Another PHR venture (yawn) brings in some big names
I normally shy away from stories about the crowded and, to this point, spectacularly unsuccessful field of untethered personal health records, but one got my attention this week because of the names it’s just attracted.
Box, a cloud-storage company that offers something similar to Dropbox or Google Drive, has hired former White House CTO Aneesh Chopra and former Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman to, according to VentureBeat, “help the company push into the notoriously tricky health care vertical.” That’s an understatement. (Full disclosure: I serve on the advisory board of Health eVillages with Tullman, b...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - March 19, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: consumerism health IT Healthcare IT meaningful use PHR Aneesh Chopra Box consumer health information Glen Tullman PHRs Source Type: blogs
Video: Farzad Mostashari on patient engagement, ‘physician ACOs’
As I alluded to earlier, I was leaving the press room one afternoon at HIMSS14, and there I see former national IT coordinator Dr. Farzad Mostashari hanging around Gregg Masters and Dr. Pat Salber of Health Innovation Media. It turns out, Masters and Salber had just pulled Mostashari aside to do an interview on video, but they didn’t have anyone to interview him on camera, so they asked me right there on the spot to be the interviewer. Here is the result.
Mostashari, now a visiting fellow at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institute in Washington, discussed how the years of searching for ...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - March 15, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: Accountable Care Organizations care coordination consumerism EMR/EHR health IT health reform Healthcare IT HIMSS Innovation meaningful use ONC primary care public health quality Telehealth video Brookings Institution Farz Source Type: blogs
All my HIMSS coverage in one place
The last of my 10 MedCity News stories from HIMSS14 has been posted. It’s a nice mix of news, features, analysis and commentary. Here are links to all of them, in chronological order.
NantHealth launches Clinical Operating System – biggest of big data startups – with $1B (Feb. 25)
Body + biology + behavior: Intel exec explains how technology is making N=1 care possible (Feb. 26)
Tavenner: 2014 is your last chance for a hardship exemption for Meaningful Use 2 (Feb. 27)
HIMSS crowd skeptical of promise for flexibility on MU2 hardship requests (Feb. 27)
Google Glass startup expecting third healthcare client in less ...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - March 13, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: Business intelligence care coordination clinical decision support CMS EMR/EHR genomics health information exchange health IT health reform Healthcare IT HHS HIMSS hospitals Innovation interoperability meaningful use ONC P Source Type: blogs
CMS clarifies MU2 hardship exemptions
As I reported for MedCity News at HIMSS14 nearly two weeks ago, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced plans to provide unspecified flexibility in claims for Meaningful Use Stage 2 hardship exemptions this year. Tavenner then left without speaking to the media.
The news left a lot of people scratching their heads and waiting for some details. Today, CMS issued some clarification, confirming that there would be exemptions for healthcare providers unable to have EHRs certified to 2014 standards in place for the 2014 reporting year. This is particularly important now because Medicare penalties for not achieving Meaningf...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - March 11, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil VerselNeil Versel Tags: certification CMS EMR/EHR health IT Healthcare IT HHS meaningful use ONC regulations vendors Certified Health IT Products List HIMSS14 Marilyn Tavenner MU hardship exemptions ONC CHPL Source Type: blogs
Health Wonk Review, post-HIMSS
While all the health IT reporters like myself were in Florida last week for HIMSS14, plenty of other things were going on in healthcare. David Harlow of HealthBlawg has a roundup of opinions in the latest edition of Health Wonk Review, entitled “In Like a Lion.”
Yes, HIMSS was a big deal, even for non-IT people, as I captured the top mention in a HWR for, I believe, the very first time, with my podcast interview with HIMSS President and CEO Steve Lieber.
