As we enjoy the holidays, Future Healthcare Today’s editors are curling up with hot cocoa and taking a look back at recent stories about healthcare and IT. As we have learned at Future Healthcare Today, much of the focus in 2018 has been on changing the culture of healthcare from provider-dispensed care to a more outcome-based, valued-based, collaborative care, and advances in technology are making that happen.
Redefining The Patient Journey: Q&A With Michele Perry Of Relatient
The provider-patient relationship used to be one-sided: the provider diagnosed and dispensed care, while patients had to navigate phone systems, paperwork and arcane processes just to make an appointment. Improving the patient journey has led to outcome-based, value-based care and a culture where consumers are taking a more active role as partners in their own care. With the emphasis now on patient experience, technology is beginning to support these changes, but there’s still a long way to go. To examine the issues and challenges, as well as where the industry is going, Future Healthcare Today talked with Michele Perry, CEO of Relatient, for the Healthcare IT Download podcast. She brought both the opportunities — and the obstacles — of a rapidly-shifting landscape into focus. Read the Q&A here.
Value-Based Care Can Mean Significantly Better Outcomes And Lower Costs, But Old Processes And Tech Block Progress
Value-based care is transforming the delivery of health services by changing the model from “fee-for-service” to “pay-for-performance.” This can lead to significantly better outcomes for patients, as well as greatly lowered costs for providers. However, while this approach is already beginning to ripple through the industry, many healthcare provider networks are still limited by old technology and outmoded processes. In a recent report from The Technology CEO Council, three out of every 10 tests need to be reordered, because results can’t be located. Patient charts were missing approximately 30 percent of the time. With providers filling out an average of 20,000 forms each year, the mountains of paper generated by every interaction with the healthcare system leads to higher costs, lost time and poorer outcomes for patients. Electronic health records are the most visible step toward modernizing the delivery of healthcare, but that’s just the beginning. Read more here.
Stop Hiding Behind The Spinning Disk And Embrace Enterprise Imaging Strategy
The challenges of storing medical images has been one of the big stories of 2018 on Future Healthcare Today. With digital radiography and other types of digital imaging now a standard part of patient care, hospitals and healthcare organizations are struggling to find ways to manage these additional terabytes of data that are entering their data storage environments every day. While it might be tempting to hide behind the spinning disks and wish that film was still a viable option, digital imaging is here to stay because of the tremendous benefits that it brings to clinicians in advancing patient care and improving health outcomes. In a recent Intel Builders webinar, Kim Garriott, founder and co-chair of the HIMSS-SIM Enterprise Imaging Community, and Tony Turner, a registered Radiology Technologist who manages NetApp Healthcare’s medical imaging partner alliances, discussed strategies to improve medical image management. Read more about medical imaging and the webinar here.
The healthcare industry is set for another transformative year in 2019. Stay up to date by subscribing today!
