Case Management

Health Case Management Article on Technology and Patient Outcomes

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

How Innovative Technology Is Improving Patient Outcomes

Recently, healthcare had made some enormous progress. More compact and powerful hardware, along with increased competition and demand, has fueled intense research to bring us insights and tools that weren’t possible a generation ago. Here are just a few of the ways that technical innovation is creating more positive patient outcomes.

Wearables

Monitoring patient vitals has gone way beyond attaching wires and sensors directly to the skin. Today’s electronics allow medical sensors to be built right into hospital clothing, a technology that’s become known as fibertronics. The original concept had clothing such as shirts where traditional sensors were permanently attached to measure and transmit vitals like temperature, pulse, respiration, and even blood sugar levels.

With fibertronics, an array of tiny sensors and microchips can be wired right into hospital garb. This is hardly noticeable for the patient, and fibertronics actually provides more consistent and comprehensive information.

Telemedicine

The data that is provided by hospital sensors is taking the form of telemedicine. It can be uploaded to hospital computers anywhere in the world, where it’s analyzed by increasingly advanced algorithms that learn and adapt to patient trends. The results are instantly transmitted to viewable screens. Nursing staff can see essentially real-time reporting and react accordingly. Many systems can also provide visual and audio alerts if these readings fall outside safe thresholds.

This provides a level of visibility into the condition of ICU or incapacitated patients that is saving lives. Constant monitoring allows for more collaboration and better emergency management among nursing staff.

Bioprinting

The rapid evolvement of biologic materials that can be applied with 3D printing methods has opened the doors to astonishing possibilities for surgeons. While there is still some controversy surrounding the subject, laboratories can use stem cells to generate a sampling of the patient’s own cell types for a variety of applications. Today’s surgeons have already managed to recreate bones, arteries, skin, and even liver tissue to give those suffering from disease or traumatic injury new hope.

With bioprinting, doctors could recreate replacement parts to precise custom dimensions, so that even those born with birth defects may be able to lead normal lives.

AR and VR

Virtual reality has gone way beyond a video gamer’s paradise to helping improve medical outcomes. Surgeons faced with difficult procedures can review and practice them in virtual reality before cutting into the patient. Augmented reality adds something to the experience, such as providing important textual information to students using this technology to understand different treatments.

Patients about to undergo these procedures can also immerse themselves in VR to see for themselves exactly what will be happening. Viewing the entire procedure can give them a greater understanding and peace of mind. VR can also help them to understand and appreciate their own post-op obligations for ideal recovery.

Patient Education

Keeping patients educated and informed on their medical conditions and treatment is an important aspect of achieving the most successful outcomes and improving HCAHPS scores. Modern technology programs can automatically update patients on their own diagnosis, treatment, and recovery programs. Patients can read explanations and view video feeds related to their prognosis at every stage of the journey from examination to recovery.

Those undergoing treatment can interact with digital resources for viewing appointment and medication schedules, the identity and background of primary caregivers, dietary requirements, and even consult through video chat. Giving patients more information on their own condition and treatments will empower them to have a greater impact on their own recovery.

These are just a few of the emerging technologies that are providing healthcare professionals with superior tools and techniques. But helping patients to understand their own part in the healing process is also essential.

 

 

About the author: Anica is a professional content and copywriter from San Francisco, California. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty.

 

 

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Case Management Program Article on Data Breaches

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

HIPAA Headaches: What Happens When Patient Data is Compromised

 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is legislation that outlines how health records must be protected and secured. However, in today’s technology advanced world, data breaches are occurring at an alarming rate and some of those breaches have compromised health records. Healthcare providers must understand how dangerous medical record breaches can be and what to do if they believe their data has been compromised.

Incidences of Medical Record Data Breaches

Over the past few years, 89 percent of healthcare organizations experienced a security breach. One reason hackers are particularly interested in health records is that they contain information that can lead to identity theft, such as social security numbers, home addresses and even the names of family members which are often used as security questions. It is expected that more than 25 million people will have their medical information stolen between 2015 and 2019. Breaches occur in many different ways. Some of the most common reasons for a breach in health records include:

  • Healthcare employee uses an unsecure cloud-based app to access protected health information
  • Excel spreadsheets with patient information copied and stolen
  • Missing backup disks from an unlocked storage facility
  • A weak password leads to a server breach
  • Doctors or administrators provide staff with usernames and passwords enabling an employee unauthorized access to data
  • The hacking of a server leading to the misappropriation of patient information

Healthcare Provider Responsibility Under HIPAA

All medical professionals, including doctors, nursing professionals, and technicians are required to safeguard patient records as much as possible. The 2009 stimulus act required that a breach that affects 500 or more patients must be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the media. One way that healthcare providers could provide added protection is to encrypt data, something that financial organizations have done for years, but something that healthcare providers have been slow to adopt. Other ways that medical records can be protected is by improved cloud storage and stricter password rules.

Increased Fines

One thing that the government is looking into to stop the increase in medical record breaches is an increase in fines against healthcare providers when data is breached. In many cases, the breaches occur due to lax security at the healthcare location. More than 40 percent involved portable devices like laptops or USB hard drives while a large number of other breaches occurred due to easily-hacked passwords. Since the enactment of HIPAA, there were more than 22,000 complaints about violations of privacy in medical records but only one fine has been issued since 2003.

It is critical that healthcare providers take as many steps as possible to protect the records of the patients they care for and there are steps that can be taken to that end. Encryption, stronger password requirements and secure cloud storage are three of the best ways you can keep your patient’s health records safe. Hopefully, the above information will help you, as a professional, to better secure your patients’ data.

 

Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and mother of two from Sacramento, CA. She enjoys kayaking and reading books by the lake.

 

 

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Healthcare Case Management Program Article on Healthcare Upgrades

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Six Healthcare Upgrades Coming Soon to Your Clinic

Although many clinics are still behind the times, that’s all about to change. Advances in healthcare technologies and policies have forced administrators and owners across the nation to upgrade systems to meet growing demand. You can expect to soon benefit from the following healthcare upgrades in technology and clinic processes.

Electronic Health Records

Treatment and diagnosis, especially during emergencies, happen far more quickly when healthcare workers aren’t trying to sift through hard copy paper medical records to look for important patient details. With electronic health records, all health history is saved to a digital file that they can easily access, search, and share as needed.

Health Data Storage and Archiving

A wide variety of programs make it easier for healthcare personnel to access, search, and share your information. With a healthcare data storage company that provides a good program, your clinic’s staff members can use a simple keyword search tool to quickly locate important details about your health. With a health data archiving program, your clinic can securely store years of your data and won’t lose important information.

Online Health Maintenance

Online patient accounts help you to make certain that information is accurate and up-to-date, and give you access to appointment setting and reminder tools and communication options. Some clinics even offer online exams where nurses and doctors determine if patients are experiencing minor ailments or more serious problems that require on-site evaluation via video and VOIP.

Digital Signage and Touchscreens

Instead of providing important information about common conditions, new medications, and local and national healthcare news via brochures, fliers, and handouts, clinics can now provide these details and so much more while you wait via wall-based and kiosk digital signage. Touchscreens allow patients to print out details they want and check in electronically with a few finger taps or an ID barcode scanner.

Integrated Diagnosis and Treatment Systems

Changes in healthcare have also lead to more integrated systems. For example, during an outpatient procedure, a physician might utilize a new integrated treatment system to pull up your stored healthcare records to check symptoms or contact a colleague for assistance.

Physician-Focused Notation Tools

In recent years, physician note-taking tools have wasted a lot of time by forcing physicians to type too much or use long drop-down menus. New advances have resulted in a more comfortable and time-saving blend of software that converts handwritten notes to text and offers shorter drop-down options.

