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• enterprise master patient index (EMPI)

  An enterprise master patient index (EMPI) is a database that is used to maintain consistent and accurate information about each patient registered by a healthcare organization. Continue Reading

• Investigate uses for secure messaging for healthcare

  Secure communications are a pivotal piece of the physician-patient relationship, so protecting the clinical data within those messages becomes paramount. Continue Reading

• Healthcare data storage options

  The volume of healthcare data is growing exponentially, and organizations have to figure out how to store it all. This guide looks at possible healthcare data storage options. Continue Reading

• Wisconsin provider uses Salesforce for healthcare marketing campaign

  A large Wisconsin health system has been using Salesforce Marketing Cloud for targeted email campaigns to keep patients engaged and to attract new patients. Continue Reading

• Healthcare mobile devices raise data security challenges

  Mobile device use in healthcare has created new challenges for hospital IT. Using tools like mobile device management can help secure health data. Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO)
  • remote patient monitoring (RPM)
  • telestroke (telestroke services)
  • HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

  • electronic protected health information (ePHI)
  • HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)
  • Meaningful Use
  • mHealth (mobile health)

  View All Definitions

• Mobile in healthcare a strong prescription for improved patient care

  Walk the corridors of any modern hospital, from intensive care to patient units to emergency rooms, and you'll see the familiar banks of workstations where doctors and nurses busily access patient records and type in critical updates. For years, ...Continue Reading

• Survey with CHIME shows how trends in healthcare tie to tech

  SearchHealthIT's recent IT purchasing intentions survey -- done in conjunction with CHIME -- points to technology spending priorities at the top of CIOs' minds.Continue Reading

• population health management (PHM)

  Population health management (PHM) is a discipline within the healthcare industry that studies and facilitates care delivery across the general population or a group of individuals.Continue Reading

• Healthcare bots assist patients with scheduling, billing requests

  There are several current and emerging uses for bots in healthcare beyond scheduling appointments, such as providing patients with access to lab results or a list of medications.Continue Reading

• Rise of retail health kiosks enables greater patient engagement

  Retailers such as Walmart are beginning to offer self-service health kiosks that allow patients to check their vital signs while doing their shopping.Continue Reading

• Enterprise imaging systems are gaining popularity in healthcare

  More healthcare organizations are beginning to take an enterprise-wide approach to medical imaging by centralizing data in one system versus 'ology'-specific entities.Continue Reading

• ICD-10-PCS

  The International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) is a U.S. cataloging system for procedural codes that track various health interventions taken by medical professionals.Continue Reading

• AI in healthcare spurs advanced uses such as emotional intelligence

  Providers, pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare organizations are starting to use advanced AI technology to provide personalized context for care and post-treatment.Continue Reading

• Patient matching algorithms tackle medical record duplication

  Duplicate records are an unfortunate reality for hospitals and can be harmful to patients. An MPI is one way to ensure that patients only have one record in a health system.Continue Reading

• CIO discusses health systems' projects with mobile healthcare services

  Mobile health services should be focused on the consumer experience. One CIO discusses this and what his healthcare organization is doing in the mobile space.Continue Reading

• U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)

  The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the largest biomedical library in the world.Continue Reading

• Reviving your modern health IT infrastructure

  Infrastructure projects in healthcare organizations seem to be enjoying attention. Cloud, virtualization and hyper-converged technology continue to gain interest.Continue Reading

• Care coordination tools bring physicians, data together

  An ideal care coordination tool should be user-friendly and integrate with EHRs and other external data sources, as well as offer real-time communication capabilities.Continue Reading

• Hospital CIOs see benefits of healthcare cloud computing

  In healthcare, some illnesses can be cured quickly; some can't. But before applying a proper antidote, several factors need to be considered about the patient in question. The same can be said when hospital CIOs and IT pros work to formulate a ...Continue Reading

• Five common concerns of cloud services in healthcare

  While the cloud is gaining traction in healthcare, some hospital executives are hesitant to adopt cloud services due to concerns about data security and HIPAA compliance.Continue Reading

