There are a number of reasons for this sorry state of affairs, including political resistance to the healthcare reform law and concern about the possibility of an adverse Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the statute. In addition, a KPMG survey of state officials found that a third of them regarded cost as the biggest obstacle to building insurance exchanges. The history of the Massachusetts' Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, popularly known as the Health Connector, shows that technology is not an insurmountable barrier to HIX. According to a 2010 report from CSC, which helped the state build the Health Connector website, it took only five months to design and build the exchange, which has operated successfully since 2007.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken said Wednesday he plans to pursue legislation or federal regulations requiring encryption of all laptops containing private medical information, after presiding over a hearing on aggressive debt collection practices in several Minnesota hospitals. Franken questioned executives from Chicago-based Accretive Health Inc. and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services. The issue came to light when an unencrypted laptop containing private information for 23,500 patients was stolen from an Accretive employee's car.
Doctors in London are trialling "touchless" technology, often used in TV games, to help them carry out delicate keyhole surgery. The system allows them to manipulate images with their voice and hand-gestures rather than using a keyboard and mouse. Surgeons say it gives them more control and avoids disruption. Independent experts say this approach could become the norm over the next ten or 15 years. Surgeons are increasingly reliant on 3D images to carry out complex and delicate procedures.
Contributing forces, from the primary care shortage to the rise in the uninsured, are adding to overcrowded emergency departments and deep concerns about patient safety. Hospital leaders, uncertain about their systems' preparedness, as well as how healthcare reform will further affect the flow of patients, are strategizing to reduce congestion, cut wait times, and improve care coordination.
As health systems try to improve their EDs, healthcare leaders are watching the financial framework with caution. About 80% say they expect their ED revenue margins will worsen as a result of healthcare reform and 78% say their reimbursement also will get worse. View the data from the most recent HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Report, Volume, Flow, and Safety Issues in the ED, in this slideshow.
Even states that are solidly committed to pursuing an exchange are facing major logistical challenges in building the computer systems that will be able to handle enrollment when exchanges open for business in 2014. That's largely because the system that will actually connect people to the right coverage will have to "talk" to many other systems, and the systems don't use a common language. This includes a yet-to-be built federal "data hub" with tax and citizenship info, the enrollment systems of multiple private insurers selling exchange plans and—hardest of all—state Medicaid enrollment systems, many of which are not yet fully computerized.
Electronic health records have been held up as a way to improve medical care, but a new study suggests they are not necessarily making a difference in diabetes treatment. The study, of 42 physician practices in two U.S. states, found offices that used electronic records actually gave lower-quality diabetes care than those that stuck with old-fashioned paper records. On the bright side, diabetes management actually improved across all the practices over the course of the study period. But offices using electronic records lagged.