News

The retailer joins other big players such as AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Pfizer in the effort to use distributed ledger technology for medication safety and integrity.

The Department of Justice charged Coffey Health System with failing to conduct the risk analyses required by the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

At Freeman Health System, the communication tool serves many purposes, including viewing critical lab values, accessing specialty-specific applications, and broadcast communication from nursing leadership.

Over 360 eHealth professionals in Europe took part in the survey carried out earlier this year.

Fitness, sport and a healthy lifestyle are becoming increasingly important in our everyday lives. Health insurers that follow this current development are therefore increasingly relying on prevention services in combination with digital services.  A pioneer of this trend is the German subsidiary of the global finance and insurance group AXA: the private health insurance announced a new tariff at the end of May with the offer "ActiveMe" in order to support its policyholders more strongly with health prevention in the future. The company is focusing specifically on digital support. The prevention offer is aimed at health-conscious people who want to prevent illness through fitness and a healthy lifestyle and its numerous digital offers include an online consultation hour. As a special feature of the new "ActiveMe" tariff, AXA offers telemedicine advice from an online physician, who can be consulted around the clock for diagnosis, prescriptions, referrals and disability certificates.  In addition, AXA's offering includes supportive health apps and other preventative services such as bonuses and reimbursements for healthy behaviour. PARADIGM SHIFT FOR PAYERS Bonuses are provided in the AXA offer for the achievement of certain goals and vital values, such as a stable abdominal index in the normal range, regular exercise, smoking and participation in vaccinations, blood and bone marrow donations.  The privately insured receive reimbursements of up to €200 per year for participation in sports courses and for purchases that promote their own health - whether yoga courses or exercise bikes. As part of AXA's "My Health" service, policyholders can also communicate more easily with the doctor treating them, for example through a digital medication manager, an online doctor search and appointment and the digital health file.  "This is a completely new approach in private health insurance, because the time is ripe for a paradigm shift in our healthcare system," said Dr Thilo Schumacher of AXA Germany.  With its digital prevention programme, the insurance group is thus showing other cost bearers the way to digitalisation in the healthcare market. Last but not least, Schumacher emphasised that digital services can also noticeably reduce treatment costs. Further information can be found here. Anna Engberg is a Wiesbaden-based freelance journalist specialising in health and technology.

THE ROAD TO HELSINKI: How can health organisations provide patients and staff with actionable insights - at the right place, the right time and under a secure environment? At the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Conference, Microsoft for Healthcare will present its ecosystem of partner and cloud solutions that empower health organisations to reimagine the way they address health challenges.

At the Swiss eHealth Summit this September, Adrian Schmid from eHealth Suisse will be at the Thun Hospital to answer questions about the Electronic Patient Dossier (EPD), the Swiss version of EPRs, in hospital operations. In an interview, he reveals how participants can prepare for the workshop "Next Stop: EPD - The Last Challenges".

The Medical Group Management Association also has concerns about security risks that might be associated with the proposed rules, and says they go "too far, too fast."

Vendor shows 22 studies that show how artificial intelligence is reducing variability in care.