HCA uses AI to decrease time from cancer diagnosis to first treatment by almost a week

HCA uses AI to decrease time from cancer diagnosis to first treatment by almost a week

HCA Healthcare has 14 hospitals covering a radius of more than 300 miles. The staff members knew they had a large catchment area. However, caseloads were based on registry data that was delayed, and not a true reflection of the provider organization’s oncology program as a whole.THE PROBLEM
“With multiple points of entry, we relied on manual searches through pathology, physician schedules and referrals to identify newly diagnosed cancer cases and patients,” said Kristina Rua, RN, an oncology nurse, oncology nurse navigator and president of the Florida Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators, who previously was director of oncology navigation services in…

Continue Reading
House bill would put a stop to VA EHR modernization

House bill would put a stop to VA EHR modernization

Citing billions more to be spent over the next several years by the Department of Veterans Affairs on a new electronic health record system that has been fraught with implementation struggles, Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., say he wants to stop the rollout of the Oracle Cerner EHR system as soon as possible.WHY IT MATTERS
As he enters his second term serving the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rosendale will now chair the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization legislative, which oversees and has investigative jurisdiction over the VA’s enterprise technology modernization programs and projects.
According to an announcement, the VA EHR termination bill introduced last week…

Continue Reading
Cosmos, Epic's massive EHR analytics platform, helps reduce new mother readmissions

Cosmos, Epic’s massive EHR analytics platform, helps reduce new mother readmissions

Nearly 20% of postpartum patients in America develop high blood pressure; Epic Research just found in a new study that postpartum hypertension nearly triples the chances of rehospitalization.After looking at more than 1.2 million birth encounters and then grouping and comparing the highest blood pressure readings taken in the 24 hours after discharge, the study found:

Patients with blood pressure levels at or above 160/110 shortly before discharge are nearly three times more likely to be readmitted than patients with normal blood pressure readings.

More than 5% of postpartum patients with the highest blood pressure readings, equal to or greater than 160/110 mmHg,…

Continue Reading
Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Intermountain Health is looking to artificial intelligence and high-touch coaching to increase care personalization and medication adherence for patients with heart failure.WHY IT MATTERS 
Coaches from Story Health, which helps develop personalized care plans using clinical data, will be available to answer Intermountain patients’ questions via text or call. They’ll also remind them about essential medication changes and ensure that vascular patients have access to the medications they need between visits.
“Patients have long journeys with their health, and a significant part of that journey takes place after they leave the clinician’s office,” said Tom Stanis, CEO and cofounder of Story Health, in…

Continue Reading
Johns Hopkins AI models predict ICU delirium risk

Johns Hopkins AI models predict ICU delirium risk

Two dynamic analytics models developed at Johns Hopkins University predicted delirium-prone patients when tested on two datasets drawn from 100,000 stays at a Boston hospital’s intensive care unit, according to new research.WHY IT MATTERS
Delirium – sudden bouts of confusion, inattention, paranoia, agitation and hallucinations – can put patients at higher risk of prolonged hospitalization, future dementia and death. By forecasting delirium, alerted clinicians could apply countermeasures that can mitigate adverse outcomes, according to the premise of artificial intelligence research published in Anesthesiology. 
“For a lot of these physiological transitions, we think that there are early warning signs that may not be obvious…

Continue Reading
Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here's what you need to know

Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here’s what you need to know

Ever since CMS released the new CPT codes for remote therapeutic monitoring last year, health systems have been eager to use them, but unsure of the criteria. Providers are acknowledged for the time they spend connecting with patients outside of the office.With the new CPT codes, providers can get reimbursed for:

Educating patients on how to use a remote care-management platform.

Monitoring a platform’s alerts and patients’ use of remote education.

Direct patient/provider messaging within the platform.

Data collection via the platform, i.e., collecting patient feedback on pain levels, activity and motion.

To qualify for reimbursable RTM, providers need to use software deemed a medical device…

Continue Reading
Third-party data breach round-up: mscripts, Diligent, Mailchimp

Third-party data breach round-up: mscripts, Diligent, Mailchimp

This month, more than 114,000 individuals may have experienced personally identifiable information and protected health information exposures from these incidents, while an email marketing hack is a new source for phishing attacks.Medication adherence platform mscripts breached
On January 17, mscripts, a cloud-based mobile pharmacy platform that focuses on patient engagement and medication adherence solutions, reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unauthorized access/disclosure that involved protected health information of 66,372 individuals, according to the Office for Civil Rights cases under investigation list.
The San Francisco-based platform, owned by Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, uses interactive SMS messaging and branded mobile apps to…

Continue Reading
FBI disrupts Hive ransomware: Hospitals among those spared

FBI disrupts Hive ransomware: Hospitals among those spared

Beginning this past July, the Federal Bureau of Investigation – with the assistance of overseas law enforcement agencies from Canada to Lithuania and victimized asset operators across various sectors – seized the servers and websites of the Hive ransomware network, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced on Thursday. The disruption makes hospitals safer against high-impact ransomware attacks, says the American Hospital Association.
Hive networks seized
The U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said yesterday that on the evening of January 25, a months-long investigation led to the seizure of Hive’s websites and servers. 
The FBI first gained access to Hive’s computer networks, then captured its decryption keys and offered…

Continue Reading
Gaming tech is being used for dementia treatment

Gaming tech is being used for dementia treatment

Research shows that apathy is a significant challenge for people living with dementia. They lose the ability to take initiative, which has an enormous effect on their emotional and physical wellbeing. This makes the disorder much harder to treat.THE PROBLEM
Andrus on Hudson, based in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, serves and cares for individuals (“residents,” to reflect the environment in which they receive care) who have various types of dementia. One of the primary challenges caregivers and residents face are negative behaviors that occur when there are downtimes during the day and/or the sundown window.
These negative behaviors include agitation and wandering. While AOH uses…

Continue Reading
Omaha program uses HIE tech to improve postpartum care for minority parents and children

Omaha program uses HIE tech to improve postpartum care for minority parents and children

CyncHealth, Collective Medical and Innsena are being recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Racial Equity in Postpartum Care Challenge, including federal funding of $40,000, for their postpartum care program in Omaha.Pregnancy-related deaths are three to four times more common among minorities than among Caucasian women, even among those with a college degree. This program improves postpartum care for Black and Indigenous parents and children with high-risk conditions who participate in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and significantly reduces maternal and neonatal mortality.
Out of the 25 winners recognized by HHS, this program is the only one using health…

Continue Reading