by Tim Rowan, Editor As this issue was going to press, the March 1 Sequestration deadline came and went, with all sides spending more time arguing who is to blame than writing legislation. Medicare providers will face a 2% rate reduction if sequestration is not avoided but it is not that simple.

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  To help healthcare providers prepare for ICD-10, CMS has released new checklists and timelines for small and medium provider practices, large provider practices, small hospitals and payers. These resources are designed to give a high-level understanding of what the ICD-10 transition requires and how each provider’s ICD-10 preparations compare with recommended time frames. Many […]

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  By Audrey Kinsella Patient engagement is an experience, an expectation and a goal. Persons with chronic conditions, especially in this era of accountable care, reach for the goal as they experience care at the hands of professionals, from whom they expect quality interactions. Patient engagement is a goal at the Center for Connected Health, […]

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  The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference takes place amid growing pressure on the health care industry and the Obama administration to move forward with interoperability. But HIMSS Vice President for Informatics, Joyce Sensmeier, says the keys for sharing patient data among different IT systems, devices and platforms already exist. She was interviewed […]

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  Grane Home Health and Grane Hospice, a locally owned and operated agency serving Western Pennsylvania from its Pittsburgh headquarters chose CellTrak as a point of care mobile solution to interface with its McKesson Horizon EHR system.  Details about its use by clinicians are provided, in an article below, titled “Pittsburgh home care and hospice […]

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  In 2004, President George W. Bush set a goal for the Department of Health and Human Services to guide completion of a National Health Information Network within 10 years. To spearhead the project, he created, but did not initially fund, the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology. Nine years and four […]

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Authentidate Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: ADAT), a provider of secure web-based software applications and telehealth products and services for healthcare organizations, and Fastrack™ Healthcare Systems have entered into an agreement to provide ongoing development updates and support for an interface between Authentidate’s Inscrybe® Referral and Order Management solution and the Fastrack™ Enterprise System.The interface automates electronic […]

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  A study led by Joshua S. Barclay, M.D., of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, suggests that terminally ill patients with lower incomes are less likely to die at home, even with hospice care. The study analyzed data from census tracts and hospice care provider Online First.

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  A simple self-monitoring test could reduce the risk of stroke by half in thousands of people who currently take Warfarin to prevent blood clots. Better access to technologies for self-monitoring of international normalized ratio (INR) levels, which measures how long it takes blood to form a clot, could also lower mortality rates by nearly […]

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  by Liz Seegert A strategic commitment to technology is making Senior Home Care, Inc. a leading player in the Sunshine State. They are the first Florida home care agency to join that state’s health information exchange, a network of 22 providers that seamlessly share patient information – extending the continuum of care and lowering […]