News

Consolidation, increased regulation and shortages of critical medications are just a few issues that have health system pharmacy managers scrambling. "We are being faced more and more by challenges within the system," said DeVere Day, pharmacy automation and technology manager at Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare. "We're facing challenges from an expense standpoint. There are certainly compliance and regulatory concerns. Automation has become very expensive for many hospital systems. Sterile compounding is a concern with hazardous drug therapies and medication shortages in the industry have created a lot of heartache." See all of our HIMSS16 previews Day will be presenting "Transforming the Pharmacy Supply Chain," an exploration of Intermountain's implementation of a central pharmacy supply chain center for its entire enterprise, and the strategic decision making that has resulted in pharmacy savings to the tune of approximately $3.5 million companywide in 2015. "We distribute about 4.5 million doses a year within our system," Day said. "The majority of those go to our 22 hospitals but we have 185 clinics we have begun working for as well, so we are now supplying many of the clinics within our system." Day cited technological platforms including carousels, packaging machines and a third-party software tool that enables staff at the supply chain center to visualize inventory at other Intermountain facilities. Those other facilities, in turn, can use that software to place orders directly, with each hospital's central pharmacy responsible for internal distribution. The technology is just the enabler of astute strategic thinking, however. For example, Intermountain compounds only nine IV drugs, and the focus on those leads to approximate savings of $500,000 annually over buying those drugs from a wholesaler, Day said. He cited rapidly changing industry status, such as the recent merger between Pfizer and Hospira, and AmerisourceBergen's announced purchase of compounder PharMEDium, as elements the central supply chain center can help cope with. "We have put ourselves into a position where we can adapt to market changes, and the market is changing so fast it's hard to predict where your greatest impact is going to be," he said. And while Day explained that economies of scale at a larger system may yield benefits smaller organizations can't match, that's no reason not to evaluate just what can be done to improve efficiency. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] "I guess the strategic planning side of it has value for anybody," he said. "Some of our shops are as small as 20 beds, some as large as 400, and we have found ways to provide value for all of those." Day will be presenting "Transforming the Pharmacy Supply Chain" from 4 - 5 p.m. March 1 at the Sands Expo Convention Center, Marcello 4401. Twitter: @HealthITNews This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Only a few days remain to submit speaker and session proposals for the Healthcare IT News and HIMSS Pop Health Forum 2016, which will be held in Boston May 19-20. The Pop Health Forum’s goal is to give attendees, 250-plus healthcare providers and payers, solid information on how to improve their population health initiatives. Proposals should focus on one or more of the forum’s three key areas, the cornerstones of population health: data and analytics, coordinating care, and patient engagement.  Attendees prefer case studies and are eager to learn how their peers are addressing common challenges and pain points. As such, we place a high value on proposals from payer and provider organizations that offer practical, actionable information and real-life solutions.   The deadline to submit a proposal is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Click here to submit a proposal and for more information.

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed new rules on patient record disclosures to ensure substance use disorder patients can participate in new integrated healthcare models without risk of having their records shared inappropriately. The revisions on the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records would also facilitate health information exchange and to address legitimate privacy concerns of patients seeking treatment for substance use, HHS said. [Also: eRx of controlled substances now legal in 50 states] “This proposal will help patients with substance use disorders fully participate and benefit from a healthcare delivery system that’s better, smarter and healthier, while protecting their privacy,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement. The proposal reflects the changing healthcare landscape, including the development of an electronic infrastructure that focuses on managing and exchanging patient data and an increased focus on performance measurement and quality improvement. The current rules, sometimes referred to as 'Part 2', were created in 1975 amid concerns that potential substance use disorder treatment information used in criminal prosecutions would deter individuals from seeking necessary treatment. It was last updated in 1987. Part 2 rules are more stringent than other federal protections, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, due to its targeted population. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] “We're moving Medicare and the healthcare system as a whole toward new integrated care models that incentivize providers to coordinate and put the patient at the center of their care, and we're modernizing our rules to protect patients,” Burwell said. The public comment session on this proposal is open until 5 p.m. Eastern on April 11. Twitter: @JessiefDavis

