role in correcting the problems on the providers' side, with computer systems …
... Read more...Editor's Corner
Publisher's Note
As you know, information technology is transforming the healthcare industry and swallowing more and more of our spending -- $40 billion by 2008. To help you maximize ROI on your IT investments, FierceMarkets today launched a new newsletter called FierceHealthIT. In …
... Read more...Health IT vote unlikely until after July 4 recess
A vote on key health IT legislation pending before Congress is unlikely to move forward this month, according to media reports. The Johnson-Deal bill would make changes to federal law designed to encourage hospitals and physicians to adopt information technology. Among other things, the legislation makes the job of National Health IT Coordinator permanent, officially empowering a federal czar to oversee the technological transformation of the U.S. healthcare system. Other provisions seek …
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