These are only a few of the amazing upgrades you can expect to see soon. Technology is always developing and has already changed many ways healthcare is carried out. From the diagnosis stage to recovery, medicine and technology always need to be top notch. Contact your clinic today for more information on new technologies and how to use some of the new processes and technologies.

Eileen O’Shanassy is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She writes on a variety of topics and loves to research and write. She enjoys baking, biking, and kayaking. Check out her Twitter @eileenoshanassy.

 

If you would like to learn more also about AIHCP’s certifications, then please review our Healthcare case management program

Where Your Healthcare Management is Failing and How to Fix it

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Healthcare administrators often have difficult jobs, with their work environment constantly changing through new technologies and evolving practices. Fortunately, healthcare managers can make several improvements in their workplace setting as these changes take place. Here are some ideas to help healthcare professionals stay on top of changes in the industry.

Specialize for Growth
In the last decade, the number of specialty hospitals has increased. Many large cities have several diagnostic centers and outpatient surgery centers and patients have several options for where to go for treatment. Medical facilities must distinguish themselves from their competition and administrators must take into account the local demographics and the competing physicians specializations. When managers have identified their target population and their medical needs, the administrator can recruit qualified staff.

Prepare for the Future
Healthcare managers must also prepare for the future. The elderly population will need more medical care in the next few years and hospitals must meet the increased demand. In addition to keeping up with the growing demand, administrators must change the payment model. In the past, doctors were paid based on the services they provided. Now, the overall quality of care is an important factor in how payment is decided.

Patient Satisfaction
When payments are based on the overall quality of care, hospital managers have to make patient satisfaction a priority. Many administrators are conducting market research surveys. In large cities and rural areas, many hospitals are being renovated. Hospital managers want to make sure that the patient is always completely satisfied. Make changes when possible and necessary.

Technology and Patient Care
Technology is improving the current health care model and healthcare professionals are spending millions of dollars on electronic record keeping systems like EHR migrations. The technology gives doctors instant access to important information and federal requirements.

Affordable Health Services and Medicaid
In the last few years, many people have dealt with layoffs and the number of underinsured and uninsured Americans continues to increase. Currently, healthcare managers are dealing with financial challenges. Many patients cannot afford quality medical care. Healthcare managers must find the perfect balance between health care services and costs. The government has expanded Medicaid, and many nurse practitioners are opening low-cost medical offices.

Healthcare managers today must acclimate to changes that are occurring at the entry level and the managerial level. In the future, managers will need to implement measures that are above the status quo and will need to continue to focus on hygienic practices, health data archiver software, patient satisfaction, and affordable health care services.

 

Please also review our healthcare management certification for healthcare managers seeking to learn more and become certified.

 

Healthcare Case Management: What Provisions are Missing from Your Healthcare Future?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

What Provisions are Missing from Your Healthcare Future?

There will be several changes in the medical industry coming soon. The Affordable Care Act is impacting doctors, nurses, and patients with it’s new laws and rules. Many nurses are working fewer hours as a result, and providing quality medical care is becoming a challenge for some. Fortunately, hospitals and clinics will always need nurses and there are many improvements coming along with these changes. Patients should be concerned about their health care plans and what is included in them. A quality health care plan will have the following provisions.

Home Health Care Worker

Many people receive health care services outside of a medical setting, especially as they get older. Home health care workers provide services to people who are temporarily and permanently disabled. A home health care nurse can assist patients with their daily tasks and can also give the patient’s family detailed care instructions. It is always a good idea to include provisions for a home nurse or assistant. Check out programs like United Energy Workers Healthcare for more information on what you may qualify for.

Mental Health Care Services

Some people need mental health care services in their healthcare plan. Before you purchase a health care plan, you should make sure the plan offers coverage for certain mental health care services if this is an issue for you. The plan should offer coverage for inpatient and outpatient treatment centers. Some insurance policies have a separate deductible for mental health care services as well. You should choose a plan that has an affordable deductible for mental health care services.

