Featured Report: The Question Your Doctor Should Be Asking You — but Isn’t

Fierce Health IT

Survey: Consumer health tech adoption remains low

Dec,22,2014

by: Katie Dvorak

Use of technology to manage healthcare still remains low for consumers, but many of them view devices and apps in a positive light, according to a new survey from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and research practice Ipsos Public Affairs. For instance, while seven in 10 respondents said they owned a smartphone or tablet, only two in 10 indicated that they used the devices to monitor or manage their health. The older the consumer and the greater their income, the more likely they are to use technology to keep track of their health, according to the report. One of the reasons for low adoption of tech to manage care is security and privacy concerns, according to the report. Because of that, providers must offer secure tools to entice their patients to use them, the authors said.  Read More

Modern Healthcare

What's in your wallet? 'Big data' wants to tell doctors and health plans

Dec,20,2014

by:  Carol Levine

Does privacy still matter? According to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, privacy is no longer a “social norm.” But a recent report from the Pew Research Center found that Americans are indeed concerned about their privacy. More than half (55%) of survey respondents said that the “state of your health and the medications you take” was “very sensitive” information, second only to Social Security numbers. Fewer people considered information about their relationship history (40%), religious or spiritual views (22%), or political views (20%) as very sensitive. At the bottom of the list, only 8% considered “basic purchasing habits” very sensitive. Read More

Time 

The Question Your Doctor Should Be Asking You — but Isn’t

Dec,29,2014

by: Mandy Oaklander

The last time you went to the doctor, were you asked how much soda you drink? Probably not, but at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, it’s now among the standard questions doctors will ask—and then log into the patient’s electronic health record. Those records, analyzed in a new study, reveal some interesting connections between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and a slew of health problems. Read More

Politico Pro

High noon for federal health records program?

Dec,28,2014

by: ARTHUR ALLEN

Vast spending, frustrating software, angry doctors facing a punch in the wallet — and a hungry new Congress. It could add up to a powerful threat to the Obama administration’s $30 billion program to digitize the nation’s medical records.

Many doctors hate the clunky, time-sucking software they got through the massive subsidy program, and most complain that cumbersome information exchange is frustrating their efforts to coordinate and improve patient care. A quarter-million — half of those eligible for the electronic health records program — will face fines in 2015 for failing to use the systems in the way the government required. State Medicaid officials don’t know how many of their doctors are using electronic records, although they have handed out $9 billion of those federal funds to encourage their adoption. Nor do they have much sense of how much the technology is helping low-income patients. Read More

Heathcare POP Mobile Application Development

Healthcare Providers,
As you know Healthcare IT is changing every day especially in the new m-health field. Where mobile devices like iPhones, Smartphones and tablets becoming how doctors react to their patients and staff. But with this changes comes new laws about how mobility should be used to work with patient data in a secure way. This is where our mobile app called "Healthcare POP" can help Healthcare POP brings all of your healthcare info into one web-based app that can that can work on every mobile, tablet and desktop. For more information on Healthcare POP visit our demo website at http://www.wireheadtec.com/MobileApp.html Then call us if you have any questions.

Featured Report: Revised federal data show U.S. healthcare spending growth hit 53-year low in 2013

Modern Healthcare

Revised federal data show U.S. healthcare spending growth hit 53-year low in 2013

Dec,03,2014

by: Melanie Evans

 U.S. healthcare spending apparently grew more slowly last year than at any time in the past half-century—including the Great Recession—as Medicare squeezed outlays, millions of Americans continued to go without health insurance and those with health plans spent at a slower pace on hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.  The nation spent $2.9 trillion on healthcare last year, an increase of 3.6% from the prior year and the weakest growth since 1960, after federal actuaries and economists revised recent estimates. That spending remained weak in 2013 was not surprising: U.S. health spending growth fell below 4% in 2009 with the recession that stripped private health insurance from millions of individuals. But newly revised numbers show an acceleration in 2012 to 4.1% before a slump last year. Read More

MobiHealthNews

MDs may be more interested in DIY health services than patients are

Dec,04,2014

by: Brian Dolan

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute (HRI) published a report on top trends for the health industry in 2015, which was based on findings from a survey of 1,000 consumers in the US and additional interviews with healthcare executives. “With consumers leading the way, bearing more costs and making more decisions, change is erupting throughout the health industry,” Kelly Barnes, PwC’s US health industries leader said in a statement. “Established healthcare companies and new entrants are rapidly developing cost-efficient products and services tailored directly to consumers.”  Read More

Fierce Mobile Healthcare

Report: To succeed, wearables need more than fitness focus

Dec,01,2014

by: Judy Mottl

Unless mHealth wearable makers want innovations to go stale the way some fitness devices have, they'd better start making more appealing and relevant products, says a new Juniper Research report.  "The key is making the devices provide meaning as well as data--counting steps is all very well, but will not keep consumers interested unless that information can be contextualized and made useful for them," James Moar, a research analyst with Juniper, told FierceMobileHealthcare in an email interview. Read More

iHealthbeat

Can the U.S. Health Care System Realize the Promise of Digital Health?

