Clinical

The sheer number and variety of providers that patients see after leaving a hospital make medical mistakes and poor transitions in care all too common today. 

By and large, population health measurement efforts are poorly developed and uncoordinated – and without effective measurement success will remain elusive, says Georgetown's Michael A. Stoto.

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.

CloudMedx, a big data health analytics company, has acquired Gyrus Labs to extend its CloudMedx Analytics Platform, which is designed to help improve patient care through data insights.

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

Officials uncovered 'significant risks' and irregularities during rollout, raising concerns about a viable final product, a spokesperson says.

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

Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing have shown that computers can screen pathology reports, saving time and money.

The Act to Prevent Opiate Abuse by Strengthening the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program also sets a cap on number of days for opioid prescriptions and requires doctors to undergo addiction treatment every two years.

New York's Mount Sinai Health System is joining other high-profile health systems across the nation in embracing OpenNotes, an initiative that gives patients access to their care provider's notes in their medical records. The notes are available for the first time in the health system's online electronic health record portal, called MyMountSinaiChart. Users can now read details of their office visit from the convenience of their personal computer, tablet or smartphone. MyMountSinaiChart, launched in 2012, also enables patients to communicate with their doctor, access test results, request prescription refills and manage appointments. The goal of OpenNotes is to improve transparency, communication and trust between patients and physicians – and it's working, Mount Sinai officials say. [Also: OpenNotes: 'This is not a software package, this is a movement'] "When patients can access their physicians' notes, they can better understand their medical issues and treatment plan as active partners in their care," said Sandra Myerson, chief patient experience officer at the Joseph F. Cullman, Jr. Institute for Patient Experience at Mount Sinai. "This can ultimately lead to improved patient engagement, patient empowerment, and communication between patient and physician." "Patients expect and deserve to have full access to their medical records and the Mount Sinai Health System is committed to meeting this expectation," Jeremy Boal, MD, chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Health Systems, said in a statement. Four Mount Sinai physicians in various clinical practices conducted the initial OpenNotes pilot beginning in December 2015. Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn