Bernie Monegain

Geisinger Health System has enlisted 100,000 people for its genomic study and did so more quickly than expected. Attracting so many volunteers over two years has prompted program executives to raise the bar to 250,000 or more participants.

Truven Health Analytics prides itself on, well, analyzing data. So when it came to picking this year’s top 15 hospitals, Truven analysts turned to crunching numbers. The winning health systems are those who showed higher survival rates and fewer errors at a lower overall treatment cost than any of the other health systems across the country. Overall mortality rates were 14.7 percent lower than non-winning peer group hospitals Complication rates were 15.1 percent lower ED wait times were 12.3 percent lower. The 15 health systems also lowered cost per episode by 5 percent, discharged patients from the hospital a half-day sooner than non-winners. Moreover, they showed y percent higher Patient Satisfaction Scores compared with the non-winning hospitals. The 2016 edition of 15 Top Health Systems evaluated 338 health systems and 2,912 member hospitals to identify the systems with the highest overall achievement on a balanced scorecard. Here are the winners: Large Health Systems (operating expense of more than $1.75 billion) Mayo Foundation – Rochester, Minn. Mercy – Chesterfield, Missouri Spectrum Health – Grand Rapids, Michigan Sutter Health – Sacramento, California Sutter Health Valley Division – Sacramento, California Medium Health Systems (operating expense between $750 million and $1.75 billion) Kettering Health Network – Dayton, Ohio Scripps Health – San Diego, California St. Luke's Health System – Boise, Idaho St. Vincent Health – Indianapolis TriHealth – Cincinnati, Ohio Small Health Systems (operating expense of less than $750 million) Asante – Medford, Oregon Lovelace Health System – Albuquerque, New Mexico MidMichigan Health – Midland, Michigan

The results of a 2015 HIMSS survey of 20,000 women in health IT on workplace, job satisfaction, recognition and opportunities to move up – coupled with another on salaries for women in this field compared with compensation for men – spoke clearly to HIMSS Executive Vice President Carla Smith. Both surveys revealed pressing needs for resources and community for women in health IT. Men, on average, earned $126,262, compared with $100,762 for women in the HIMSS Compensation Survey of 1,900 healthcare professionals that included CEOs and CIOs. Moreover, women landing their first executive positions make just 63 percent of what men make in their first executive role. "I firmly believe sunlight is the great disinfectant: It's a great way to start conversations and help people be more informed," Smith said at a HIMSS16 session where she presented the findings of the compensation survey. She saw the disparity, but also recognized the opportunity to do something about it – to change the status quo. Not one to procrastinate, Smith gathered together a roundtable of some of the most powerful women in the industry. They met at HIMSS16 to better define the situation, build a community and create an awards program, all to provide women support, recognition, concrete solutions, share ideas, offer resources and content. Content is where Healthcare IT News comes in. Today we launch a dedicated section of the website – "a room of one's own," so to speak – exclusively focused on news, career advice, profiles, success stories and recognition of women in health IT and the issues that are most pressing to us. We are also launching a Women in Health IT newsletter, which will be emailed the fourth Tuesday of each month. Virginia Woolf's slender masterpiece "A Room of One's Own," which explores themes related to women writers and female fictional characters, was published in 1929, at a time when male authors dominated the literary world even more than they do today. It's much the same in the realm of healthcare IT. The disparities may not be as wide as they once were, but they persist. As we see it, closing those gaps and achieving parity – both in opportunity and compensation – will elevate the entire healthcare IT industry.     Watch more video from Women in Health IT  

HIMSS has launched an awards program to put the spotlight exclusively on influential women in health IT and their achievements. The awards recognize women both for their individual achievements on the job and also for their influence on other women in the health IT field. HIMSS initiated the program and the awards ceremony to come in response to a survey that revealed women were not recognized for their work and contributions. The survey elicited comments, such as: “We see very little about women in this field.” “Rare to hear success stories.” “Comments from experts tend to be from males only.” “Most recognition that I’ve seen has always gone to male management or clinical personnel.” “While I have extensive knowledge, I feel invisible.” “I don’t even know who the women leaders are in our industry.” The award nominations will open in the summer/fall of 2016. Award winners will be announced in the winter of 2017. A private VIP Awards Dinner will be held at HIMSS17, as well as a Women in Health IT reception to celebrate the winners. More at: http://www.himss.org/News/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=47294  

An estimated 33,439 lives could be saved each year if all hospitals had the same performance as those receiving an A grade, according to Leapfrog and the Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.

Healthcare executives indicated a positive outlook for 2016, with 71 percent expecting their revenues to increase this year, according to a new survey.

HealthVerity, which offers technology tools for the discovery and integration of optimal patient data sets, has landed $7.1 million in its first round of funding.

Intermountain Healthcare and the Stanford Genome Technology Center will work together on research aimed at developing advances in precision health.

NYP's actions while filming the TV show 'NY Med' blatantly violated HIPAA rules, said Jocelyn Samuels of the Office for Civil Rights.

The vendor said that the latest changes are driven by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services new Oncology Care Model.