The following excerpt if from an article found on EHR Intelligence. It ws written by Vera Gruessner. The healthcare industry is at the tipping point when it comes to the ICD-10 transition period. With only 3.5 months to go until the ICD-10 implementation deadline, various new bills have cropped up within the House of Representatives looking for either another ICD-10 delay, a complete stop to the transition, or an ICD-10 transition period called “safe harbor.”

Unlike at a hotel, where the staff can typically count on people checking out by a specific time, hospitals, inpatient facilities and other medical organizations that have beds for patients can expect a lot more turnover and will see beds becoming available at random times of the day and night. Managing beds can be a tricky process. If you don’t use software to keep track of bed status and availability, it can cause problems where your staff faces bottlenecks in treating patients. You don’t want to keep patients and their families waiting any longer than is necessary, because delays can provoke anxiety. What’s more, if you are inefficient at managing the beds, you may find that you are not bringing in the revenue you anticipated.

The following excerpt is from our whitepaper, "Engage, Retain, & Acquire Referring Physicians: Making Yours An In-Demand Radiology Practice." For years, getting radiology reports efficiently to referring physicians had been a conundrum; none of the options were great. Yet, they were the only ones available at the time: regular or special delivery mail, courier if the recipient was local enough, perhaps leaving the report in the physician’s mailbox at the hospital, or faxing it.

By now, it should not be a surprise for you to hear that the U.S. government has mandated that medical organizations must make the switchover from the International Classification of Disease code set 9 to the new ICD-10. After some badly needed extensions, the final deadline for completing the transition is October 1, 2015. Note that ICD codes are handled by the World Health Organization and are intended for use around the globe. Since medical groups have to get ready for the change (or they will be unable to work with providers and government programs going forward), it makes sense to wonder how you can get the most out of ICD-10 while saving on costs.

The following is an excerpt from EHR Intelligence. It was written by Vera Gruessner. There are a variety of issues healthcare professionals, providers, and payers are concerned about regarding the ICD-10 transition deadline. Last week, we discussed and dispelled some common myths that stakeholders have about the ICD-10 transition deadline. This week we will go over an additional five facts that address some typical questions and concerns about ICD-10 implementation.

The follow excerpt is from an article on iHealthBeat. The increased adoption of electronic health records and other health IT has improved patient safety, according to an issue brief by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Health IT Analytics reports. The issue brief -- which is the first of four that ONC plans to publish by September 2015 -- examined four systematic literature reviews and various studies that show how health IT has influenced factors that affect patient safety.

Have you recently installed radiological information system software at your radiology practice? Or, are you preparing to implement a RIS application solution any time soon? Many radiology practices take to using RIS software because they realize the many benefits it confers, from scheduling patients to gaining easy access to scans and test results. But RIS software can be even more useful when you use it to make connections with other medical professionals. Here is why connecting your RIS software with your referring physician’s electronic health record software is a smart idea.

No one wants to be considered an anti-technology Luddite or to be accused of being out of touch with modern ways. People sometimes resist the latest amenities, such as hanging onto flip phones with physical keyboards instead of adopting the newer mobile devices that have touch-sensitive displays, but they are really missing out on advances. It’s hard to imagine an industry that is more based on advancements in technology than healthcare. Robot-assisted surgeries, software that helps medical professionals make diagnoses and faster networks with robust security protocols in place, have helped us make significant improvements in patient care.

The following excerpt is from an article found on MedScape. It was written by Betsy Nicoletti. The US healthcare community is moving to ICD-10 in October 2015. There will be 70,000 choices of diagnosis codes alone, instead of a mere 16,000 choices currently available to describe a condition, illness, injury, or symptom. Coders are delighted. Physicians, not so much. But despite the notice and preparation, there are things that could go amiss.

The following excerpt is from an article found on The Business Journals. It was written by Mike Sabitov. The latest data breach of Premera Blue Cross, exposing the medical data and financial information of 11 million customers, offers the industry a solemn reminder that it simply isn’t doing enough to protect patient data from known security threats. If a business has any contact with electronic health records or medical information, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance and patient data security should be a prime concern. That’s because government regulations mandated by HIPAA states that the all protected health information must be strictly protected — and any breach of such information must be reported immediately.