Econoclasm Chapter Two, continued: Medical externalities
 I ' ve had a request to say more about inflation. That ' s a bit off topic for the time being, but I ' ll get to it.Medicine is also unlike most other goods and services in the extent to which it has important positive externalities – that is, benefits for people outside of the transaction, who are not the providers or consumers. (Of course it has negative externalities as well, including carbon emissions and notably, a huge quantity of plastic waste.) A straightforward positive externality is infectious disease control. Prev enting or curing infectious diseases prevents them from being transmitted to others. This ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - December 26, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Weekly Roundup – December 23, 2023
Welcome to our Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundup. Each week, we’ll be providing a look back at the articles we posted and why they’re important to the healthcare IT community. We hope this gives you a chance to catch up on anything you may have missed during the week. New HIPAA Security Rule – and Enforcement – Is Coming in 2024. Mike Semel said updates to the HIPAA Security Rule should be in place by the end of next year, as ONC plans to release a draft rule in the spring. Along the same lines, we can expect HHS to ask for additional enforcement authority for OCR so the agency can clear its backlog of HIP...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 23, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Brian Eastwood Tags: Healthcare IT Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundup Source Type: blogs

Econoclasm: Lesson four
I will interrupt myself here to note that yes, there are people who are pursuing economics as an empirical science, and they have indeed demonstrated that the so-called neo-classical economic theory as taught to first-year college students is not a description of the real world. My point in this presentation is that many people, including journalists and politicians, believe that it is. This pernicious falsehood horribly contaminates public discourse. So yes, it does require debunking. There are a couple of additional problems with the concept of the free market that don ’t stem directly from the faulty assumptions....
Source: Stayin' Alive - December 22, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Experian Health Acquires Wave HDC, Immediately Enabling Real-Time, Single Inquiry Insurance Discovery/Verification at the Point of Patient Registration
The Companies’ Combined Capabilities will Deliver Previously Unattainable Efficiencies, Contributing to Increased Staff Productivity and much Faster Collection of Millions in Payer Reimbursements Experian, the global information services company, announces it has acquired Wave HDC, a healthcare technology leader that offers AI-enhanced data curation solutions to identify unknown insurance benefits coverage and critical patient demographics at the start of a patient’s healthcare journey. The acquisition bolsters the Experian Health business portfolio with more comprehensive and faster healthcare coverage identificatio...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 22, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT Experian Experian Health Health IT Acquisitions Healthcare M&A Jordan Levitt Tom Cox Wave HDC Source Type: blogs

Mitigating Risk and Reducing Costs with Smart Healthcare Records Management
The following is a guest article by Mitchell Perry, VP Compliance & Security at Access In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare IT in US healthcare frameworks, integrating electronic health records (EHRs) has become a cornerstone for providers. However, the transition from traditional paper records to digital formats presents a challenge that extends beyond a simple “scan all” approach. Healthcare providers researching all the modern options must learn how to navigate the maze of security, regulatory compliance, and digital strategy to remain compliant with HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Ac...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Ambulatory EMR-EHR Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System LTPAC Regulations Security and Privacy Access Improving Patient Needs Medical Records Mitchell Perry Reducing Costs Risk Mitigation Smart Healthcare Do Source Type: blogs

Season Health Announces Strategic Asset Acquisition from Wellory to Expand Clinical Network of Registered Dietitians and Insurance Coverage
Season Health, the leading integrated food-as-medicine platform, today announced the closing of a strategic acquisition of clinical assets from Wellory, one of the largest networks of registered dietitians in the country providing medical nutrition therapy to patients nationwide. This accelerates Season’s growth by significantly expanding its provider network and its ability to offer comprehensive, personalized nutrition care to more patients, including those looking for in-network benefits. Since its founding in 2019 by Emily Hochman and Jeni Fahy, Wellory has focused on unlocking access to quality nutrition care se...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT 8VC Andreessen Horowitz Emily Hochman Health IT Acquisitions Healthcare M&A Jeni Fahy Josh Hix LRVHealth Season Season Health Wellory Source Type: blogs

Fortifying Healthcare Against Critical Cybersecurity Threats: A Three-Pronged Approach
The following is a guest article by Ferdinand Hamada, Managing Director of Healthcare at MorganFranklin Consulting The healthcare sector has faced an unprecedented surge of serious cybersecurity threats in recent months. Continuity of patient care while safeguarding patient data and organizational systems has never been more crucial. As the industry grapples with “critical” vulnerabilities – threats which not only expose sensitive patient data but also open the door to potential remote code execution, granting hackers the highest level of privileges – implementing strategic security measures is imperative.  From u...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 19, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Ambulatory C-Suite Leadership Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System IT Infrastructure and Dev Ops LTPAC Security and Privacy Cybersecurity Ferdinand Hamada Healthcare Breaches Healthcare Cybersecurity IAM Ident Source Type: blogs