Nov,20,2014

by: Kate Ackerman

NEW YORK -- Embracing digital health is key to curbing out-of-control health care costs, increasing access to care, improving care quality and encouraging patient engagement. But the current regulatory and policy landscape could get in the way of the U.S. realizing the full potential of health IT. That was the message from speakers and attendees at the New York eHealth Collaborative's fourth annual Digital Health Conference in New York City this week. Read More

Wirehead Technology: Healthcare IT Managed Services

Healthcare Providers are you having trouble keeping up with the new government rules and regulations in Healthcare and don't know where to turn to get help? Then let us help you Wirehead Technology's Healthcare Managed IT Services will work with you to help you not only understand the rules but put together all the IT services that will help you comply with all the new Healthcare rules and stay with you to make sure your Healthcare practice is always up to date on all of the rules. To see how we can help your practice visit our Healthcare IT page at 

http://www.wireheadtec.com/Healthcare.html

Featured Report: Twitter may help track flu outbreaks

Kaiser Health News

Pacemakers Get Hacked On TV, But Could It Happen In Real Life?

Nov,06,2014

by: Daniela Hernandez and Julie Appleby 

Jay Radcliffe breaks into medical devices for a living, testing for vulnerabilities as a security researcher.He’s also a diabetic, and gives himself insulin injections instead of relying on an automated insulin pump, which he says could be hacked.“I’d rather stab myself six times a day with a needle and syringe,” Radcliffe recently told security experts meeting near Washington, D.C. “At this point, those devices are not up to standard.” Concern about the vulnerability of medical devices like insulin pumps, defibrillators, fetal monitors and scanners is growing as health care facilities increasingly rely on devices that connect with each other, with hospital medical record systems and —directly or not — with the Internet. Read More

Fierce Mobile Healthcare

Twitter may help track flu outbreaks

Nov,15,2014

by: Judy Mottl

Twitter is proving to be a viable way to track seasonal flu outbreaks, though researchers recommend further study regarding using tweets to monitor influenza outbreaks.

A study by nearly a dozen San Diego State University researchers, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, reveals the social network is becoming a more reliable and accurate supplementary surveillance tool when it comes to identifying flu outbreaks. "With the popularity of social media growing, the Internet is a source for syndromic surveillance due to the availability of large amounts of data," according to the study abstract, which notes that collecting data on flu activity can be slow, and typically delayed by up to two weeks, when using traditional data collection methods. Read More

Fierce Health IT

NIST releases draft guidance on sharing cyberattack info

Nov,13,2014

by: Katie Dvorak

Healthcare providers can help one another when it comes to cyberattacks by sharing information during and after an attack, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created draft guidelines to help organizations handle those relationships. "By sharing cyber threat information, organizations can gain valuable insights about their adversaries," Christopher Johnson, lead author of the guidelines, said in an announcement. "They can learn the types of systems and information being targeted, the techniques used to gain access and indicators of compromise."  Read More

Modern Healthcare

Here's why healthcare should be talking about net neutrality

Nov,19,2014

by: Darius Tahir 

The techie term “net neutrality” likely isn't in the daily lexicon of most senior healthcare executives. But it should be, and soon, argue those in healthcare technology who have been following the topic. The wireless telecommunications industry's trade group, CTIA, for example, has been circulating a letter to healthcare organizations, asking their support to oppose regulation that would ensure continued net neutrality. But others argue healthcare benefits from net neutrality and should be lobbying for its continuance via a new Federal Communications Commission mandate.  Read More

