2020 was a nightmare of a year for healthcare providers. But it was also a year for information technology to prove its worth to healthcare organizations.

As the pandemic struck, healthcare delivery and patient encounters made a rapid right turn to virtual encounters. Analytics came to the forefront, enabling organizations to see trends in advance and detect whether COVID-19 patients could be transferred or had demographics, vital signs, or comorbidities that signaled potential problems. Digital records were shared as patients moved to different care venues.

Healthcare IT aside, the months ahead will be challenging, and IT execs will still have…

Surprise Bill for “out of network” Services

December 22, 2020, Congress passed a government funding deal, which includes a long-awaited federal fix for “surprise billing.” Most of the new requirements take effect with plan years beginning January 1, 2022

The new law ensures that patients receiving services in a hospital ED, or standalone ED

• Must assume the same cost-sharing responsibility for such services, regardless of whether the provider is in-network.
• Receive credit towards any applicable in-network deductible or out-of-pocket maximums for these payments.

Providers and payers will be able to resolve payment disputes through either negotiation between the parties or…

Measuring body temperature frequently may be the theme of the future. Have you recently stepped into a store or a restaurant where the staff is standing there with a thermostat taking your temperature before entering?

Now comes the Verily patch, an adhesive patch measuring your body temperature regularly. It is currently under FDA clearance as an approved electronic thermometer to address this public health emergency. This may be something that gets the FDA 501(k) approval in the future post-pandemic.

The patch uses Bluetooth BLE to connect with the mobile app for monitoring. I anticipate the following in the future:

• Verily’s…

Telemedicine security

While I recognize the industry expert’s concern with using Apple FaceTime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Skype for video consults, these solutions are convenient. Health care providers must cater to simplicity for the users, and we need a mechanism to instill that philosophy with care delivery.

FaceTime provides end-to-end encryption but will not sign a BAA, is that the primary reason we are hesitant about accepting it fully for telemedicine?

Covid19 Vaccination Card

Health systems have spent so much money on technology but still passing out covid19 vaccination cards like the immunization card I had…

Due to the current pandemic, the healthcare industry has not focused much on CMS’s final physician fee schedule and telehealth expansion. The upcoming year provides a 10% pay decrease while expanding telehealth services. Health systems must shift their business models towards a “virtual first” mentality to improve the patient experience while aligning with the telehealth reimbursement model.

The key takeaway of the rule is that CMS finalized an expanded list of telehealth services, mostly temporarily. Make a bet as an organization that the allowable telehealth service will be a permanent care delivery feature. …

The move to value-based care was already in full swing when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted. But the health system’s response to the pandemic offers a clue to the bold idea that technology can enable healthcare delivery organizations to provide safe and cost-effective care.

Value-based care puts a premium on using approaches that get care to patients quickly, identifying problems as soon as possible, when they are less severe and can be treated at less cost and risk to patients. There’s been some adoption of simple solutions, but few bold initiatives had gained traction.

In-home solutions

In March, COVID-19 came like…

Hospitals need to practice their security hygiene just like handwashing

Three federal agencies — the FBI and the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services — issued a security alert for hospitals last week that they have credible evidence of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and health systems. The call to action is for the entities to protect their network infrastructure from these threats immediately.

Last week, ransomware hit six hospitals that took their systems down. …

Technology Team Burnout In Healthcare Is Real. Here Is What CIOs Can Do To Help.

Covid-19 has put unprecedented strain on the healthcare workforce, challenging clinical resources and departments supporting the clinicians. Healthcare CIOs worked extremely hard to transition their organization towards a remote workforce during the pandemic. While organizations are putting together a plan to manage remote workforces, leaders must now build a new culture with new philosophies for managing teams remotely, highlighting burnout prevention.

Studies have shown that remote workers increase their average workday by 8.2%, equating to an additional 48.5 minutes daily. A survey by online employment…