Chiropractic and Acupuncture Coverage

Some insurance plans do not cover chiropractic and acupuncture services. If you deal with chronic pain, make sure you have services on hand or that are provided for in some way. Some people think that these benefits are not a necessity, but if you ever have a serious injury, you may need chiropractic or acupuncture services and they can be covered.

Pre-existing Conditions Coverage

All medical plans should cover pre-existing conditions. In the past, insurance companies would not insure people who had a pre-existing medical condition. The affordable care act does not allow discrimination based on a person’s current health status. You should make sure that the insurance policy does not permit exclusions based on pre-existing medical conditions.

Preventative Health Care Services

Your plan should offer affordable preventative health care services. Most doctors want to treat a serious medical condition in the early stages of the disease. If your plan has reasonably priced preventative health care services, you can visit your primary care doctor whenever you have a medical problem.

New changes are becoming effective every year, and the changes are impacting individuals and large companies. Your insurance policy is an important purchase. If you have any questions about your policy, you should contact the company for clarification.

 

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Case Management Education: Medical Audits: What You Need To Know To Survive One

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

 

Introduction to medical audits and why they exist

Medical audits can help a medical practice objectively review its employees’ practices of diagnosis, billing, consumption of materials, and time usage. These are all components of quality medical care and profitable operations, and must be balanced for the good of the practice. It is possible to discover weaknesses in a medical practices procedures and care before that weakness is able to be discerned by actual patients or their care through the findings of a diligent medical audit.

Why medical audits are needed

To ensure profitability of a medical practice, the business must find a method of measuring performance of personnel, justifying monetary and time expenditures, and quantifying adherence to accepted standards of care to patients. An efficient way of keeping track of these dissimilar matters is by accurate charting procedures by all staff. That chart record establishes a course of treatment for each patient and forms a traceable medical record of a patient’s treatment history. EHR migration is becoming more popular in the medical field, and requires strict attention to detail. Moving records online makes it easier to store and access data for further treatment or audits. Being able to audit a medical office’s activities can provide a detailed history of the care given to a specific patient and the cost of that care. Those are vital facts for anyone coordinating the operations of a medical office.

 

What is covered; how to prepare, and how to benefit from an audit

Prior to beginning a medical audit, a medical office beginning such an audit should start with a vision of what is to be looked at, looked for, and what the results should represent. It is always important to be able to identify that a practice can migrate properly within the established standard for those records. It is also important to ascertain the level of quality to be achieved and how to reach that level if it is not reached at the time of the audit.

 

It is important to have a quality standard to aspire to when beginning an audit. That way, future goals can be set using the results of your medical audit to improve your operations and elevate your standard of care. By using the audit as record of how the medical practice is performing and serving its patients as well as its own business interests, a medical audit can serve as a quality control study to highlight the state of the practice. Future operations and practice decisions can result from studying the outcome of a medical audit and determining what the medical practice needs.

 

In conclusion, medical audits are something that can help your practice and the medical industry. Audits help you ensure that all physicians are following proper procedures for charting etc. With the digitization of most records, it’s not surprising that the medical industry is also following that trend. This can be good news as far as audits go, and storing medical records securely online can make them easier to organize and access for the future. Before beginning your audit, remember to have a vision of what you want your company to be like. Encourage employees that this is a great learning opportunity to help everyone become better and more efficient.

Emma is a freelance writing currently living in Boston, MA. She writes most often on health and education. To see more from Emma, say hi on Twitter @EmmaSturgis2

 

 

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HEALTHCARE CERTIFICATIONS ARTICLE ON BIG DATA AND HEALTHCARE

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Good article about big date and healthcare.

The article, “Strong Opportunities for Big Data in Healthcare – Population Health Management, Clinical Decision Support and Real-World Data”, by Frost & Sullivan states,

“The healthcare industry is steadily realizing the value offered by Big Data solutions, particularly in “-omics” research and medical record mining. However, current investments are focused on serving immediate needs of the investing stakeholders, which often makes them siloed and incrementally beneficial, as opposed to a strategic organizational redesign of the data strategy that provides exponential returns on investment.”

