M***Why " Virtual Assistants " Cannot Remove EHR Pain Points
In a recent note, I commented on the emergence of"virtual scribes" (see:Virtual Scribe Vendors Remotely Generate EHR Notes and Coding). This hospital service consists of having the treating physician dictate the details of a patent office encounter. At a later time, a transcriptionist working for a virtual scribe company remotely enters the essential data into the hospital EHR. This is by way of contrast with the original concept of virtual scribes when they were present in the examining room with the doctor and patient and performed all of the EHR keyboard entries. It should not some as a surprise that the...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 21, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Source Type: blogs
Duplicate Patient Records as a Major and Costly EHR and EMPI Problem
I have posted a number of notes about the use of IT to improve efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare. A gnarly but persistent problem has been duplicate patent records and substantial IT resources are required to correct the problem. Below is an excerpt from an article on this topic (see:Artificial Intelligence and ethics will drive a patient matching revolution in 2019):Existing patient matching technologies are failing, as evidenced by skyrocketing rates of duplicate records in electronic health record (EHR) and enterprise master patient index (EMPI) systems. In fact, duplicate record rates have nearly doubled...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 19, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Computer Security Cost of Healthcare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Hospital Financial Medical Research Source Type: blogs
Proposed Classification for Health Information Systems: Provider and Individual
Discussion about the LIS of the Future; Analytics as a Key Feature?). Such systems would change from classic, best-of-breed LIS's to systems that support descriptive, predictive, and diagnostic algorithms. By developing such LIS-A's, LIS companies may cede ground to the LIS's provided by large EHR vendors as part of their enterprise-wide offerings. 2.Individual (or personal) health systems (IHS's): These are systems designed primarily for consumers. I blogged recently about the Rally system of UnitedHealth Group that initially provided coaching and other health services (see: UnitedHealth Group ...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 17, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Computer Security Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations LIS Definitions and Strategy LIS Vendor News Medical Research Medicolegal Issues Pathology Informatics Predictive Analytics Source Type: blogs
UnitedHealth Group to Launch Its Own Variant of an EHR in 2019
I have commented in previous notes about the increasing role of health insurance companies likeUnitedHealth Group as healthcare providers (see, for example:Major Trends for the Year: Payers Use IT to Provide Total Care Management;OptumHealth, a Division of UnitedHealth, to Offer Virtual Patient Visits Nationwide). This trend, along with the growth of walk-in clinics in"big box" stores, will provide competition for health systems in the area of primary care. Now comes news that the UnitedHealth Group is launching its own e-health record in 2019 (see:UnitedHealth Group to Launch Electronic Health Records Plat...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 14, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Healthcare Insurance Medical Consumerism Predictive Analytics Preventive Medicine Source Type: blogs
Cost of Hospital Care in Michigan; Numbers Not Necessary Relevant for Consumers
Hospitals are now being required to reveal their master price lists but these data may not be of much help to consumers (see:Hospitals must post prices online, but they may be more confusing than helpful). That's because the price lists displayed recently on the basis of a federal requirement, called chargemasters, are massive compendiums of the prices set by each hospital for every service or drug that a patient might encounter. However, I did find some of the prices published for a set of hospitals in Michigan by diagnosis were interesting in a general way to assess the cost of healthcare (see:Hospital price lists re...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 11, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Insurance Hospital Financial Medical Consumerism Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
M***Cost of Hospital Care in Michigan; Numbers Not Necessary Relevant for Consumers
Hospitals are now being required to reveal their master price lists but these data may not be of much help to consumers (see:Hospitals must post prices online, but they may be more confusing than helpful). That's because the price lists displayed recently on the basis of a federal requirement, called chargemasters, are massive compendiums of the prices set by each hospital for every service or drug that a patient might encounter. However, I did find some of the prices published for a set of hospitals in Michigan by diagnosis were interesting in a general way to assess the cost of healthcare (see:Hospital price lists re...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 11, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Insurance Hospital Financial Medical Consumerism Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
23andMe Adds Weight Loss Coaching to Its DNA Testing Service
I have generally been supportive of23andMe but their latest"wellness" oriented initiative has me wondering. Here's a report about it (see:23andMe Will Add Weight-Loss Advice to Its DNA-Testing Services) and below is an excerpt from the article:Consumer DNA-testing giant 23andMe...plans to add new wellness offerings it hopes will help its customers shed a few pounds, but some genetics experts say the jury is still out on the science behind the products....[The company] announced a partnership withLark Health, an artificial-intelligence coaching service that delivers personalized advice for weight loss an...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 10, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Genomic Testing Healthcare Innovations Lab Information Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Preventive Medicine Source Type: blogs
Free Genomic Testing Offered by Nebula Genomics but for a " Price "
Given the popularity of genomic testing among healthcare consumers, it's not surprising that such programs are proliferating. Keep in mind, however, that the test results of such consumer DNA testing can be of great value to pharmaceutical companies because they can contribute to drug research. More than two years ago I reported thatStrata Oncology was performing free DNA and RNA sequencing for cancer patients in order to identifying those with certain gene mutations. Patients were then referred to pharmaceutical companies where drug therapy may have been recommended or, possibly, patients were enrolled in clinical tri...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 9, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Genomic Testing Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Information Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Research Pharmaceutical Industry Source Type: blogs
Can the Number of Unnecessary Knee Replacements Be Reduced?