The American Hospital Association has sent a list of demands the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services before the federal agency creates new rules surrounding electronic quality reporting measures. CMS earlier this month extended the public comment period for eCQM from Feb. 1 to Feb. 16, 2016. For starters, AHA, the largest hospital organization in the country, wants CMS to release the results of the previous eCQM demonstrations and pilots. [Also: CMS extends comment period on quality reporting] The organization also wants the agency to expand eCQM education and outreach. CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator first put out their request for public comment on Dec. 31, 2015, which called for feedback on several items related to the certification of health information technology. The request also asks for feedback on electronic health record products used for reporting to CMS incentive programs such as the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program and the Physician Quality Reporting System. AHA senior vice president of public policy Ashley Thompson wrote in comments to acting CMS administrator Andy Slavitt that the “AHA is encouraged that CMS is requesting feedback on several areas of concern to providers.” AHA leaders want CMS to outline transition plans from chart-based reporting to electronic reporting across CMS programs and clearly explain how eCQM will work other organizations’ reporting requirements, such as The Joint Commission. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Lastly, the AHA asked the agency to speed up efforts to identify and define data needed for reporting and to make sure that any modifications to definitions will align with existing requirements for eligible and critical access hospitals. “The AHA recommends that CMS also consider the input received to date from EHs, CAHs and eligible providers about their eCQM experiences, including the evidence from CMS eCQM pilots and demonstrations, to inform future rulemaking,” AHA wrote. Twitter: @HealthITNews

The consultant, which proposes moving away from evaluating physicians independently to a methodology in which physicians are evaluated in clusters, will share insights at HIMSS16.

Canadian and U.S. researchers formed a collaborative to explore social media in public health, with plans to generate a practice roadmap. The endpoint: enabling public health entities to harness social media to better help deliver effective intervention strategies. “This trend is an emerging phenomenon that the healthcare industry needs to grasp and couple with the IT infrastructure in place to fully engage individuals in managing their health,” said Susan McBride, a professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing. “Public health organizations in both Canada and the United States are using multiple tools in social media programs to intervene on targeted efforts. All of this will further inform the roadmap for use of social media in population and community health.” McBride has more than 25 years of experience in clinical, informatics and outcomes management capacities. McBride’s research focus is on healthcare informatics, analytic methods using large datasets, patient safety and quality. See all of our HIMSS16 previews She will be co-presenting at HIMSS16 with Richard Booth, RN, PhD, an assistant professor at the Western University Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing in Ontario. These executives will deliver the findings of their latest research during a session titled “Building a Road Map for Social Media in Public Health.” “We are hoping to consolidate some of the current knowledge of social media used in population and public health,” Booth said. While the world has become increasingly networked, government and healthcare have only now begun to realize the importance and value of communication that can be afforded by social media and related styles of communication, Booth added. “I view topics like social media as a new generation or asymmetric way that health IT is growing and evolving. The type of health IT largely driven by consumers – we as healthcare providers and informaticians are late to the game in many respects,” Booth explained. “Unlike traditional clinical or health IT, this type of technology allows for immediate two-way communication with service recipients; thus, it can’t be controlled or managed like traditional health IT.” [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Because social media is so dynamic, the potential for its use in healthcare is very exciting, Booth added. And while the term ‘social media’ may fade in terms of its relevancy and usage, the communication modality offered by social media will become infused into the everyday way of doing things, including delivering healthcare, he said. “Consumers of the not-too-distant future will be increasingly wanting to discuss and collaborate with each other as much as with their clinicians,” Booth said. “Social media – though not in its exact, current form – will offer us insights into what types of communication patterns might be possible moving into the future. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” The session, “Building a Road Map for Social Media in Public Health,” is slated for Friday, March 4, 2016, at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Galileo 1004. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Wen Dombrowski, MD, has been in the field of clinical informatics since the 1990’s. Back then, her work involved building diabetes databases for community health centers. Today, she’s a geriatrics physician executive at Resonate Health, a role that sees her combining technology, social media, and business solutions to help patients with complex conditions. Dombrowski is also one of only a fistful of social media influencers to sit in the top slot of the #HIT100 list. [Also: Steve Sisko: 'Healthcare literacy' surge coming soon] We reached out to Dombrowski ahead of HIMSS16 to discuss what she’s hoping to find at this year’s conference, what trends she expects to see taking hold in 2016, and what she sees as the untold benefit of social media for healthcare. Q: What’s something about you that even your devout followers likely don’t know?  A: My early days in Clinical Informatics were in the 1990's building diabetes registry Access databases for community health centers in inner-city of Chicago. As part of an IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) Diabetes Learning Collaborative, I learned to track key clinical measures and use the data to identify and reach out to patients with gaps in care. Q: One health IT prediction for 2016? A: In 2016 we will see more direct-to-consumer telemedicine and other digital health services. Mainly because consumers are increasingly demanding easy-access user experience of healthcare, and also because technologies are maturing while state and federal payment policies are starting to cover telehealth. I really like this recent quote: "The digital strategy of a healthcare organization must be aligned with everyday consumer experiences in other industries," from @dchou1107. Q: What is the untold benefit of social media in healthcare today? A: Social media is not only an information-sharing tool — it catalyzes online and local conversations about what are the problems and potential solutions in healthcare. While social media is rich in content for anyone to learn about a diverse array of topics, the online interactions between individuals can be encouraging, thought provoking, and motivating people to action. See all of our HIMSS16 previews Q: What are you most looking forward to learning about at HIMSS16? A: I am looking forward to reconnecting with my Health IT colleagues from around the country and brainstorm how to accelerate healthcare innovation so that patients can truly get the best care. At the HIMSS16 conference I am planning to participate in the sessions related to Physician Informaticists, Long Term & Post Acute Care Providers, Women in Health IT, and HX360 Innovation Leaders.  Q: What inspired you to apply for the Social Media Ambassador program? A: I am already active in using social media to promote awareness of the benefits and challenges of using technology to improve health and care. I helped plan the #HIMSS16 Physician IT Symposium, so I was already planning to be at HIMSS sharing about the latest ideas and discussions happening there. Twitter: @SullyHIT This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

