Analysis by Audrey Kinsella Headlines like these are becoming increasingly, alarmingly, common: “Report: Telemedicine Increases Death Rate” [in the UK’s Online Pharma Times, 6/5/13] “Unintended Consequences: How Telehealth Can Fail to Manage Chronic Diseases” [University of Texas blog post by a nursing school professor] Both pieces imply that telehealthcare can actually worsen a patient’s condition. […]
A team of five Boston-area researchers* has found stark geographical and ethnicity-based differences in the practice of delaying care due to cost. In an article in the April 9 New England Journal of Medicine, they expressed hope that provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that expand Medicaid eligibility will reduce […]
The Final HIPAA/HITECH Act Privacy, Security, Breach Notification, Enforcement, and GINA “Omnibus” Rule was released from OMB to the Federal Register late on the afternoon of January 17 and published in the Federal Register on Friday, January 25. The 563-page rule becomes effective (and publishable in the Code of Federal Regulations) on Tuesday, March 26, […]
Microsoft’s highly anticipated Surface Pro tablet will enter the market with a resounding thud. That is the opinion of several market watchers who were surprised that the supposed mighty competitor to Apple’s iPad and the lineup of Android tablets will be priced more like a laptop PC than a tablet. Details about costs and […]
by Liz Seegert If there is anyone who knows what it takes to lower the cost of health care, it is former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. As someone steeped in policy for 30 years, one thing she says she knows for sure is that home health care needs to […]
by Liz Seegert Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is one of those rare politicians who still believe in reaching across the aisle for the greater good. Themes of common sense and pragmatism were very much in evidence during her October 23 keynote address at the NAHC Annual Meeting. In an exclusive interview with Home Care Technology […]
According to Health Data Management, Allscripts is actively entertaining offers from private-equity firms for a leveraged buyout to take the healthcare IT company private. The Chicago-based hospital, physician practice and home healthcare software developer’s unexpected move followed two recent negative events–strife within the Board of Directors and failure to win a $302 million contract. Details […]
Monday of this week was October 1, 2012, the first day of Federal Fiscal Year 2013. The first day of a new Supreme Court session and the first day of Medicare hospital readmission penalties. The mass media has finally heard that Medicare will reduce payments to hospitals with high readmission rates by a predetermined percentage […]
One of the most frequently cited obstacles to implementing a program of remote patient monitoring in a home health care agency is the price of in-home monitoring devices. Coupled with minimum purchase requirements imposed by most home telehealth vendors, cost of entry becomes prohibitive for the majority of home care providers, both those who […]
Product Review: Honeywell HomMed’s Mobile PERS Lets People Carry Safety Net With Them by Audrey Kinsella LifeStream™ MobileHelp® is a package of products and services for tracking and managing clients’ activities on an as-needed basis. Like Great Call’s 5Star Urgent Response™ system, now being incorporated into Independa, Inc.’s Artemis™ wireless monitoring ecosystem (see “Safe at […]
