Technology

Cutting-edge findings from a new study prove that early, mobile patient engagement from diagnosis through post-care generates significant cost-savings and better patient outcomes.

Conducted by a U.S.-based four-hospital system in collaboration with a leading health engagement solutions provider, UbiCare, the study researched over 2,000 patients receiving email and text notifications about their care from diagnosis through recovery when undergoing total hip or knee replacement surgery. All cost metrics, including readmissions, discharge to home and day-of-surgery cancellations, were positively impacted. Plus, statistically significant conclusions are:

[Read more…] about New Study Finds Digital Patient Engagement Delivers Cost-Savings in Reduced LOS and Identifying At-Risk Patients

By Syed S. Shehab, MD

Addressing the number preventable cause of U.S. deaths through technology 

Healthcare systems in the U.S. are challenged with creating a healthier population and providing a better healthcare experience for patients—all while decreasing costs. Despite new strategies, innovations and large-scale policy efforts, there has not been much change when it comes to meeting all three goals in tandem. Establishing an approach to population health seems to be the most logical place to start, especially as more providers adopt value-based care models. An obvious solution for health systems is the integration of technology and usage of new applications to support value-based care models. 

With recent attempts to integrate health records with consumer data, there are researchers and app developers getting access to these data sets. As such, health systems now have a unique opportunity to invest in the creation of evidence-based, bespoke interfaces/apps to address lingering public health challenges. Doing so could potentially cut billions of dollars in healthcare costs. 

[Read more…] about How Health Systems Can Leverage Mobile Apps To Solve Complex Population Health Issues

By Antonella Bonanni

“I was so tired, I started talking to Alexa.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people refer to Alexa as something more than a digital assistant this past year. Many people are talking to and asking questions of voice-activated digital assistants and cognitive powered colleagues more often than ever before. Comscore reported nearly 19 million homes in the U.S. had a smart speaker. In four years, Juniper Research predicts more than half of all American homes will have and use a smart speaker. That’s a smart speaker in more than 70 million U.S. households by 2022 or 55 percent of all homes.

Already, Alexa has more than 1,000 healthcare-related “skills,” which allow users to make queries and, in turn, lets the bot respond. These skills let us ask about pharmaceutical-company sponsored prescription medications, yoga, disease questions and much more.

As smart speakers continue a steady march into our homes and lives, we’ll be doing much more than just telling Alexa we’re tired. 

Before diving into the ins and outs of smart speakers and healthcare, it’s necessary to understand how the devices work. It’s important healthcare consumers appreciate how and why we get the answers we do.

[Read more…] about My New Best Friend is a Voice Assistant: Why Your New BFF will be a Bot

By Matt Dumiak

What Happened?

France’s Supervisory Authority (CNIL) has fined Google $56.8 millions Euros for what the data protection watchdog believes is a violation by the multinational tech company on EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). After receiving complaints based on ‘forced consent’ by Google from La quadrature du Net, a French digital rights advocacy group, and None of Your Business, a nonprofit organization led by Max Schrems (known for previous campaigns against Facebook for privacy violation), the CNIL started its investigation.

On the basis of its investigation, the CNIL established two types of breaches of the GDPR by Google that occur when new Android users set up a new phone and follow Android’s onboarding process.

They claim that Google is making its data collection policies too difficult to access and that the company failed to obtain specific user consent.

The CNIL notes two specific reasons, later covered in this document:

1. A violation of the obligations of transparency and information.
2. A violation of the obligation to have a legal basis for ads personalization.

[Read more…] about Google Fined €50 Million for GDPR Violations: What Does This Mean and What to Expect Next?

By Daniel Wu

In December 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Request for Information (RFI) to understand how HIPAA provisions harm data sharing and coordinated care. This RFI underscores how the Federal government is beginning to understand the importance of responsible data sharing, a topic of growing importance. When providers don’t share data, physicians wastefully reorder tests and don’t fully understand their patient, harming the quality of their care.

To address this, HHS should incentivize the use of database management and privacy-enhancing tools, as well as standards to promote interoperability. Such incentives not only promote data sharing that protects patient privacy and trust, but also enhances the quality of care. However, this is easier said than done.

While the U.S. government, financial institutions and other sectors are rapidly adopting data science programs, there are still some key barriers to entry including the difficulty of ensuring the sharing of correct and relevant patient data, lack of data standards and shared data being disconnected from physician workflows.

The difficulty of ensuring the sharing of correct and relevant patient data

Hospitals are struggling to ensure they share correct and relevant data for care. A policy could encourage providers to adopt privacy tools that provide nuanced views of patient data.  

[Read more…] about Why Responsible Data Sharing Tools are Critical to Quality Patient Care