Making Health Data Healthier

May 29, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

Data collection and its use and security are creating healthy discussions within the healthcare industry.  I recently conducted a Q&A session with Janice McCallum, managing director of Content Advisors and a leading Health IT thought...

Compliance Meets The Cloud

May 21, 2013
Barb White

The clock is ticking down to Sept. 23, 2013, the HIPAA final omnibus rule deadline. If you’re a hospital or health system, do you have “reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards” in place to help protect your...

Reflections From TEDMED

May 14, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

I recently spoke at TEDMED13, the healthcare and medical focused conference of the broader TED organization.  Now, I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing people, but I have to admit that I was a little star struck.  The thrill of shaking hands with Aneesh Chopra, the chief technology officer for the United...

Cyber Attacks And Security Breaches In Healthcare

April 24, 2013
Barb White

I read almost daily in the news about cyber attacks on U.S. banks, infrastructure, government agencies, and businesses. In fact, government agencies saw a more than 650% increase in cyber security incidents from 2006 to 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO reports that a main reason for the increase is the failure of agencies to fully implement their IT security programs....

The Patient’s Perspective

March 26, 2013
Barb White

The debate rages on about the viability of the cloud for the healthcare industry, mainly weighing security risks against the benefits of lower costs and improved outcomes. Private, closed systems can be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant and...

Putting The Power In Health Information Exchange

March 6, 2013
Andrew Biviano

What comes to mind when you hear the term “Health Information Exchange (HIE)?”  For me, it means an opportunity for better care coordination -- which ultimately results in better outcomes, improved clinical and administrative efficiency, and reduced costs.  But I’ve been around healthcare long enough to recognize that...

Breaking Down Barriers

March 4, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

The practice of medicine is always seeking improvements. From leeches to laparoscopic surgeries, the medical field is dynamic and progressive by nature.  Standards of care are never stagnant, they move forward with the times. Likewise, the delivery of care has changed. There was...

6 Critical Questions For Your Healthcare Cloud Vendor

February 26, 2013
Barb White

Security is always a concern with any cloud service, but the sensitive nature of personal health information makes security for cloud storage of medical records, including digital medical images, especially critical. Cloud services can actually be more secure than your own local server, but it depends on the vendor’s standards and practices for protecting the imaging data....

Connecting The Dots In Healthcare

February 18, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

There are countless sayings about the power of teamwork and collaboration. One of my favorites is by Helen Keller: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." The truth is that when we look across healthcare there are many touch points. The catch is to make sure the points are touching....

The Final Rule Is HERE

February 8, 2013
Bindu Sundaresan

On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a press release announcing publication of the final omnibus rule with Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement and Breach Notification Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act....

Henry Ford Health System Moves Medical Images To The Cloud

February 7, 2013
ATT

From diagnosis to treatment and follow-up, motion images of the heart play a central role in cardiac care for Henry Ford Health System, one of the nation’s largest integrated healthcare systems. The challenge was in archiving the 25,000 heart studies that the Cardiology department creates each year....

Let’s Make 2013 The Year Of Putting Patients First In Healthcare

February 1, 2013
Barb White

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act behind us, we’re focused on the future of healthcare: a new era where we put patients at the center of care. Providers’ focus is shifting from productivity and efficiency toward positive patient experiences and delivering the highest quality of care. Meanwhile, insurers are being pressed to design health plans that serve consumers, instead of...

Pressing Start

January 21, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

It’s resolution time!  If you’re like most Americans, this time of year your thoughts turn to your waistline. Losing weight was named the top New Year’s resolution in a survey by the University of Scranton, yet we all know that many times “resolutions” quickly fall to the wayside. The truth is that obesity is a huge issue in this country. Over the last two decades,...

Putting Docs’ Black Bags Into Their Pockets

January 7, 2013
Geeta Nayyar

One of coolest changes technology has brought about is the ability to connect “in person” from wherever you are. On Dec. 19, I had the opportunity to speak “face-to-face” with a group of mHealth thought leaders as part of a Nova Southwestern University Google+ Hangout. As they sat in their respective offices and I joined from clinic in Miami, very appropriately, much of the conversation focused on mobile health technologies of...

You Can Get There from Here (Part 2)

December 4, 2012
Geeta Nayyar

Washington, D.C. is the place to be this week!  I’m here at the nation’s capital for the mHealth Summit, the largest mobile health event of its kind. Folks here at the summit are talking about the importance of patient-centric healthcare … and what we can do to make it a reality. I’m thrilled to be surrounded by so many like-minded people, and this conference has me thinking even more about the future of healthcare. In a recent...

What Can Healthcare CIOs Learn From Recovering Hoarders?

November 12, 2012
Barb White

If you’ve ever watched the television shows that detail the lives of collectors and hoarders, you’ll understand the comparison I’m about to draw. These shows follow the challenges of people who have trouble parting with their belongings, and how they try to recover from this compulsion. Funny, that’s the view a lot of healthcare chief information officers (CIOs) seem to take these days — they cannot part with medical images even...

You Can Get There from Here: The Road To Better Healthcare

November 5, 2012
Geeta Nayyar

When ForHealth was formed in 2010, healthcare in the United States was heading in a new direction.  Innovation was the buzz word and the terms “cloud” and “ACOs” were trending. Meaningful use was being drafted, mobile health was beginning to inspire developers, and the Affordable Care Act had just been passed.  AT&T spent much of 2010...

Steering Clear: Avoiding Disasters In Healthcare IT

October 16, 2012
Barb White

I talk to a lot of healthcare organizations that are embracing the cloud. They see it as a practical and cost-effective way to meet the intense demands of...

The RX For Risk Reduction In Healthcare

October 15, 2012
Geeta Nayyar

Hospitals and healthcare providers are increasingly relying upon the convenience and flexibility of mobile solutions, particularly in light of the increasing number of...

Closing The mHealth Gap— Lessons From DiabetesManager

October 8, 2012
Geeta Nayyar

We often hear mHealth described as a nascent space--one where there is still a substantial gap between the potential of tomorrow and the reality of today....

Saving Dollars and Making Sense — National Health IT Week

September 24, 2012
Geeta Nayyar

National Health IT Week comes but once a year—and it always brings fruitful and compelling discussions along with it....