(SPONSORED) As the outcomes of healthcare reform become clear, it is equally clear that healthcare executives need to objectively analyze internal systems and processes, such as information technology and care delivery, to determine how they will effectively adapt to a new reality.

As the industry moves toward data-driven medicine clinicians are going to need more decision support tools than in the past. "Medicine has always strived to be data driven," said Gaurav Singal, MD, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and director of the Innovations Unit of Foundation Medicine. “But now there's a shift happening between what we call data and what we call evidence.” Although healthcare won't get to a point that a patient is 100 percent unique, Singal said, historic information is crucial to ensuring providers aren't flying blind. See all of our HIMSS16 previews "I don’t think randomized control trials are going to be less effective," he said. "But in an evidence-based world, it won't be the whole picture. Random isn't enough … patients are just too precisely defined and unique." Singal leads technology and data-centric product development at Foundation Medicine. He helped launch its Interactive Cancer Explorer, otherwise known as ICE, a physician-facing clinical decision support and patient management platform that uses data collection and aggregation to aid physicians with clinical decision-making. He said it's these types of Web-based technologies and digital innovations that can improve therapeutic decision making at the point-of-care. In his talk titled, “Precision Medicine in the Information Age,”  Singal will discuss how physicians and insurers are embracing actionable molecular information to positively impact care delivery. Singal's work at Foundation Medicine is focused on molecular oncology, using genomic information to produce and analyze tumors or genomes where the cancer has mutated. These molecular characteristics of tumors can actually guide cancer treatments. His work in both medicinal and engineering fields creates a unique duality in his perspective, he said. He's always looking for ways to combine health and technology with data-centric solutions that are clinically relevant to impact both patients and providers. Singal’s team designs and builds tools for physicians to determine the best course of action for their patient. They built ICE with this goal in mind, to connect with doctors from a scientific standpoint to see what works and what doesn't. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] It's no longer about generic treatments for these patients but, instead, about treating patients based on their molecular data to offer more precise care. "Providers have been interested in clinical decision support for a long time," Singal said. "I think there's a cultural shift happening, with the data that drives these decisions. And more doctors are seeing this shift." Singal’s session, “Precision Medicine in the Information Age,” is scheduled for March 2 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the Sands Expo Convention Center Sands Showroom. Twitter: @JessiefDavis This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Agile development, once the domain of software developers, is being put to work at Intermountain Healthcare, as CIO Marc Probst and his team are rapidly building programs throughout clinical settings. “We are rolling it out and configuring it within the entire organization,” Probst said. “We’re applying it not just to software development but as an integration within the organization.” See all of our HIMSS16 previews The agile method -- in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing teams -- promises to deliver programs much more quickly and better meet the needs of healthcare providers. Probst and Jeff Townsend, executive vice president at Cerner, have been collaborating on just such an approach. And the two will present in a session on March 2 at HIMSS16 titled “What IT Takes to Succeed.” “With traditional IT approaches, you make a selection for a piece of software – for example a departmental imaging system – and you hand it to IT to implement,” Townsend said. “In the agile model, we start not as software-centric but as workflow-centric. We include process judgements, with short cycle times and we initiate prototypes and empower leaders to participate. So there is a continuous ‘show me’ element.”  Cerner, Intermountain and 400 Intermountain physicians collaborated in 2015 to apply agile development principles to design and configure an electronic health record, practice management and revenue cycle system at two Intermountain hospitals and 24 clinics across northern Utah. Teams used agile development principles to design and configure the system in six-week cycles. Probst and Townsend will outline how to recognize challenges of agile development and how to overcome them. They will also show how to identify the tools needed to implement data-driven, agile cultures within other parts of the organization. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Townsend said the new agile development approach is changing how organizations operate.  “This isn’t the CIO picking the system out,” he explained. “It’s the clinical and business leadership putting it into the organization – which is incredibly more powerful.” Their session, “What IT Takes to Succeed,” is scheduled for March 2 from 1 – 2 p.m. in the Sands Expo Convention Center Sands Showroom. Twitter: @HealthITNews This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.