• Cloud in healthcare boosts storage, mobility efforts

  Healthcare traditionally has been wary of cloud services, but improvements in security and more efficient mobile device management may help boost cloud adoption.Continue Reading

• CIOs embrace the value of cloud computing in healthcare

  The cloud is crucial to many initiatives in healthcare, including value-based care, big data and patient engagement. CIOs recognize the importance of cloud computing and embrace it.Continue Reading

• Experts say secure healthcare communication should function like email

  Secure messaging in healthcare can save providers and patients time and frustration, but the security of PHI should always be the number one priority.Continue Reading

• Blockchain technology in healthcare could ease PHI exchange

  Although some healthcare executives are leery of the new technology, blockchain may have the potential to make it easier for approved entities to exchange PHI.Continue Reading

• Hospital provides patient access to health information at the bedside

  University of Colorado Health is securely providing patient access to health information at the bedside. Experts detail how they are able to achieve this and engage patients.Continue Reading

• CIO looks at future of healthcare virtualization, its security benefits

  One CIO weighs in on a newer concept: healthcare virtualization. He discusses how he thinks this technology will evolve, as well as the security benefits it offers.Continue Reading

• Five components of a successful population health analytics initiative

  To implement a successful population health analytics initiative, healthcare organizations need to use the right tools to meet clinicians' needs and define potential data gaps.Continue Reading

• To solve lack of interoperability, health IT tries third-party apps, HIEs

  Many healthcare professionals are turning to third-party applications, the use of APIs and HIEs to overcome the lack of interoperability still present in healthcare.Continue Reading

• A guide to healthcare IoT possibilities and obstacles

  This essential guide explores the potential of the internet of things in healthcare, as well as some of the obstacles that may hinder its wider adoption.Continue Reading

• C-levels discuss evolution of next-gen EHR, consumerization of healthcare

  EHRs will not be exempt from the consumerization of healthcare and this transformation will ultimately result in a next-gen EHR. Experts explain.Continue Reading

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  Promoting a healthy general public and sharing data about chronic diseases are main goals of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Continue Reading

• Hospital uses intelligent virtual assistant for more accurate order entry

  When physicians juggle a lot of tasks, they can forget to place a necessary order. Artificial intelligence is helping one hospital system remedy this and avoid medical mistakes.Continue Reading

• American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

  The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is a professional organization that promotes the business and clinical uses of electronic and paper-based medical information.Continue Reading

• Work still to be done with real-time location services despite benefits

  Real-time location services offer many benefits in the healthcare setting. However, work still needs to be done in this area and with this technology. Experts from Kaiser Permanente explain.Continue Reading

• Enterprise imaging is becoming mainstream in healthcare

  While VNAs and PACS appear to be coexisting, enterprise imaging in healthcare is taking over from purely departmental and radiology centered approaches, according to a KLAS analyst.Continue Reading

• Patient engagement technology can improve outcomes and enhance care

  Patient engagement tools, such as virtual assistants and health apps, can help healthcare providers improve the physician-patient relationship and improve outcomes.Continue Reading

• Patient engagement tools bring consumer vibes to healthcare

  Patients are acting more like consumers and therefore have higher expectations of their healthcare providers. New technologies are needed to truly engage them.Continue Reading

• revenue cycle management (RCM)

  Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the financial process, utilizing medical billing software, that healthcare facilities use to track patient care episodes from registration and appointment scheduling to the final payment of a balance.Continue Reading

• national provider identifier (NPI)

  A national provider identifier (NPI) is a unique ten-digit identification number required by HIPAA for covered healthcare providers in the United States.Continue Reading

• PHI breach (protected health information breach)

  A PHI breach is unauthorized access, use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information that is held or transmitted by a healthcare organization or its business associates.Continue Reading

• Cloud medical imaging is coming to radiology and healthcare in general

  Remote patient monitoring, cloud medical imaging, and gamification in healthcare are strategies recommended by health IT innovation expert Rasu Shrestha, M.D.Continue Reading