Wirehead Technology Healthcare IT Systems

Wirehead Technology Customized Computers

Healthcare Providers let Wirehead Technology build the computer system that you need to help your practice meet all of the Meaningful Use targets . We can now offer Computers, Laptops, and Storage systems build just for your Healthcare IT needs. Check out our Computer System Configurator and build your computer system to your specification. Or call us today and let one of our IT consultants help you build the computer system that will fit all of your Healthcare IT needs. visit our Equus site and purchase any of Equus full line of PC, Laptops,Storage Systems, and tablets for your business. http://www.wireheadtec.com/products/Equus.html

Featured Report: Connected healthcare device sales to surpass $3B by 2019

HealthDataManagement

HIEs Continue to Face Barriers to Interoperability

Oct,09,2014

by: Greg Slabodkin 

While health information exchange organizations are growing in maturity, they continue to face cost and technical challenges that remain key barriers to interoperability, according to the eHealth Initiative’s 2014 health data exchange survey. The annual survey, which the eHealth Initiative has been conducting for the past 11 years, tracks the growth and progress of electronic health data exchange efforts across the United States. Of 267 identified HIEs, 125 respondents fully completed the survey—74 community-based HIOs, 25 statewide efforts, 26 healthcare delivery organizations—and an additional 10 gave partial responses.  Read More

Modern Healthcare

CMS posts long-awaited Pioneer ACO quality and financial results

Oct,08,2014

by: Melanie Evans 

The CMS published for the first time the quality and financial performance for individual Pioneer accountable care organizations, a small, select group enlisted for Medicare's most ambitious test of the payment model. First year financial results show health spending slowed as much as 7% (PDF)among some ACOs and accelerated as much as 5% for others. In the second year, health spending slowed as much as 5.4% among those that reduced patients' medical bills and accelerated as much as 5.6% where costs escalated.  Read More

MobiHealthNews

Study: Connected healthcare device sales to surpass $3B by 2019

Oct,09,2014

by: Aditi Pai

 Connected healthcare device sales will exceed $3 billion globally by 2019, according to a report from analysis firm Juniper Research. Juniper explains that the connected healthcare devices it looked at include blood pressure cuffs, oximeters for diabetes, and sleep monitors for sleep apnea.  According to the research firm, this growth can be partially attributed to the result of Apple and Samsung’s newly launched health platforms, HealthKit and SAMI. Samsung unveiled its Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions, or SAMI, in May. It described the platform as a “data broker” that future third party health tracking devices could upload data to. This data could then be used by app developers to create new apps. Read More

Modern Healthcare

Health officials tell medical technology group to 'prove it'

Oct,08,2014

by: Sabriya Rice

“Prove it.” That was the resounding message to medical-device manufacturers during the annual Advanced Medical Technology Association conference in Chicago this week. Innovation is needed to advance medicine and better patients' quality of life, but gone are the days of sticking higher price tags on products that only provide incremental improvements, the leaders of health insurance companies, health systems, quality improvement and consumer organizations told the industry. Read More 

Healthcare IT Managed Services

Healthcare Providers are you having trouble keeping up with the new government rules and regulations in Healthcare and don't know where to turn to get help? Then let us help you Wirehead Technology's Healthcare Managed IT Services will work with you to help you not only understand the rules but put together all the IT services that will help you comply with all the new Healthcare rules and stay with you to make sure your Healthcare practice is always up to date on all of the rules. To see how we can help your practice visit our Healthcare IT page at 

http://www.wireheadtec.com/Healthcare.html

Featured Report: 2018: 75 million wireless-connected health and fitness devices predicted to ship

Fierce EMR

Patients of EHR-users more likely to withhold information

July,28,2014

by: Marla Durben Hirsch

A provider's use of an electronic health record can cause a patient to clam up for fear that the data won't be secure, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA).

The researchers, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Dartmouth College, noted that EHRs are a "double-edged sword" in that they're perceived as improving the quality of care but also are seen as having privacy and security risks. Using a nationally representative sample from the 2012 Health Information National Trends Survey, they found that 13 percent of respondents reported having withheld information from their provider because of privacy and security concerns. Read More

Physicians Practice 

A Doctor Reflects on the Small Ways Technology has Changed Practice 

July,25,2014

by:Francis V. Adams, MD

I feel naked without my beeper.  I started wearing one when I was still in medical school more than 40 years ago.  I can’t stop my hand from searching my waist for the clip-on that attaches the beeper to my belt but it isn’t there. It should be on my right side so I can quickly grab it out of the holder and check my page. For all of these years I could not get dressed or leave my home without my beeper. In all that time I can only remember forgetting to clip it to my belt once. I was ill with a stomach flu and had a sleepless night, and I rushed out without it.  Once, my beeper stopped working. I called my answering service and they messengered over a new one.

