What You Should Know: Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) hold a significant and distinct place in US healthcare by providing low-cost, government-subsidized care to undererved populations. Due to FQHCs’ integrated care model and government ties, it is harder for these organizations to find comprehensive EMR and PM solutions that meet all care setting needs and are also reasonably priced.A new report by KLAS is the first look at HIT vendors who deliver needed functionality and
Read More
HL7
Thinking Beyond CRM to Reach Healthcare Consumers
A new type of purpose-built technology is necessary to manage patient relationships. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are commonplace in nearly every industry, though their use in healthcare is complicated. Healthcare is incredibly complex and unique in many ways, and many generic CRM or CRM-like solutions address only one or two elements of the patient journey, such as appointment scheduling and reminders, without factoring in personal needs and preferences, health histories,
Read More
Enabling a Better Future for All by Embracing Healthcare Interoperability
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has laid the critical groundwork to create a connected healthcare system in which patients, providers, and payers can easily exchange information. This is thanks in part to the release of the Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule. With new policies now in place, CMS aims to generate better health outcomes through improved interoperability and better access to health information for all stakeholders. CMS has also identified a new
Read More
Targeted IT Solutions Ease Navigation and Shift to Value-Based Care
The new healthcare realm of value-based care (VBC), designed to reward healthcare providers with incentive payments for the quality of care and patient outcomes not simply the volume of services provided, presents both opportunities and challenges for all stakeholders. This fundamental shift in reimbursement is intended to become part of the larger quality strategy in reforming how healthcare is delivered and compensated: better care for individuals, better health for populations
Read More
FHIR Adoption and Implementation Challenges
The Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard was introduced by HL7 in 2014 as a significant replacement for the HL7 V2 and V3 standards. An open standard called FHIR, which was initially drafted in 2011 makes it easier than ever for legacy systems and new apps to exchange data. FHIR was created to not only increase communication efficiency and interoperability compared to earlier standards but also to facilitate implementation by giving clear specifications and allowing
Read More
Simple HealthKit Raises $8M to Transform Health Diagnostics and Follow-Up Care
What You Should Know: - Simple HealthKit raises $8M in Series A funding led by Initialized Capital to address health inequity with the first human-centric, end-to-end healthcare platform that builds and delivers diagnostics, treatment and follow-up care for all - The Series A round also included participation from seed investors Kleiner Perkins, Kapor Capital and Quest Venture Partners, bringing Simple HealthKit’s total funding to date to $12M. End-to-End Diagnostics and Digital Health
Read More
Study Reveals Current Landscape of FHIR Apps
What You Should Know: - A study led by Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Titus K. Schleyer, DMD, PhD, is among the first to survey the current landscape of FHIR® apps, providing a snapshot of how the innovative standard is used to enable the flow of health information - FHIR apps can pull in data from most electronic health record systems, facilitating secure movement of information when and where needed. Expanding the Horizon of Patient Data Security Via FHIR Apps FHIR,
Read More
ONC and HRSA Launches USCDI+ Initiative to Support UDS Modernization
What You Should Know: - ONC and HRSA launches a new USCDI+ collaboration to support HRSA’s Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting through the UDS Modernization Initiative. - Last October ONC announced USCDI+, an initiative to support the identification and establishment of domain or program-specific datasets that will operate as extensions to the existing USCDI. In particular, ONC envisioned USCDI+ as a service that ONC would provide to federal partners who have a
Read More
How Medical Researchers Can Leverage Tech to Help Streamline Biospecimen Matchmaking and Procurement
Many medical advancements – from life-saving vaccines and treatments to new diagnostic tests like liquid biopsies – are built on research that involves human biospecimens. Biofluids, tissue and cells are indispensable resources for the medical researcher, yet the process of sourcing these biospecimens can be woefully frustrating and inefficient. These challenges can have a direct, negative impact on the pace of discovery, creating urgency for improved access to the biospecimens researchers need
Read More
Healthcare Interoperability Has Arrived: 3 Ways to Harness the Potential
This year’s HIMSS Conference offered some exciting insights and a renewed focus on data-sharing and interoperability. While the healthcare industry has been extolling the virtues of data interoperability for years until recently it has remained one of the biggest obstacles to providing quality healthcare today. Yet, the tides are turning. New government regulations, like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ interoperability rules and the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources
Read More