• Advances in medical imaging, wearable tech spur personalized care

  Medical imaging systems using analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence can help doctors practice personalized healthcare, according to a Philips Healthcare expert.Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence makes scanning medical records easier

  Medical-records scanning can be costly and time-consuming for healthcare organizations that want to go paperless. Artificial intelligence can ease the process.Continue Reading

• Healthcare cybersecurity must complement HIPAA compliance

  The biggest threat to healthcare data security is often unauthorized access by staff. Behavior tracking can detect snooping by employees and identify users who have been hacked.Continue Reading

• Interoperability may be in sight as Epic and Cerner work together

  As two of the largest EHRs in the healthcare space, Epic and Cerner have often appeared to be at odds with each other. But that seems to be changing via an ONC initiative.Continue Reading

• athenahealth Inc.

  athenahealth Inc. is a developer of cloud-based practice management, point-of-care mobile applications and electronic health record (EHR) systems for small to medium-sized (SMB) physician practices and hospitals.Continue Reading

• Vendors must prioritize connected device security as popularity rises

  Connected devices such as fitness trackers and digital voice assistants are gaining popularity with consumers, but the challenge for health IT is how to secure these devices.Continue Reading

• Mobile in healthcare: The challenges, what makes a successful mobile app

  The CEO of Medisafe, a medication management mobile application, discusses the challenges with mobile in healthcare and what makes a successful mobile health app.Continue Reading

• Six health IT trends and technologies executives should watch in 2017

  Cybersecurity and blockchain received a lot of attention in 2016, and both trends are expected to remain on the radars of healthcare executives in 2017.Continue Reading

• Value-based care delivery best practices from an expert

  Best practices for value-based care include making data a strategic asset, empowering curiosity about data among clinicians and other staff, and looking for small victories.Continue Reading

• Predictive analytics in healthcare helps manage high-risk patients

  Predictive analytics in healthcare can benefit organizations two-fold. This technology not only helps better manage a population but also better handle claims and save money.Continue Reading

• 3D printing for healthcare has potential to improve patient compliance

  Because of their lightweight nature, 3D printed braces can help improve patient compliance in the group most affected by scoliosis -- adolescent females.Continue Reading

• 3D printing in healthcare blends medical and consumer devices

  The healthcare market for 3D printing is projected to surpass $1 billion by 2020 as the technology crosses over from medical devices to consumer technology, such as wearables.Continue Reading

• Hospital CIO talks Lean methods in healthcare and Connected Patient

  Phoenix Children's Hospital CIO uses Lean methods to assemble his health IT systems and steers savings toward projects like Connected Patient: tablets for pediatric patients.Continue Reading

• PatientPing helps with coordinating care among healthcare providers

  In this Innovation Spotlight, SearchHealthIT features PatientPing, a startup in Boston that provides technology to improve coordinating care.Continue Reading

• HIPAA Privacy Rule

  The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, commonly known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule, establishes the first national standards to protect patients' personal health information.Continue Reading

• Busting the early myths about blockchain in healthcare

  There's a lot of buzz about the uses for blockchain in healthcare. While the potential of this technology is exciting, one analyst provides a reality check.Continue Reading

• HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA)

  Under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) is a contract between a HIPAA-covered entity and a HIPAA business associate (BA).Continue Reading

• Mobile ultrasound scanner joins ecosystem of connected health devices

  As mobile devices in healthcare proliferate, clinicians are using mobile diagnostic tools, like hand-held ultrasound scanners, to provide care outside of traditional hospital settings.Continue Reading

• Population health: Current, emerging health information management tech

  When it comes to population health, health information management tech plays an important role. A health IT expert discusses current and emerging technologies.Continue Reading

• Health IT experts discuss how they're using NLP in healthcare

  Some experts believe the use of NLP in healthcare is and will continue to be necessary. Two health IT experts discuss how they are currently using this technology in their healthcare organizations.Continue Reading

