Managing Mandates

Wow. HIMSS14 was the largest annual conference to date. The setting of relaxing, swaying palm trees belied the buzz in the convention center with providers clearly stressed about meeting the timeline for ICD-10 implementation and Meaningful Use requirements. And, the word was official: no more delays.

There were, however, many inspiring stories about how health IT is helping providers meet the triple aim—better health and better outcomes at lower costs. Innovation is not being ignored as we could tell by visiting the more than 1,200 vendors in the exhibit hall, participating in the Innovation Symposium or attending one of the many general education sessions.

If you didn’t get a chance to read our coverage of sessions, trends and happenings, please visit our website—clinical-innovation.com—to learn more about successfully launching an innovation program, implementing a patient identity management program, thoughts from government leaders, mobile health developments, patient engagement strategies and more. We also offer a wrap-up of the most electric speakers during the conference.

Patient engagement was a big topic at HIMSS14, due to the requirements of Meaningful Use. This month’s cover story examines how consumerization is impacting healthcare and how organizations can position themselves for its rise.

Those facilities that don’t engage in a consumer-centric model won’t meet the desires of their patients to be more engaged, let alone the federal mandates. Surveys show more and more patients using mobile apps to track certain health parameters as well as an increasing interest among patients to take charge of their health. As in other industries, providers will need to present themselves as an attractive option in the market. Learn more.

Meaningful Use Stage 2’s requirement that providers offer the ability and ensure that at least 10 percent of patients are viewing, downloading and transmitting their electronic data has met with considerable protest. The requirement was reduced to 5 percent in response. Organizations such as Geisinger and the MassHIWay share their experience with patient portals and other strategies to drive “VDT” in Evan Godt’s article.

This issue also includes articles on topics such as telehealth in rural areas, the role of health IT in the growing hospital consolidation trend and a look inside the innovation efforts at the Cleveland Clinic. I hope you find the content insightful and useful.