The rising concern of COVID-19 has shaken everyone, and we’ve already seen the impact it has had on our grocery supplies, tradeshows and events, daily outings, and on businesses. We recognize that this situation has impacted many people in numerous ways, including most people now working from home. That’s why we’d like to offer a few tips to help you work in this reomote environment and keep business moving.

Weeks before the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition was due to begin on March 9-13, we shared these tips to have a successful HIMSS20 conference. As we all now know, HIMSS20 (and basically every other conference in the near term) has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

Nationwide we are experiencing a new and alarming health concern, the significant rise in reports of severe lung disease which could be potentially linked to vaping and e-cigarettes.

For anyone who has been working in the healthcare IT industry over the past 15-18 years, including yours truly, we can all attest to the fact that interfaces – including the technology that facilitates them – have progressed from being important prerequisites for operational efficiency to mission critical elements for patient care and safety.

We just wrapped up the month of October supporting National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the emphasis focused on the mantras of Own IT, Secure IT, Protect IT as it relates to your personal and patient data. As a leader in Patient Privacy, we were proud to participate in National Cybersecurity Awareness month, and share many educational resources throughout the month. Each week during the month we focused on a different topic to give you tips for what hospital leaders (and in some cases, you personally) can do to improve cybersecurity protection.

Your facility may be gearing up to integrate Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) into your existing physician order workflow, which is the program established to increase the rate of appropriate advanced diagnostic imaging services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. The mandate from CMS is that the program needs to be fully implemented by January 2021.

Let me begin by saying, I live on the Atlantic coast, just north of Jacksonville, FL. Because it’s hurricane season in this area, I always keep a keen eye on hurricane updates. Recently, I tracked and monitored Hurricane Dorian and the impact it might have on my family.

With the increase in high-deductible health plans, there is a greater demand for patients needing a simplified way to pay their out of pocket health care bills.

According to Healthcare Finance, there has been a 30 percent rise in patient costs. From a 2017 study, 89 percent of provider financial administrators expected that healthcare payments will be made on phones and mobile devices by the fourth quarter of 2018, yet only 20 percent are currently ready for electronic payments other than checks, cash or credit/debit cards.

A picture really is worth a thousand words. Taking complex ideas or data and compiling them in a single picture conveys the meaning more effectively than any words. Visual communication is still one of the most effective and powerful forms of communication. When applied in healthcare, it presents a clearer picture, increases patient safety, facilitates communication between providers, prioritizes workflow, and improves patient satisfaction.