Meaningful Use Stage 2 has made patient portals a "must-have" technology for doctors and hospitals, according to a KLAS Research survey of more than 200 providers. But the respondents indicated that most of these portals do not yet satisfy their needs in areas such as patient engagement. Another key finding of the survey: providers are gravitating toward portals that are designed for and integrated with their EHRs. Patient portals that merely can be interfaced with a variety of EHRs, such as those from MedSeek and Intuit, are losing market share. In fact, not enough MedSeek customers were included in the survey sample to rank the product.
FORTUNE -- Our country is facing a health care crisis. States are divided on Obamacare and Medicaid, and new legislation is not making any clear progress in increasing access to affordable health care. According to findings by the Urban Institute, nearly two out of every three uninsured low-income individuals — some 9.7 million people — who would have qualified for subsidized coverage under Obamacare might not receive it next year because their states have not expanded Medicaid. Also, according to a study by The Association of American Medical Colleges, we'll be facing a shortage of more than 90,000 doctors in the next five years.
According to the nurse's note, the patient had received a clean bill of health from his regular doctor only a few days before, so I was surprised to see his request for a second opinion. He stared intently at my name badge as I walked into the room, then nodded his head at each syllable of my name as I introduced myself. Shifting his gaze upward to my face, he said, "I'm here, Doc, to make sure I don't have anything serious. I'm not sure my regular doctor was listening to everything I was trying to tell him."
Just days before new online health insurance markets are set to open, the Obama administration Wednesday released a look at average premiums, saying rates in most states are lower than earlier projected -- and that 95 percent of consumers will have at least two insurers to choose from. The report – released the same day that President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton touted the law's benefits -- comes as part of a stepped-up administration effort to explain and defend the health law as congressional Republicans target it for defunding. Until today's report, little information was available about insurance rates in most of the 36 states whose online marketplaces will be overseen entirely or partially by the federal government because state leaders opted out of running their own.
When patients check into a hospital, they expect doctors there to fix what ails them, but one in 20 patients seeking care at hospitals contract a health care–based infection. Those infections escalate care costs to the tune of billions of dollars. And many of them–one in five–are part of the scary alphabet soup of superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics. The problem is not a new one, top health officials say, but as more patients receive minor surgeries and care at clinics and doctor's offices instead of pricier hospital settings, that shift could fuel the growth of infections outside of hospitals.
Obamacare has already transformed Esther Redd's health, like that of thousands of other Americans. Redd had been admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York seven times over six months, spending 24 days there for conditions ranging from kidney failure to high blood pressure and diabetes. Each time she was released, Redd would later miss doctor's appointments and skip medications only to wind up back in the emergency room for basic care. "I was living on the edge," said Redd, a 53-year-old from Harlem. "I wasn't used to going to the doctor."