To read the entire article, please click here

If you would like to learn more about AIHCP’s healthcare certifications then please review our programs

Certified Case Manager Article and Rising Health Care Prices

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Healthcare costs are out of control.  This article below looks at why the US cannot control these rising prices.

The article, “The truth about why the U.S. can’t control healthcare costs” by Ryan Gamlin states,

“A graphic making the rounds on social media has people talking—plots health spending per capita against the average life expectancy for two dozen countries. The chart has renewed the important conversation around why the United States’ experience is such an outlier, spending more than any other country by a wide margin, effectively proving the adage that “more is not better.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review our Case Management Program.  If you wish to become a certified Case Manager, then please review

Healthcare Case Management Article on Healthcare Issues

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

We talk so much about health care that we sometimes forget the most important thing, health itself.  This article goes into this issue deeper and explains somethings about healthcare and health.

The article, “The One Important Thing Missing From the Health Care Debate” by Jeffrey Pfeffer states,

“You may have seen the big news on health care: Aetna is going to stop offering individual health insurance policies on the health exchanges in 11 of the 15 states where it operates. Aetna AET -0.31% follows the lead of another large health insurer, United Health UNH -0.47% , which announced in April that it was withdrawing from almost all of the health insurance marketplaces where it operated.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review our healthcare programs.  We offer a comprehensive healthcare case management program for qualified professionals.

Healthcare Certification Education: Get the Most out of Your Healthcare with These 5 Tips

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Get the Most out of Your Healthcare with These 5 Tips

Health insurance is expensive and many people do not take full advantage of everything their health insurance offers. There are times when health insurance can actually save you money and keep you healthy. Here are five life hacks to help you get the most bang out of your healthcare bucks.

Make Sure Your Insurance Is Right For You
Research your healthcare insurance options thoroughly before you make a final decision. Take inventory of the healthcare needs for you as well as your family and pick a plan that best covers the things you most need from your insurance, such as lower deductibles and lower copays.

Take Full Advantage Of Health Insurance Open Enrollment Periods
If you have already picked a healthcare plan and you don’t think it is right for you, open enrollment is a way to address inadequacies in insurance coverage. During open enrollment, think about your life changes over the last year and also think about the life changes you are able to anticipate for the upcoming year, if possible. If you are planning for an upcoming major life change such as having a baby or major surgery, use the open enrollment period to pick an insurance policy that will best cover you and your family through these life events.

Pick Your Primary Care Physician
Find a primary care physician with a background in health information management programs you are comfortable with. Work to cultivate a strong, positive relationship with your doctor and his nurses. Pick a physician that you trust, respect and feel comfortable being honest with about your health. Your primary care doctor should be invested in your well-being and proactive about getting you to come in for preventative exams.

Always Take Advantage Of The Free Stuff
Everyone loves freebies. Many insurance plans offer stuff for free and many people do not take advantage of these opportunities. For example, an insurance plan may offer a free flu shot, a free Well Woman exam, free birth control and free antibiotics. Many vision plans actually offer one free pair of glasses or a free annual eye exam for all covered individuals.

Utilize Health Programs, Assessments, And Coaches
A lot of insurance companies offer free or low-cost health programs and health assessments. Always check to see if your insurance company offers for programs that are dedicated to blood pressure, cholesterol, rehabilitation, and weight management. Many health insurance programs actually reward individuals for doing their part to live a healthful, active life of wellness. These health opportunities through insurance programs pay people for exercising, being fit, eating right, meeting goals, and picking nutritious foods.

For some families, healthcare is the primary expense that eats up the budget. It pays (literally) to be more involved in you healthcare so you don’t have to compromise your well-being in the long run. Preparation is key. You will get better quality care and improved health if you take a proactive role in your own health. You deserve it. Being proactive about your health by utilizing all benefits of your healthcare plan is just as important as nutrition and exercise. Your health means everything.

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