HealthManagement, Volume 16 - Issue 3, 2016
Every week HealthManagement.org publishes top healthcare management, leadership and best practice news of the week in dedicated newsletters. We know you’re busy, so we do all the work and pick the best three stories to send you. Read on for a variety of topics that piqued record interest recently.
MRI-Guided Ultrasound to Treat Tremor Gets OK From FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to a focused ultrasound device that uses magnetic resonance (MR) images taken during the procedure to treat essential tremor in patients who have not responded to medication. See more at https://iii.hm/4br
More Errors with EHR over Paper Records
A Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA ) study found that doctors made more errors in Electronic Health Record (EHR ) note-taking than in paper records. The study, which focused on medical reporting at a Michigan hospital, showed progress notes in the firststage implementation of EHRs contained more mistakes to paper charts. See more at: https://iii.hm/4aw
Mergers Rise in 2016: Response to Value-based Care Drive
Mergers and Acquisitions have increased year-on-year, said Kaufman Hall with the first half of 2016 showing more activity in the same timeframe as 2015. A report said the drive toward adapting to rapid change in the industry and new payment models was one of the key triggers to the rise. See more at: https://iii.hm/4kx
Investment Hints at Future Healthcare Priorities
In the first part of 2016, patient experience, Big Data analytics and personalised medicine have attracted a record-setting quantity of investment funding, indicating where hospital leaders should be focusing their attention. According to a report published by StartUp Health, early stage investments have reached close to $4 billion this year. The finds were invested into 155 deals at seed and Series A in the investment process. The five leading investment groupings were as follows: Patient experience ($958 million); Wellness with ($854 million); Personalised medicine with ($524 million); Big Data analytics ($406 million); Workflow ($328 million).See more at: https://iii.hm/4b6
Few Young Doctors Are Training To Care For U.S. Elderly
A report in Kaiser Health News has highlighted the serious lack of physicians available to tend to the growing population of elderly in the U.S. saying the problem is going to get worse in the future. The dearth of appropriate physicians is likely to worsen by 2030 when one in five Americans will be entitled to Medicare, the state health insurance. The United States has 130 geriatric fellowship programs, with 383 positions. In 2016, only 192 of them were filled. The stumbling block appears to be the level of debt the average medical student graduates with: $183,000. See more at: https://iii.hm/4g2
New AMA Telemedicine and Telehealth Guidelines
New ethical guidance adopted at the American Medical Association's (AMA) Annual Meeting will help physicians understand how their fundamental responsibilities may play out differently when patient interactions occur through telemedicine, compared to traditional patient interactions at a medical office or hospital. The new ethical guidance on telehealth and telemedicine was developed over the past three years by the AMA's Council on Ethics and Judicial Affairs, and adopted by a vote of physicians from every corner of the country. See more at: https://iii.hm/3x8
Using Sugar To Detect Cancer: A Game Changer For Screening
Early detection of cancer, usually through advanced medical imaging, is crucial as it increases the chances of survival and the potential for full recovery and the EU-funded GLINT project will develop a ground-breaking new technology which allows for less invasive, more accurate and earlier diagnosis. See more at https://iii.hm/3h1
Cybersecurity: Who Can You Trust?
An Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT ) report highlighted a new threat to cybersecurity in healthcare; technology companies that cannot deliver the security that they promise. The report showed that CISO s now have to deal with an avalanche of information from IT security vendors touring for business and not all of it is helpful or even accurate. See also: https://iii.hm/4at
9 Best Practices for IT Project Management
Companies and organisations struggle to keep an IT project within schedule and budget. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study of 10,000 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries, only 2.5 percent of companies succeeded in completing their IT projects and the Journal of the Medical Informatics Association says that healthcare’s track record is even worse than that of other sectors. Nine recommendations for proper IT project management are: Solid IT governance; Connect IT and Admin; Connect IT with Business Strategy; Develop a Standard Open Planning Process; Supplement Planning Process; Maintain Effective Communications; Have the Right IT Skills; Expect the Unexpected; Document Project Closures. See more at: https://iii.hm/424
Doctors Demand Apology: BMJ Medical Error Deaths 'Shoddy' Study
Two Pennsylvania doctors reacted against a BMJ paper that claimed one third of deaths in the U.S. are caused by medical errors. They called for the journal to retract the paper and apologise to the medical community. BMJ editors have responded by saying they are standing by the study and have no intention of retracting it. See more at: https://iii.hm/4f4