(David, per your note, I only suffered superficial injuries this year, with a couple of scrapes on my face. No stitches needed, and no deaths in my family, tho...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - March 3, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: blogging Blue Button health IT health reform Health Wonk Review Healthcare IT HHS HIMSS HIPAA media ONC Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act patient safety personal notes Adam Dole Blue Button Connector HIMSS14 Kare Source Type: blogs
HIMSS gossip
ORLANDO, Fla.—Two days of HIMSS14 have come and gone, and I’m not bouncing off the walls just yet. But I did bounce off the pavement Monday night when I tripped exiting a shuttle bus, and have some facial scrapes to show for it. You will see the evidence whenever Health Innovation Media gets around to posting a video interview I conducted Tuesday afternoon.
Health Innovation Media’s Gregg Masters and Dr. Pat Salber have been camped out near the HIMSS press room since Sunday with their video equipment, querying various newsmakers on various health IT topics, and occasionally having guest interviewers. As I wal...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 26, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: care coordination EMR/EHR health IT health reform Healthcare IT HHS HIMSS humor Innovation meaningful use mobile ONC personal notes physicians politics social media vendors video athenahealth Farzad Mostashari Healt Source Type: blogs
HIMSS, Continua launch Personal Connected Health Alliance
ORLANDO, Fla.—As HIMSS President and CEO hinted at yesterday in his podcast with me, HIMSS today announced the formation of the Personal Connected Health Alliance, in conjunction with the Continua Health Alliance and the HIMSS-owned mHealth Summit.
This short video from HIMSS explains:
Also, Lieber mentioned that HIMSS has not signed on to a letter from 48 organizations—led by CHIME—to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, calling for more time and flexibility in meeting Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements., Lieber said HIMSS declined to sign because the requests were, in his opinion, “very vague.”
Today, the...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 24, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: CIOs CMS consumerism EMR/EHR health IT health reform Healthcare IT HHS HIMSS Innovation meaningful use mobile ONC regulations remote monitoring video CHIME Continua Health Alliance Kathleen Sebelius mHealth Summit P Source Type: blogs
Podcast: HIMSS CEO Steve Lieber, 2014 edition
It’s time for my annual podcast interview with HIMSS President and CEO Steve Lieber, this time from the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., on the day before the official opening of the 2014 HIMSS Conference, rather than in his Chicago office a week or so in advance.
Lieber reiterated HIMSS’ position that the federal government should extend the attestation period for Meaningful Use Stage 2 by one year. I wasn’t there, but today at the CIO Forum, one of the preconference educational symposia, ONC Chief Medical Officer Jacob Reider, M.D., hinted that there will be an announcement on Stage 2 f...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 24, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil VerselNeil Versel Tags: Accountable Care Organizations ARRA care coordination certification cloud computing consumerism EMR/EHR health information exchange health IT health reform Healthcare IT HHS HIMSS hospitals ICD-10 Innovation meaningful use Source Type: blogs
On a personal note: Celebrity chef joins MSA cause
This is not related to health IT, so if that’s all you’re looking for, I won’t be offended if you skip this post—unless you’re involved in wearable sensors, in which case, there’s something near the end that may be of interest.
No, this post is about multiple system atrophy, the rare, progressive, always-fatal neurodegenerative disorder that killed my father in 2012. While my dad was fighting this evil disease, more than a few physicians he saw had either never heard of MSA or had never seen a case of it. One marked it down in the medical record as “MS,” as in multiple sclerosis,...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 22, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: Innovation patient safety personal notes personalized medicine philanthropy remote monitoring Kerry Simon Mark Versel multiple system atrophy (MSA) quantified self wearable sensors Source Type: blogs
Breaking: ONC releases proposed 2015 EHR certification criteria
If you want something buried, release it late on a Friday so it doesn’t hit people’s desks until Monday morning. If you really want something buried in health IT, put it out there late on the Friday before the annual HIMSS conference because nobody will get any real work done for another week.
