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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken steps to address social drivers of health, but consistency and implementation are lagging.        (Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog)
Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog - December 15, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Melinda K. Abrams, Rachel Nuzum, Debbie I. Chang, Rocco Perla Source Type: blogs

Impetus and Edict: What the Latest CMS Data Standards Mean for EHRs – Regulatory Talk Series
This article is the second in the Healthcare Regulatory Talk series. More regulatory churn is coming to shake up e-prescribing, this time with new data standards to step up clinical decision support at the point of care. The latest policy update from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adds key provisions to the December 2022 proposed rule requiring adoption of a new NCPDP SCRIPT standard version. In the lead-up to a final rule, CMS is giving the industry impetus and edict to accelerate a new era in medication management. Before I dive into the specifics of these new requirements from CMS, let’s consider...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 12, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: AI/Machine Learning Ambulatory C-Suite Leadership Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System Regulations 21st Century Cures Clinical Decision Support Clinical Grade AI DrFirst EHR Certification EHR Development EHR R Source Type: blogs

How Patient Activation Made It Possible to Thrive with Kidney Disease
By DAVE WHITE It had been 10 years since I’d seen a doctor when I arrived at the Emergency Room at George Washington University Hospital in October 2009. I was able to climb the first flight of stairs, but after I froze on the second, they brought me in on a wheelchair. That was the first time I heard the dreaded words, “Your kidneys aren’t working.” I was put on dialysis immediately, and my life transformed into a series of tests and procedures. But even after three weeks at the hospital, it didn’t sink in that there was no cure. I checked most risk factors for kidney disease: I ate the wrong foods, smo...
Source: The Health Care Blog - November 27, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy chronic kidney disease Dave White Patient Activation Measure Patient Activism patient advocacy Source Type: blogs

Growing controversy over role of FDA and Medicare in promoting anti-amyloid drugs given limited benefit, high cost, severe side-effects
The War Over Whether Medicare Should Pay For The New Anti-Alzheimer’s Drugs (Forbers): The powerful Alzheimer’s Disease lobby is fighting a multi-billion-dollar battle on two fronts. It is quietly trying to limit restrictions the Food and Drug Administration puts on the use of new drugs aimed at slowing the progression of the brain disease. And it is publicly pressing Medicare to pay for the widespread use of the monoclonal antibodies FDA already has conditionally approved as well as others in the pipeline. While the FDA approves drugs for use, it doesn’t decide who pays for them. And, for now, the Centers for Medica...
Source: SharpBrains - June 21, 2023 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Alzheimer's experts Alzheimer’s Disease Anti-Alzheimer’s Drugs Biogen brain swelling Eisai europe FDA lecanemab Medicare Source Type: blogs

ONC ’s HTI-1 Places Undue Burdens on Healthcare Providers, Health IT Developers
The following is a guest article by David Bucciferro, Chair of the EHR Association In April 2023, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released its much-anticipated proposed rule to advance interoperability, improve transparency, and support further access, exchange, and use of electronic health information (EHI). While the EHR Association has long supported the goals of the proposed rule, called Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing Proposed Rule (HTI-1), we have a number of real concerns about...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - June 7, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Clinical EMR-EHR Health IT Company Healthcare IT Regulations Advanced Interoperability CDI Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Clinical Decision Support CMS David Bucciferro Decision Support Interventions DSI eHI EHR Ass Source Type: blogs

Health Privacy and Security in the Time of TEFCA: Raising the Bar for Trusted Exchange
The following is a guest article by Dave Cassel, Chief Customer Officer at Health Gorilla and Former Executive Director of Carequality Talking about privacy and security in health information exchange is tricky. Saying you want to improve it implies that it isn’t good enough now, and that’s never the message we want to send. But improvements can always be made, and must be made. As with many things, there are degrees – and when it comes to health data, you can never be too private or too secure. Established by the 21st Century Cures Act, the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) holds so much promis...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - April 20, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Analytics/Big Data EMR-EHR Health IT Company Healthcare IT Interoperability Security and Privacy Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS Dave Cassel Electronic Health Record Health Gorilla Health IT Security Healthcare Priva Source Type: blogs

Wellvana Health Announces $84 Million Capital Raise to Drive Innovation in Value-Based Care Enablement
$140 million in funding raised since November 2020 Wellvana Health announced today that it has closed an $84 million capital raise to drive innovation in value-based care enablement for independent primary care physicians, specialists, and health systems. The investment is co-led by Nashville-based Heritage Group and Valtruis, a Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) company, and joined by Memorial Hermann Health System, the largest not-for-profit health system in southeast Texas. This round brings Wellvana’s total funding since November 2020 to approximately $140 million. Nashville-based Martin Ventures led fo...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - April 6, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT 2023 ACO REACH Adam Boehler Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS Devin Carty Feby Abraham Ph.D. First Trust Capital Partners Health IT Funding Health IT Fundings Health IT Investment Heritag Source Type: blogs

