More than 77 million individuals in the United States have limited health literacy skills and will likely encounter challenges interpreting and acting upon health information. (2) According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, nine out of ten adults may not have the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease. Health literacy, as...
Providing safe and efficient care is a priority for most healthcare organizations. One key component to successfully doing so involves being proactive in preventing issues that may endanger or be unsafe for patients. Below is a list of top patient safety concerns for healthcare organizations in 2017. The following list of patient safety concerns was...
As the Quality Payment Program approaches its second year in 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are proposing several changes and updates in an effort to improve patient outcomes, increase coordination of patient care, reduce the burden on small and rural practices, while increasing participation and program flexibility. The goal is to...
A failure to understand HIPAA requirements can be a very costly mistake, as CardioNet learned just a couple months ago. In April, the wireless health services provider agreed to a settlement of $2.5 million for a potential noncompliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. (1) The violation occurred when a company laptop containing the...
Compliance and ethics are not just legal requirements in healthcare; they are also critical components to safe, quality patient care. Regardless, the size or specialty of the practice or facility, all medical organizations face healthcare compliance concerns. What is healthcare compliance? Healthcare compliance is the continuous process of abiding by legal, ethical, and professional standards...
Medical errors are now the third highest cause of death, accounting for more than 250,000 deaths per year in the US. (1) Second only to heart disease and cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (3) Many believe this estimate is too low and the true number of deaths is around...
Recently the world’s largest cyber-attack unleashed its havoc across 150 countries crippling more than 300,000 victims and hundreds of organizations worldwide. Hospitals, universities, government offices, and large business were among those affected, including sixteen NHS hospitals in the UK. Many of them had to cancel surgeries, appointments, and send patients elsewhere due to the fallout....
Despite the change in administration, experts say The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) is here to stay and it’s full speed ahead. The MACRA law replaces the previous fee-for-service Medicare payment structure with a value-based pay-for-performance program built on measures of quality and efficiency. The legislation affects all healthcare providers that care for...
Healthcare data breaches are costing the U.S. healthcare industry nearly $6.2 billion each year. (2) In fact, healthcare has the highest cost per breached record of any other industry. Why? Healthcare is extremely attractive to hackers because medical records include everything they need such as: names, Social Security numbers, date of birth, credit card information,...
Transparency is considered an essential element to improving the quality of health care. Without transparency, patients cannot make informed decisions. Without transparency, it is not possible to have a culture of safety. What is transparency? Transparency is defined as the free and uninhibited flow of information that is open to the scrutiny of others. (2)...