• eClinicalWorks

  eClinicalWorks is a Massachusetts-based company that sells electronic medical record (EMR), practice management (PM) and personal health record (PHR) software and services to reportedly more than 115,000 physicians and 70,000 facilities in the ...Continue Reading

• Expert details healthcare cost accounting for value-based care

  A McKesson Corporation population health expert explains advanced cost accounting techniques for value-based care, alternative payment models and revenue optimization.Continue Reading

• The relationship between population health and NLP in healthcare

  Many laud NLP in healthcare for its ability to take unstructured data, and make it valuable. Two health IT experts discuss NLP's role in achieving population health.Continue Reading

• Thinking of attempting blockchain in healthcare? Read this first

  Some experts say that a promising application for blockchain is in the healthcare space. Before attempting blockchain in healthcare, read what this analyst has to say.Continue Reading

• Tips for choosing healthcare financial systems

  Hospitals and physician practices must deal with tailored healthcare financial systems to match equally unique medical codes and Medicare reimbursement rules. The switchover to the ICD-10 coding system illustrated the increased complexity of the ...Continue Reading

• Analyst assesses how blockchain in healthcare will affect storage

  Many healthcare organizations are discussing possible use cases for blockchain. One analyst shares her two cents on the effect blockchain in healthcare may have on storage.Continue Reading

• FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

  The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regulates the production and sale of food, medicine, health technology and cosmetic products. The FDA, also called the USFDA, approves drugs and medical devices for sale and recalls unsafe products.Continue Reading

• Five challenges of IoT in healthcare that put it at risk of failure

  The internet of things has the potential to provide physicians with valuable data that can improve patient outcomes, but there are several barriers to IoT adoption in healthcare.Continue Reading

• Healthcare APIs, now required by the government, seen as interoperability aid

  While the government has essentially required APIs, many health IT vendors are looking at them as a key to easier health data interoperability.Continue Reading

• FHIR encourages innovation in health app development

  Health app developers can use the FHIR platform to create applications that support and facilitate interoperability between EHR systems.Continue Reading

• ICD-10 explained: Animated video unravels ICD-10 definition and codes

  In this explainer video, SearchHealthIT's news writer, Kristen Lee, narrates a definition for ICD-10 paired with descriptive visuals.Continue Reading

• ONC seeks public feedback for health IT interoperability standards

  The ONC has released its Draft 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory for public review, allowing stakeholders to provide feedback about implementation specifications.Continue Reading

• Blockchain for healthcare applications envisioned by expert

  With accelerated interest in applications for blockchain in the healthcare industry, a health IT expert discusses use cases for the technology in health IT.Continue Reading

• meaningful use stage 3

  Meaningful use stage 3 is the third phase of the federal incentive program that details requirements for the use of electronic health record systems by hospitals and eligible healthcare professionals. However, the new MACRA law will change the ...Continue Reading

• US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level agency in the executive branch of the federal government. Its mission is to enhance and protect the well-being of all Americans by providing effective health and human ...Continue Reading

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the wing of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that runs healthcare reimbursement and health IT programs.Continue Reading

• Salesforce being used as behavioral health tech by Easter Seals Bay Area

  One healthcare organization is using Salesforce's Health Cloud as behavioral health tech to better schedule care givers, coordinate care and share patient information.Continue Reading

• Hospital telecommunications network tips from an expert

  Building in redundancy, using VLANs and accommodating EHR workflow volume, IoT capabilities and patient Wi-Fi access are all essential to good hospital network design.Continue Reading

• information blocking

  Information blocking occurs when a person or entity purposely and unreasonably interferes with the sharing or use of electronic health information.Continue Reading

• Revenue cycle data analytics helps with value-based reimbursement, MACRA

  It's important to understand how technology can help a healthcare organization achieve value-based reimbursement. A health IT expert discusses the role of revenue cycle data analytics.Continue Reading

