Hospitals’ Use Of Electronic Health Records Data, 2015-2017
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 helped to advance the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Currently, more than 95% of hospitals possess an EHR. With this widespread adoption of the technology, policy is now shifting towards the use of EHR data, which can improve patient care by giving providers access to evidence-based tools that assist with decision making and facilitating clinical practice by automating and streamlining provider workflow. EHR data are used most commonly by hospitals to support quality improvement (82%), monitor patient safety (81%), and measure organization performance (77%). Hospitals with the capability to send, find, receive, or integrate external patient data were twice as likely to use their EHR data compared to hospitals that did not engage in these domains of interoperability. A data brief from The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology employs data from the American Hospital Association Information Technology Survey to describe trends in the use of EHR data among non-federal acute care hospitals from 2015 to 2017. EHR data are defined as a set of 10 measures that describe hospital processes for leveraging information within their EHR to inform clinical practice. The data brief also presents variation in the use of this data by hospital characteristics and over time. It can be obtained here.
Care Coordination
Care coordination is a methodical approach to care that facilitates better communication between and among individuals, family caregivers, and service providers. There has been significant emphasis in the last several years on care coordination’s role in supporting older adults and in reaching the key aims of health care reform, namely improved patient outcomes, enhanced care experience, reduced costs, reduced provider burnout, and equity in outcomes. A new issue brief provides updates to a 2013 care coordination issue brief developed by Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) and the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C). It includes a synthesis of diverse strategies in use and a vision for how services could be improved. Care coordination should be happening wherever and whenever care is provided. Efforts may be staffed within various settings: office-based primary care teams, house call programs, specialty care teams (such as oncology), hospitals (often staffed by discharge planners or transitional care coordinators), skilled nursing facilities, hospice and palliative care programs, aging network organizations, and housing programs. The issue brief can be obtained here.
Strengthening The Connection Between Health Professions Education And Practice
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education with affiliates of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education held a workshop on November 13 and 14, 2018 in Washington, DC entitled Strengthening the Connection between Health Professions Education and Practice. The purpose was to explore methods and methodology for bridging health professions education and practice in ways that improve information flow between learning and application. The workshop also explored various models of training by bringing together multiple health professions across the education-to-practice continuum. Workshop Proceedings can be obtained here.
More Articles from TRENDS April 2019
VARIETIES OF PLAGUES BOTH OLD AND NEW
Examples are provided of infectious diseases as well as another kind of plague resulting from doubts and uncertainties about purported advantages of contemporary life. Read More
PRESIDENT’S CORNER—ASAHP MEMBER FOCUS
Yasmen Simonian, Dean and Brady Distinguished Professor at Weber State University, is featured in this issue of TRENDS. Read More
100TH DAY OF THE 116TH CONGRESS
A summary of important accomplishments during the first 100 days of the 116th Congress is described. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Discusses: the Medicare For All Act Of 2019, provision of non-medical services for social needs that affect health, and reaction in the House of Representatives to a lawsuit to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes: an upcoming ASAHP Summit on Interprofessional Education; Congressional testimony by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos on education policies and priorities; and released draft consensus language from negotiated rulemaking sessions on accreditation and other topics. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Disparities In Prevalence Of Major Cancer Risk Factors And Screening Test Use In The U.S.
Foreign-Body Ingestions Of Young Children Treated In U.S. Emergency Departments: 1995-2015
Morning Exercise Is Better Than Evening Exercise Except When It Is Not
Using Voice Analysis To Evaluate And Predict Human Behaviors And Identify Health Risks Read More
PER SCIENTIAM AD SAPIENTIAM: SOME KEY STEPS IN THE JOURNEY
Furnishes examples from the professional literature that serve as stepping stones on the road from knowledge to wisdom. Read More
PLACING A MAN ON THE MOON AND SOME RELATED MUSINGS
Refers to health hazards associated with lengthy periods of time in outer space and implications for improving health status on earth’s inhabitants. Read More