The big question in the healthcare industry is how to cater to the Facebook generation, the generation with digital communication constantly at their fingertips. Digital healthcare has lagged behind and there are several barriers keeping it from becoming commonplace.
Read MoreBarnabas Health and Robert Wood Johnson Health System have finalized their plans to merge, creating the largest hospital chain in the state stretching from Essex County to the Jersey shore, the hospitals announced Tuesday. The new nonprofit entity will be known as RWJ Barnabas Health.
Read MoreIn a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court upheld federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act in all states, including the 34 under federal exchanges. This has led to a banner year for healthcare stocks.
Read MoreCMS launched the Open Payments Website as an effort to provide transparency into the relationship between American medicine and the drug and medical device industries.
But the Open Payments Website has had issues since its inception, including a glitch that shut down the entire website. Access to the online records was suspended after doctors of the same name noticed they were credited with payments made to the other and, shortly after, CMS announced that one third of records would be withheld at the time of the Open Payments launch.
Other reported issues with the Open Payments site included misspellings, mixed up payments, and missing information. According to ProPublica/New York Times’ “The Upshot”, errors continue to plague the system.
However, things may be looking up with the latest release of data revealing U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals received $6.49 billion from drug and medical-device makers in 2014
Among the drug companies making the largest payments were Pfizer Inc., with $234 million in research payments and $53.3 million in general outlays; Merck & Co. with $97.7 million for research and $27.5 million in general payments; and AstraZeneca Plc with $85.7 million in research and $72.5 million in general payments.
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Clinics and hospitals are focused on reducing preventable readmissions through better patient communication and follow up. A 2014 study from the Mayo Clinic showed that patients who used smartphone apps to record weight and blood pressure – and participated in cardiac rehab – lowered cardiovascular risk factors and 90-day readmissions. According to the study, 20 percent of the app-user patients experienced readmission compared to 60 percent of patients who completed rehab only.
Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, CEO of Boston-based Care at Hand, developer of an app-based care coordination system, says the move toward value-based payments drives efficient use of affordable, accessible technologies, such as mobile apps.
"Our company wouldn't exist if not for Affordable Care Act," he says.
Indeed, the rise in mHealth technologies correlates with ACA's plan to to reduce preventable, excessive readmissions with cuts to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System in 2012. Medicare spends more than $17 billion annually on avoidable readmissions with penalties that total up to 3 percent of inpatient claims for 30-day readmissions.
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Maya Haynes is a dual-degree student Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts with majors in sociology and public health, and a contributor to Medical Groups. She is committed to making sure vulnerable populations in the United States are provided with the knowledge and resources to best plan and care for their families. She regularly volunteers at local preschools and community centers to assess the needs to of the populations she plans on serving.