An article that I came across recently suggested that up to one-third of patients undergoing knee replacement continue to experience pain post-operatively and one in five of them regret having had the procedure. The conclusion is that this procedure is perhaps being performed too frequently (see:Up To A Third Of Knee Replacements Pack Pain And Regret). Below is an excerpt from the article:Most knee replacements are considered successful, and the procedure is known for being safe and cost-effective. Rates of the surgery doubled from 1999 to 2008, with 3.5 million procedures a year expected by 2030....Doctors are increasingl...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 7, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Medical Consumerism Medical Education Medical Research Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Reducing the Cost of Care; Provide Home Care for Sicker Patients with Remote Monitoring
Although changes often come slowly in healthcare, we are now in the midst of the following three major changes in the field: (1) reduction in inpatient admissions that is driving the growth of bedless or mini-hospitals; (2) provision of first-tier outpatient care in walk-in clinics such as CVS/MinuteClinics; (3) the transfer of some inpatient care to patients' homes, partly as a cost-reduction strategy. This latter topic was previously covered in one of my blog notes (see:Some Details about Hospital-at-Home (HaH) Services for Selected ER Patients) and also in a recent article (see:Commentary: Reducing the cost of...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 4, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Quality of Care Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
Should We Integrate " Longevity Medicine " into Mainstream Care
More than 12 years ago, I posted a blog note about the field of anti-aging medicine, longevity and its practitioners (see:Anti-Aging, Longevity Medicine, and Lab Testing) that included the following paragraph:Just to frame the issue and get your attention, annual revenue from the anti-aging industry is estimated to be $56B -- this includes products such as anti-aging cream and botox injections. Need to find an anti-aging physician? No problem. Here is the link to the home page of theAmerican Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). It's not too late to attend the 14th Annual International Congress on A...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 2, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Testing Healthcare Business Lab Industry Trends Lab Standards Medical Research Preventive Medicine Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Actions by Amazon May Be a Preview of Expansion into Primary Healthcare
I have posted previous notes considering the changes that are now occurring in the primary healthcare market including the efforts of CVS/MinuteClinic, Walgreens, and Walmart to gain market share (see, for example:Walmart Shapes Its Own Primary Care, Unbundling Strategy;The"Proximity Advantage" Enjoyed by Retail, Walk-In Clinics Over Health Systems). This is in contrast to health systems that are not keeping pace because of the lower profit margins of such practices. Meanwhile, Amazon with its Prime business unit, seems to be positioning itself as a primary care provider. Some of these ideas were covered in a rec...
Source: Lab Soft News - December 28, 2018 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
Specialized Diabetes Clinics Arise in India; New Trend in Healthcare Delivery?
I recently was told about the growth of a chain of clinics in India calledLifespan Diabetes focusing entirely on the care of diabetic patients. Here's a short summary of the services offered by the company copied from its web landing page:We are India's First and Largest Chain of Diabetes Clinic. It's a caring endeavor founded by Ashok Jain, who is a diabetic himself for 21 years. With 40 Clinics across 10 cities, we have already reached out to help 81,000 diabetics. Diabetes is a hassle-some disease. So we don ’t want the added hassle of waiting for a doctor, going to a diagnostic centre, finding products in...
Source: Lab Soft News - December 26, 2018 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Healthcare Insurance Medical Consumerism Public Health Source Type: blogs
Private Specialty Practices Get Gobbled Up
(see:Dealmaking stayed hot in 2018, with a focus on physician practices)This year, buyers hungry for acquisitions paid particular attention to specialty practices in such areas as orthopedics, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology and dentistry. Primary care is in strong demand, too. As far as who is buying practices, it's a three-way race between the old hats —health systems—plus private equity firms and, a relatively new entrant: payers. UnitedHealth Group's OptumCare has been particularly aggressive about buying physician practices as part of its strategy to get as close to consumers as possible. But Cen...
Source: Lab Soft News - December 26, 2018 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Source Type: blogs
Major Trends for the Year: Payers Use IT to Provide Total Care Management
Conclusions). One of the companies in the above list,Clover, offers 24/7 access to doctors via phone, video call, or mobile app as part of its health insurance plan. This is thus an example of IT-enhanced services provided by a health insurance company. (Source: Lab Soft News)
Source: Lab Soft News - December 25, 2018 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Business Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Healthcare Insurance Quality of Care Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