After 20 years with that beeper I called and asked for a new model. Beepers had gotten smaller and I wanted the latest design.When I called my service recently to tell them I would no longer be carrying a beeper they could not even find the record of my being issued one. They did call the next day to say that they wanted it back. I guessed that they just wanted to see what it looked like.  Read More

HealthDataManagement

Top 7 Myths About HIPAA Security Risk Analysis

July,31,2014

by: Staff

The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights’ pilot program to conduct HIPAA privacy and security audits showed that the top deficiency among audited organizations was the lack of a sufficient risk analysis plan. Coalfire Systems, an IT security advisory, audit and testing services firm, advises avoiding seven common myths about a security risk analysis.

Read More 

MobiHealthNews

2018: 75 million wireless-connected health and fitness devices predicted to ship

July,31,2014

by: Brian Dolan

By 2018 an estimated 75.7 million consumer health and fitness devices with integrated wireless connectivity will ship, up from 23 million such devices in 2011, according to a recent report from IHS Technology. The research firms points out that Bluetooth Smart-connected devices are the most popular, but devices that make use of the fitness and health-focused ANT standard also have a foothold.

The firm also expects that the semiconductors that provide the wireless connectivity for health and fitness devices will have “solid double-digit growth” this year and over the course of the next few.  Read More

IBM Smarter Healthcare

We are an IBMer,

Wirehead Technology has teamed up with IBM to bring a broad range of business and technology services that deliver real business results and can help connect your business's people, information and systems to create a smarter, more successful enterprise. Proven to work for small and medium businesses, the IBM Collaboration Solutions portfolio delivers robust collaboration software that empowers people to connect, collaborate, and innovate while optimizing the way they work. IBM Collaboration Solutions capabilities help our customers become a social business, one that embraces networks of people to create business value. Check us out at IBM ShowCase

Featured Report: What Doctors Should Say When Patients Want a Miracle

What Doctors Should Say When Patients Want a Miracle

Time June,18,2014 by:+Alexandra Sifferlin Many doctors, when delivering difficult news, have heard sick patients say they're hoping for a miracle. That conversation can be difficult for physicians, whose careers are grounded in science-but who are also in the business of saving lives. While "miracles" may seem a silly thing to wish for, a 2008 study, 57% of randomly surveyed adults said they believed God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment futile. Read More  F.D.A. Proposes Rules for Listing Risks on Social Media New York Times June,17,2014 by:+SABRINA TAVERNISE The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed new rules that would require drug and medical device makers to disclose risks, along with benefits, of products on social media platforms, even when the allowable length of messages is very limited as on Twitter. Until now, many medical product makers have refrained from using Facebook and Twitter to talk about their products because they were unsure of the rules or whether the F.D.A. would censure them, said Lori Leskin, a lawyer at Kaye Scholer. The rules would also permit, but not require, companies to correct misleading information posted by third parties about their products. Read More Telemedicine licensing 'out of date'

FierceHealthIT

June,18,2014

by:+Dan Bowman

In letters sent this week to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Health, the American Telemedicine Association and Health IT Now both encourage passage of the Telehealth for Medicare (TELE-MED) Act of 2013 saying the legislation would increase patient access to healthcare by enabling Medicare providers to practice across state lines without having to obtain another license. Read More  

                        

 Wirehead Technology's Healthcare IT Managed Services

Healthcare Providers are you having trouble keeping up with the new government rules and regulations in Healthcare and don't know where to turn to get help? Then let us help you Wirehead Technology's Healthcare Managed IT Services will work with you to help you not only understand the rules but put together all the IT services that will help you comply with all the new Healthcare rules and stay with you to make sure your Healthcare practice is always up to date on all of the rules to come visit our Healthcare IT Page 

Featured Report: Concentra, QCA Health Plan agree to HIPAA breach settlements

Concentra, QCA Health Plan agree to HIPAA breach settlements

Health IT Analytics Apr,22,2014 by:+Patrick Ouellette The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent out a release today detailing two entities' settlements for HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule violations involving unencrypted laptop thefts. According to the OCR release, Concentra Health Services (Concentra), and QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas have agreed to pay the OCR a total of $1,975,220. Read More

Misdiagnosis could affect 12M U.S. adults annually, study finds

Modern Healthcare Apr,16,2014 by:+ Sabriya Rice An estimated 1 in 20 U.S. adults could be misdiagnosed during outpatient visits, and about half of those errors could prove to be harmful for the patient, finds a new study in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety. Misdiagnoses remain a major problem, healthcare quality and safety experts say, one that is often overlooked and underfunded. Read More

