Aug 10, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
CMS wants pathologists and other healthcare providers to report “every issue—small, medium and large,” when someone gets in the way of information sharing
Federal health officials are taking steps to end technology vendors’ “data blocking” practices that inhibit the electronic transfer of patient information. This is a tactic that has proven costly for pathology groups and clinical laboratories that want to interface their laboratory information systems with providers’ or hospitals’ electronic healthcare records (EHRs).
The fiscal year 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed by Congress in December directed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to decertify electronic health record products that are knowingly interfering with the sharing of health information. (more…)
May 20, 2015 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
More collaboration between radiologists and pathologists could speed up diagnoses, increase accuracy, and improve patient outcomes, say advocates of an integrated diagnostic service
For years, certain pathologists and radiologists have floated the idea that an integrated diagnostic service involving both medical specialties could improve patient safety and contribute to improved patient outcomes. Now that the U.S. healthcare system is encouraging tighter integration of clinical services, advocates of an integrated diagnostic service involving radiology and pathology believe that the era of integrated diagnostics may be soon upon us.
There is appeal to the concept of an integrated diagnostic service that would deliver a single, unified report to the referring physician. For example, pathologists and radiologists often work together to work up certain types of cancer. They bring complementary skills to the diagnostic process. Often, particularly in complex cases, their collaboration improves the precision of their respective diagnoses and points the physician to the most appropriate therapies for the patient. (more…)
Mar 19, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement, Management & Operations
Because of the failure of many EHR products to obtain MU Stage 2 certification, physicians using those EHRs are being forced to buy and implement a different EHR
Like the jaws of a vise squeezing together, the nation’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups now find themselves caught in the jaws of the federal government’s complex program to encourage providers to adopt and use electronic health record (EHR) systems.
One jaw is the failure of many EHR systems to certify to Meaningful Use Stage Two requirements, thus exposing physicians using those EHRs to substantial Medicare penalties as early as this year.
The other jaw of this proverbial vise is the need—for the second time—for many medical laboratories to spend substantial amounts of money to create a new LIS-to-EHR interface to those client physicians who are replacing their first EHR system, because it is not certified to Meaningful Use Stage 2 and they want to avoid Medicare penalties for use of a non-certified EHR. (more…)
Mar 4, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers could find opportunity to add value as providers learn to use big data to improve patient outcomes and lower costs
Early adopter accountable care organizations (ACOs) are establishing data warehouses. This is a first step in collecting and analyzing healthcare big data. The move toward integrated care makes big data critical to an ACO’s success. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will want to follow the healthcare big data trend because laboratory test results will be a major component of that data.
The Goal of Healthcare Big Data
The goal for healthcare big data is twofold: 1) develop the ability to aggregate a vast amount of data from wide-ranging sources, and 2) use that data in real time to improve care and lower costs, a recent story published in Modern Healthcare (MH) reported. New performance-based reimbursement models mean that big data analytics will be essential for ACOs to succeed going forward. (more…)
Dec 19, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing
electronic health recordNew products are expected to radically change the wearable fitness device game by allowing physicians and patients and even pathologists to see the same data
If Apple Inc. can succeed with its latest wearable health device, experts predict that physicians may soon begin using it to monitor the health of their patients. This may be auspicious for pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists if physicians ask them to monitor that patient data and provide consultative support.
It was in September when Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled its new smartwatch. When combined with Apple’s HealthKit software platform, the Apple watch might well the most powerful wearable health-tracking device to hit the market yet. (more…)