• Telehealth technology in sight, even for old-schoolers, expert says

  Digital health evangelist Nick Adkins says telemedicine technology and services work well now, and even hospitals are getting into bringing care to patients where they are.Continue Reading

• Asynchronous video key telehealth medium for patients and physicians

  Telehealth applications for asynchronous video technology include discharge instructions, medical education and between-visit check-ins; benefits include privacy and convenience.Continue Reading

• Blockchain in healthcare is quickly becoming a reality

  Blockchain technology -- already becoming widely used in financial industries -- is coming to healthcare, as the federal government and big companies get involved.Continue Reading

• How do you integrate a healthcare VDI environment with flash storage?

  Healthcare VDI environments can work well with flash storage. Expert Brien Posey looks at issues to consider, such as whether to choose an all-flash array or flash storage tier.Continue Reading

• Four tenets of a successful telehealth program implementation

  Implementing a successful telehealth program can be a challenge. Health IT experts from Mass General share four key steps to ensuring a telehealth initiative will be successful.Continue Reading

• Q&A: The main reason healthcare organizations violate HIPAA

  The second round of HIPAA audits have commenced, and most likely some healthcare organizations will be found to violate HIPAA. A health IT expert discusses common mistakes.Continue Reading

• Chief Innovation Officer discusses implementing CRM in healthcare

  A CIO discusses how his healthcare organization is using CRM in healthcare. He believes more and more healthcare organizations will begin to use CRM to improve patient care.Continue Reading

• Wearable activity tracker helps health IT analyst train for marathons

  After trading in a budget wellness band for a high-tech Fitbit, a health IT analyst finds the new wearable helps him train more efficiently for marathons.Continue Reading

• Zipnosis uses virtual care technology to boost provider efficiency

  Virtual care vendor Zipnosis aims to help healthcare providers deliver more efficient medical services by prescreening patients and directing them to the right doctors.Continue Reading

• Meditech (Medical Information Technology Inc.)

  Meditech (Medical Information Technology Inc.) is an electronic health record vendor that holds a 19% market share in the hospital industry, but faces intense competition.Continue Reading

• Data blocking: When health information exchanges don't live up to their name

  Data blocking and health information exchanges shouldn't go together. But some HIEs are turning into siloes of data, two experts who discuss the problem say.Continue Reading

• SaaS app built on cognitive computing platform helps with medical codes

  Data analytics and cognitive computing are helping one hospital ensure the correct medical codes are being assigned for Medicare reimbursement via a SaaS application.Continue Reading

• MACRA rules: Ten things to know about the new healthcare law

  An expert's tips for how physicians paid by Medicare can begin to navigate the quickly accelerating transformation into new payment models -- and the related technology -- under MACRA.Continue Reading

• To improve hospital data storage, facilities fire up flash technology

  As petabytes of data make hospital data storage a struggle for health systems, flash storage technology holds promise -- and in some cases, pulls ahead of the cloud.Continue Reading

• Patient population management calls for technological approach

  Shaun Sutner, news and features writer for SearchHealthIT, starts this handbook by interviewing a healthcare analytics expert on population health, analytics and patient engagement. The expert shares why he believes technology and data analytics are...Continue Reading

• Technology drives precision health by linking hospitals and researchers

  A small company in Massachusetts is working to achieve precision health by using their technology to bring hospitals and researchers together.Continue Reading

• Remote patient monitoring technology becoming imperative for providers

  Major healthcare systems are adopting remote patient monitoring systems and technology for groups of patients with chronic conditions, and RPM vendors are having success.Continue Reading

• Smartwatch wearable helps OCR HIPAA audit director stay fit

  Deven McGraw, director of OCR's HIPAA audit program, wears her smartwatch during free-time workouts and while getting steps on the job and says the device helps her keep fit.Continue Reading

• Storage advice for healthcare CIOs: Tech to support a storage plan

  One CIO discusses how his healthcare organization chose a storage vendor and developed a storage plan, and offers advice to healthcare CIOs about how they can do the same.Continue Reading