A Place to Call Home
By KIM BELLARD Congratulations, America. We have another new record, albeit a dismal one. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there are now 653,000 homeless people, up 12% from the prior year. As one can imagine, compiling such a number is problematic at best, and no doubt misses a non-trivial number of such unfortunate people. “Homelessness is solvable and should not exist in the United States,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. Well, yeah, like kids without enough food, pregnant women without access to adequate prenatal care, or people without health insurance, yet here we are....
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 18, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy Homelessness HUD Kim Bellard Source Type: blogs

Bonus Features – December 17, 2023 – 97% of hospitals now capable of enabling electronic access to patient records, 70% of hospitals face hidden business continuity challenge, plus 31 more stories
This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job. News In a blog post, ONC highlighted trends in patient access to electronic health information. Nearly all (97%) hospitals and roughly almost two-thirds (65%) of physician practices are now capable of enabling patient access. Th...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 17, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Brian Eastwood Tags: Healthcare IT Aaniie American Organization for Nursing Leadership Andor Health Arcadia Healthcare Solutions Avalon Healthcare Solutions AVIA Biofourmis Brett Zelkind Bryan Olson Carallel CAST Software CLEAR CodaMetrix CommonWel Source Type: blogs

Healthy Data Management: How IT Assists Healthcare Institutions
The following is a guest article by Natalie Tkachenko, Healthcare Software Solutions Consultant at NIX To obtain test results today, there’s no need to visit the hospital. Simply open a mobile app and download the report to your smartphone. Doctors remotely manage patient data without being tied to a specific medical facility. They also handle large volumes of data effortlessly within their hospitals. This became possible thanks to electronic health records, telemedicine, and cloud solutions. However, along with advancements, challenges in digital healthcare are increasing. Let’s discuss how to tackle them and ...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 15, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Author Tags: Analytics/Big Data C-Suite Leadership Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System Regulations Security and Privacy AI Amazon Web Services AWS Blockchain Cloud Storage Cybersecurity Data Management Digital Healthcar Source Type: blogs

Abbott Gets Real About " Formulary Exclusions " Bankrolled by Rival Dexcom in the U.S.
My followers may recall that I ' ve written not-so-kind blog posts about how Dexcom paying legally-exempted rebate kickbacks (seehttps://blog.sstrumello.com/2023/06/dexcom-pays-pbms-kickbacks-to-exclude.html for one such blog post) to major Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) contingent upon " formulary exclusions of less costly rival continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems such as Abbott Freestyle Libre. The retail prices for both CGM sensor brands are remarkably close (ranging from $57.33/sensor to $61.28/sensor). However, the cost computation is not based on the cost per sensor, but must be computed on a cost per ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - December 14, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Abbott Freestyle Libre 3 coupons Dexcom PBM PBMs Source Type: blogs

Featured Health IT Jobs – Epic Business Intelligence Analyst (Product Owner)
We like to regularly feature a healthcare IT job that might be of interest to readers. Today, we’re featuring the Epic Business Intelligence Analyst (Product Owner) position that was recently posted on Healthcare IT Central. This position was posted by Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic and is remote. Here’s a description of the position: Join our team as an Epic Business Intelligence Analyst (Product Owner) and help transform healthcare delivery. As a key player in our organization, you’ll create innovative enterprise business intelligence tools that empower our business partners to provide top-quality pati...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 13, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: John Lynn Tags: Career and Jobs Healthcare IT Analyst Jobs Epic Business Intelligence Analyst (Product Owner) Featured Opportunities Health IT Careers Health IT Jobs Healthcare IT Jobs Job Seekers Remote Jobs Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic 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

Why insurance prefers opioids over non-pharma options [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Amy Baxter, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine. We’ll delve into the opioid crisis, the misconceptions surrounding pain management, and the barriers that hinder effective pain relief in health care. Amy will share her expertise and insights on these critical topics, shedding Read more… Why insurance prefers opioids over non-pharma options [PODCAST] originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 12, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Podcast Pain Management Source Type: blogs

Open AI, Legacy Firewalls, and Insurance Cyberbullying – Fun Friday
Happy Friday everyone!  It’s been a while since we’ve done a Fun Friday article.  We have had so much content from the various fall health IT conferences, that there just hasn’t been space for our usual Fun Friday series.  However, I figured it was time to correct that this Friday.  We all need a little humor going into the weekend.  This week we have an eclectic mix of healthcare humor. Our #AI future times 🙂 pic.twitter.com/x7UYgqY6Vj — Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 2, 2023 I don’t think AI will take over anytime soon. Although, this is funny to think about. Plus, there’s some...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - December 8, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: John Lynn Tags: Healthcare IT Aaron Miri Eric Topol Fun Friday Glaucomflecken Legacy Health IT Open AI Personal Musings Source Type: blogs