Survey: 40 percent would share personal health data if it remained anonymous

Survey: 40 percent would share personal health data if it remained anonymous

MobiHealthNews Apr,10,2014 by:+Aditi Pai Almost 90 percent of Americans say they would make their personal health data available to researchers to help them better understand a disease or to improve care and treatment options, according to a survey of 1,001 Americans over the age of 18 conducted by research firm Kelton and healthcare communications firm Makovsky Health. Read More

EHR Incentive Program Healthcare Professionals Did You Know? Non-hospital-based physicians and other eligible professionals can obtain incentive payments of as much as $44,000 under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid. Under both Medicare and Medicaid, eligible hospitals may receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology. About two-thirds (65 percent) of hospitals and 32 percent of office-based physicians plan to enroll in meaningful use programs by the end of 2012 in order to receive the maximum incentives, according to survey results announced Thursday morning. Fewer federal dollars will be available to hospitals and doctors that wait to adopt EHR technology, and failure to meaningfully use EHRs starting in 2015 will result in Medicare penalties. Watch this video about how to register for the EHR Incentive program. EHR Incentive Program Registration Do you need help with HIPAA and HITECH? Then download and Read our HIPAA Guide for for Doctors and Small Clinics that contains HIPAA security regulations and check lists that you can use to start your EMR network.

Wirehead Technology's Healthcare IT Managed Services Healthcare Providers are you having trouble keeping up with the new government rules and regulations in Healthcare and don't know where to turn to get help? Then let us help you Wirehead Technology's Healthcare Managed IT Services will work with you to help you not only understand the rules but put together all the IT services that will help you comply with all the new Healthcare rules and stay with you to make sure your Healthcare practice is always up to date on all of the rules to come visit our Healthcare IT Page

Featured Report: Unlocking the Power of Health Data

Unlocking the Power of Health Data

iHealthBeat Mar,27,2014 by:+David Harlow In this day and age, with fewer and fewer exceptions, each of us has a digital footprint as a patient. Each of us has an intentional digital footprint, created by each of us directly and by the trusted others with whom we interact in the real world and online -- through electronic health records, personal health records, personal tracker data, blogs, tweets, etc. Read More

House passes contested 'doc-fix' patch with ICD-10 extension

Modern Healthcare Mar,27,2014 by:+Paul Demko Despite opposition from doctors' groups, on a voice vote Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a one-year patch for Medicare's unpopular sustainable growth-rate formula for physician payments and, in the same bill, extended the implementation deadline for ICD-10 diagnostic and procedural codes for at least a year. Read More

Seven Signs It's Time to Switch EHRs

Seven Signs It's Time to Switch EHRs

Physician Practice Mar,24,2014 by:+Michael Wilson Nothing is worse than being stuck with a crucial piece of software in your medical practice that you absolutely hate. A Black Book Rankings report found that 35 percent of medical professionals report being unsatisfied with their current system and nearly one in three medical providers want to switch. Read More

EHR Incentive Program Healthcare Professionals Did You Know? Non-hospital-based physicians and other eligible professionals can obtain incentive payments of as much as $44,000 under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid. Under both Medicare and Medicaid, eligible hospitals may receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology. About two-thirds (65 percent) of hospitals and 32 percent of office-based physicians plan to enroll in meaningful use programs by the end of 2012 in order to receive the maximum incentives, according to survey results announced Thursday morning. Fewer federal dollars will be available to hospitals and doctors that wait to adopt EHR technology, and failure to meaningfully use EHRs starting in 2015 will result in Medicare penalties. Watch this video about how to register for the EHR Incentive program. EHR Incentive Program Registration Do you need help with HIPAA and HITECH? Then download and Read our HIPAA Guide for for Doctors and Small Clinics that contains HIPAA security regulations and check lists that you can use to start your EMR network.

Wirehead Technology's Healthcare IT Managed Services Healthcare Providers are you having trouble keeping up with the new government rules and regulations in Healthcare and don't know where to turn to get help? Then let us help you Wirehead Technology's Healthcare Managed IT Services will work with you to help you not only understand the rules but put together all the IT services that will help you comply with all the new Healthcare rules and stay with you to make sure your Healthcare practice is always up to date on all of the rules to come visit our Healthcare IT Page