I’m not sure if ONC is trying to hide anything, or just wanted to get this done before all its top people head to Orlando, Fla., for HIMSS14, but this afternoon, the office issued proposed criteria for the 2015 edition of EHR certification. This is the first time certification criteria haven’t accompanied Mean...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 21, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil VerselNeil Versel Tags: certification EMR/EHR ONC regulations standards HIMSS14 meaningful use Source Type: blogs
Podcast: Telehealth for Parkinson’s care
Two months ago, I interviewed neurologist Ray Dorsey, M.D., co-director of the Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester, for a story I wrote based on a study he led. He had a lot of interesting things to say and, unlike so many other physicians, was aware of multiple system atrophy, the disease that killed my dad in 2012, so I decided to have him on for a podcast to describe how he is using off-the-shelf telehealth technology to expand access to care, improve patient satisfaction and reduce costs.
The study focused on Parkinson’s disease, as does a new study Dorsey is leading through ...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 19, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil VerselNeil Versel Tags: health IT Healthcare IT Innovation patient safety podcast reimbursement Telehealth Alliance for Connected Care Alzheimer's disease autism clinical trials home health Medicare multiple system atrophy (MSA) Parkinson's disease Source Type: blogs
Happy birthday, HITECH, and pre-HIMSS humor
Today is the fifth anniversary of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act being signed into law, which also means today is the fifth anniversary of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was rolled into the $831 billion stimulus bill. HITECH introduced “meaningful use” into the lexicon, and for that, it has had a lasting effect.
Through the end of 2013, the program had paid out more than $19 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentives for EHR usage, and healthcare is still a mess. However, all of that money is for Stage 1, and the goal for the first stage was m...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 18, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: ARRA EMR/EHR health IT health reform Healthcare IT HIMSS humor interoperability Legislation meaningful use PHR HIMSS14 HIT adoption Medicaid Medicare Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) MMRGlobal PHRs PQRS sus Source Type: blogs
My HIMSS agenda
After a couple of weeks of uncertainty, I now know I will be covering HIMSS for MedCity News. A lot of vendors and PR firms have of course pitched me for meetings, and the reality is, I’ve not always found vendor meetings all that interesting. In fact, the absolute worst thing about the annual HIMSS conference—and I’ve covered every one since 2002—is the few weeks beforehand, when I’m trying to juggle my schedule.
I have occasionally double-booked or simply forgotten to enter appointments into my calendar, but these things do happen when you are juggling dozens if not hundreds of e-mails, you don̵...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 15, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: HIMSS Innovation interoperability meaningful use media patient safety social media vendors HIMSS14 MedCity News Source Type: blogs
Loudmouth patients, in their own words
The video from the Digital Health Summit session, “Loudmouth Patients: Making Noise and Making Change,” that I moderated in January has been posted. It was a lively, fascinating discussion involving: empowered patient Hugo Campos; Donna Cryer, CEO of the Global Liver Institute (and a liver transplant recipient herself); and Greg Matthews, group director of interactive and social media at WCG.
Unfortunately, one long-winded questioner from the audience took up all the Q&A time (and I initially mistook her for Bettina Experton of Humetrix), so some things went unanswered. If you have any questions for the ...
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 13, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: consumerism Healthcare IT Innovation mobile patient safety physicians social media video CES 2014 Digital Health Summit Donna Cryer empowered patients Greg Matthews Hugo Campos Physician Resistance WCG Source Type: blogs
OpenNotes, changing roles in health IT and a Friday, um, funny
I’ve just had two new stories published on the US News & World Report Hospital of Tomorrow site: “OpenNotes Helps Keep Patients Informed and Engaged” and “The Evolution of Health IT Continues.” The latter is subtitled, “New roles signal new realities and priorities as hospital information technology changes,” and goes in depth and the changes underway in hospital HIS and HIM departments in response to various healthcare reform imperatives. I’d appreciate your feedback here, on the U.S. News pages and on Twitter.
Since it’s Friday, I’ll share something offbeat....
Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog - February 7, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Neil Versel Tags: Accountable Care Organizations CIOs clinical summaries consumerism disease management education health information exchange Healthcare IT hospitals Innovation patient safety social media video data governance health information Source Type: blogs