10 Budget Reforms Millennials Can Get Behind
Romina BocciaAs federal debt continues to rise, younger generations will bear the brunt of today ’s irresponsible deficit spending. Not all millennials are passive bystanders as Congress seals their fate. The Millennial Debt Foundation (MDF) recently released10 recommendations to address the U.S. debt challenge over the next 30 years.Founded in 2019 with the support ofthe late Senator Tom Coburn, MD, the Foundation convened millennial business leaders and members of Congress to devise a plan to reduce the growth in the federal debt. I am pleased to serve the organization as a senior advisor.The latest Congressional Budge...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 21, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Romina Boccia Source Type: blogs

Why does health care cost so much in the U.S. part the infinity
I ' m on a lot of email lists thanks to my profession. A message I got today is below. I won ' t make you read it before I explain that one reason medical services cost so much in this godforsaken country is that providers have to hire people to with specialized training and pay them salaries to deal with this crap. Keep in mind that they see people with multiple different kinds of insurance and they need to keep track of what insurance the person has, what it will pay for, how much, and how, based on manuals containing hundreds of pages of similar dreck. And if they don ' t get it just right, they won ' t be paid. In civi...
Source: Stayin' Alive - March 20, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

The Role of RCM in Health Equity
The following is a guest article by Leigh Poland RHIA, CCS, VP of Coding Services at AGS Health. A strong business case exists for addressing the financial impacts of social determinants of health (SDoH) and new reimbursement models designed to emphasize health equity. Involving revenue cycle management (RCM) is necessary for any comprehensive SDoH/health equity strategy. This is because health disparities contribute more than $93 billion in unnecessary medical care costs and more than $42 billion annually in lost productivity. Additional economic losses are a result of premature deaths. Further, according to the W.K. ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - November 25, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT HIM Hospital - Health System Revenue Cycle Management AGS Health AHIMA Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS Health Equity ICD-10 ICD-10-CM Z Code Leigh Poland RCM SDOH Social Determin Source Type: blogs

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 22nd October, 2022.
Here are a few I came across last week.Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment-----https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/partnership-to-add-virtual-primary-care-feature-to-smart-tvsPartnership to Add Virtual Primary Care Feature to Smart TVsTelehealth provider HealthTap has partnered with Samsung to add a virtual healthcare feature to the tech giant ' s Smart TVs to expand access to primary care.ByMark MelchionnaOctober 14, 2022 - Aiming to ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

PurpleLab, Inc. Raises $40M in Funding from Primus Capital
Series B Round to Accelerate PurpleLab’s Investment in Real-World Evidence Solutions Built on the Company’s HealthNexus™ Platform PurpleLab, Inc. today announced a $40 million Series B funding round led by Primus Capital, which joins existing investor Edison Partners. TripleTree served as the exclusive financial advisor to PurpleLab for this transaction. The investment highlights PurpleLab’s growing role in simplifying the access to and interpretation of Real-World Data (RWD) across the healthcare continuum. PurpleLab has experienced triple-digit growth[KV1]  for four consecutive years. This additional funding...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - September 12, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Analytics/Big Data Health IT Company Healthcare IT Edison Partners Gregg Michaelson Health IT Funding Health IT Fundings Health IT Investment HealthNexus™ Platform Mark Brosso Phil Molner Primus Capital PurpleLab Real-World Dat Source Type: blogs

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links –20th August 2022.
Here are a few I came across last week.Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment-----https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/08/ai-predictive-trial-staffordshire-hn-reduce-ae-admissions/AI predictive trial in Staffordshire reduces A&E admissions by 35%A trial which looked at how existing patient data could be used to predict those most likely to need hospital care has led to a 35% reduction on average in A&E attendances across Staffordshire.Jor...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - August 20, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 13th August 2022.
Here are a few I came across last week.Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment-----https://ehrintelligence.com/news/va-appoints-functional-champion-for-ehr-modernization-programVA Appoints Functional Champion for EHR Modernization ProgramThe new functional champion appointment will assist the VA EHR Modernization program as it struggles with implementation delays and cost overruns, the VA stated.BySarai RodriguezAugust 05, 2022 - The Depart...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - August 13, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

Generic Glucagon for $200, Where's the Savings? Get it for $5...WITH a coupon
In December 2020, the U.S. FDA approved several long-delayed generic versions of traditional mix-and-inject form of glucagon emergency kits. Among them were from Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, CA https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/12/29/2151177/0/en/Amphastar-Announces-Approval-for-Glucagon-for-Injection-Kit-1mg.html which was the very first, followed by another from Fresenius Kabi USA based in Lake Zurich, IL (in suburban Chicago, the parent company is based in Germany)https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200205005106/en/Fresenius-Kabi-Introduces-Glucagon-Emergency-Medicine-Kit....
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 7, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 FDA generic glucagon Source Type: blogs