Patient Engagement
Healthcare organizations are bulking up their privacy protections with firewalls, encryption, data loss prevention software and more, but the much lower-tech visual hacking threat is still a concern, according to a new 3M educational campaign.
Perched on an exam table at the doctor's office watching the clinician type details about their medical problems into their file, what patient hasn't wondered exactly what the doctor is writing? As many as 50 million patients may have a chance to find out in the next few years, following the announcement this week of $10 million in new grants to expand the OpenNotes project, which works with medical providers to expand patient access to clinician notes.
A new survey of hospital and health system senior executives by by Kaufman Hall found that while 96 percent of healthcare organizations say understanding patient needs is important, only 13 percent really understands what those needs are.
To mitigate loss of income due to no-shows, Broomfield Family Practice in Broomfield, Colorado started using Apptoto, a cloud-based, automated appointment messaging service.
A coalition of civil rights advocates Tuesday called for a federal investigation of California's Medicaid program, alleging that it discriminates against millions of low-income Latinos by denying them equal access to health care.
Obesity is redrawing the common imagery of old age: The slight nursing home resident is giving way to the obese senior, hampered by diabetes, disability and other weight-related ailments. Facilities that have long cared for older adults are increasingly overwhelmed -- and unprepared -- to care for this new group of morbidly heavy patients.
As anyone who needs insulin to treat diabetes can tell you, that usually means regular checkups at the doctor's office to fine-tune the dosage, monitor blood-sugar levels and check for complications. But here's a little known fact: Some forms of insulin can be bought without a prescription. One diabetes patient and several medical experts weigh in on whether it should be.
The public health system will also use Cerner's patient engagement tool, which takes patient data and uses it to suggest wellness tools and other health tracking options.
Last month, Baylor Scott and White Health in Irving, Texas became the first health system in the country to integrate assistance dogs into its physical and cognitive therapy programs.
Technology and connectivity will continue its steady infiltration of the healthcare landscape, branding and trust take priority over convenience, and the advancement and integration of connected health technologies will hinge on cybersecurity in 2016, PwC said.