For the Border City of Nogales, Arizona, Telemedicine is ‘a Win-Win’

Doctors wondered if they could achieve comparable results with telemedicine...Telemedicine is moving toward greater mobility, with smart phones, Skype and tablets having a larger role.
These clinics are moving toward doing consults with the patient at home.  “We have patient navigators who are out visiting patients in their homes, which is a big plus for someone who is elderly or chronically ill.

“But regardless of how the technology changes in the future, historically telemedicine has meant a lot to our providers and to the patients. It was absolutely a win-win.”  Read More

ONC Unveils Blue Button Campaign, Toolkit During Health IT Week

The toolkit is designed to help organizations -- including health information exchanges, immunization registries, labs and pharmacies -- improve access to consumers' personal health data. It includes information about:

• Marketing materials and strategies; and
• Technical guidelines for sharing patient data (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 9/16).

In addition, the toolkit updated and replaced the Blue Button Implementation Guide, which ONC expects to continue to update as it adopts new standards.

The implementation guide now includes:

• A portfolio of national standards to increase access to electronic health records;
• Alternative technical procedures for exchanging consumer information, including application programming interfaces, secure attachments and Web services;
• Marketing materials and guidelines on how to include the Blue Button symbol in an organization's product or on its website; and
• The ability to tailor the Blue Button website to the specific needs of an organization ("Health IT Buzz," 9/15).  Read More

Health Care Industry Cautious When Adopting New Tech

A new study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services finds that the health care industry takes a cautious approach to technology adoption, compared with other industries. However, the study concludes that early technology adopters are more likely to experience revenue growth and market position. InformationWeek et al. Read More

The VA embraces technology to better care for veterans

VA healthcare apps

The VA apps will be called Summary of Care and Blue Button. They'll give patients easy access to electronic healthcare information right on their smartphones. The Blue Button app will also let vets create a PDF to share with all of their doctors.

But, these apps are only the beginning. The VA is actually developing a much larger mobile project to bring veterans' healthcare into the 21st century.  The two apps will be the first to be housed in the VA's upcoming app store. VA estimates show that 25% of vets with diabetes already use blood sugar tracking apps. Read More

Care coordination, mHealth to better serve vulnerable populations

William Tella CEO at GenerationOne

Vulnerable populations are better served by multiple systems working together, such as coordinated care and mhealth technologies. http://bit.ly/1qzYGCg

Coordinated care and mHealth technologies are key to reducing disparities in care for vulnerable populations, according to an article at Health Affairs.  Read More

NCSBN study comparing comparability of simulation and clinical training

On August 21, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) released the findings from its highly anticipated research study titled “The NCSBN National Simulation Study: A Longitudinal, Randomized, Controlled Study Replacing Clinical Hours with Simulation in Prelicensure Nursing Education.” The study authors concluded that substituting high quality simulation experiences for up to half of traditional clinical training hours in entry-level registered nursing programs had no negative impact on NCLEX pass rates or the competency level of new graduates. The study found that there were no meaningful differences in critical thinking, clinical competency, and overall readiness for practice between graduates of traditional pre-licensure programs with no simulated clinical experiences and graduates of programs utilizing simulation for up to 50% of its clinical experiences.
NCSBN National Simulation Study. Read More
https://www.ncsbn.org/3500.htm

ATA Finds Some States Falling Short on Telemedicine Policies

The American Telemedicine Association has released two state policy reports that identify shortfalls in coverage, reimbursement and practice standards for telemedicine across the U.S. ATA CEO Jonathan Linkous says the reports should be a "wake-up call" to states that are failing to promote telehealth. FierceHealthIT et al. Read More

ONC Rule Aims To Offer More Flexibility on EHR Certification

	September 11, 2014, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released a final rule that updates 2014 certification criteria for electronic health records and drops proposed 2015 voluntary certification criteria. ONC says it will make "a small subset" of the 2015 voluntary criteria optional for 2014. FierceEMR, HHS release. Read More

Games for Health | Can online and mobile games improve patient outcomes?

Clinical evidence suggests that games related to health and wellness have tremendous potential to promote healthy behaviors and even improve outcomes and medical treatment adherence. Applying games to healthcare is not a trend or fad. It is a rapidly growing and extremely collaborative field, and as technology continues to develop, so will the capabilities of the games. By creating games that augment our healthcare providers’ treatment plans, we can empower patients by enhancing their learning through experiential and interactive approaches that ultimately drives behavior change. In doing so, people can live healthier and more fulfilled lives. Read More

EHR Alerts, Documentation Boosted HIV Testing in NYC, New Orleans

Health facilities in New Orleans and New York City screened a higher percentage of patients for HIV after implementing electronic health record alert programs. The organizations implemented an alert system to remind staff to screen patients for HIV or require practitioners to document the screenings. Becker's Hospital Review's "Hospital CIO" et al.  Read More

CMS Issues Final Rule To Extend Meaningful Use Requirements

	CMS has released a final rule that will grant health care providers and eligible professionals additional flexibility to upgrade electronic health record systems to meet requirements for Stage 2 of the meaningful use program. However, several stakeholders have expressed disappointment in the rules, which they say will have little effect. Modern Healthcare et al. Read More