Literature Review

Family caregivers deserve to be a valued part of the healthcare continuum MedCity News; by Cara McCarty Abbott; 11/20/24 Family caregivers are a critical part of the healthcare system. Not only are they part of America’s safety net, but they are also critical partners to hospice providers when caring for loved ones with serious illnesses or at end of life. With 53 million U.S. caregivers actively involved in healthcare decisions for their loved ones, enhancing support for these caregivers can contribute to patient clinical outcomes and improve a sense of well-being among families facing a difficult experience. ... When caregivers aren’t supported, it’s not only the people who suffer; it’s also the organizations that they most interact with during the caregiving process. ... Hospice providers cannot turn this tide alone. This complex, systemic issue requires a comprehensive approach. ...

8 digital healthcare trends for 2025 Perficient; by Lysa Young-Bates; 11/15/24 Our experts are closely monitoring eight healthcare trends that are shaping industry leaders’ strategies in 2025. ... Let’s dive into the eight healthcare trends and pragmatic innovations that our experts are helping HCOs navigate in 2025.

With the rise of AI, is a Chief Automation Officer necessary? HR Daily Advisor Newsletter - Technology; by Lou Bachenheimer; 11/11/24 In the age of digital transformation and advanced technology like AI, automation is a critical element for organizations to stay competitive. That’s why many C-suites are considering incorporating a Chief Automation Officer (CAO) into the fabric of their organization to provide senior executive oversight of automation initiatives. But is a whole new role in the c-suite needed and necessary to successfully implement AI and automation into your organization? ... Instead of pouring new resources and energy into new roles that are created off the back of hype, what is needed is executive sponsorship and leadership of advanced automation programs at the highest and most influential levels, underpinned by the appropriate business knowledge and network to be able to drive real change.

A new low? Hacker group targets end-of-life pharmacy provider TechInformed (TI); by Ann-Marie Corvin; 10/28/24 OnePoint Patient Care, an Arizona-based hospice pharmacy serving over 40,000 patients per day, has informed customers about a data breach impacting personal information. OnePoint said it first detected suspicious activity on its network in early August. A later investigation revealed that by this point, the attackers had already obtained files containing personal information from the pharmacy’s systems, including names, residence information, medical records, and prescription and diagnosis information. OPPC told the US Department of Health and Human Services that the data breach impacted over 795,000 people.

Change Healthcare cyberattack impacts 100 million people Becker's Health IT; by Naomi Diaz; 10/25/24 The Feb. 21 ransomware attack on UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare has impacted 100 million individuals. The number of impacted individuals was posted on the Office for Civil Rights Breach Portal, which is used for reporting breaches of unsecured protected health information under HIPAA. Previously, UnitedHealth said that the data stolen by hackers likely covered a "substantial proportion of people in America." The cyberattack crippled financial operations for hospitals, insurers, pharmacies and medical groups nationwide. In July, the organization began sending out breach notification letters to individuals affected by the attack.  

Florida health system rolls out virtual nursing tech to 1K rooms Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 10/17/24 Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health is expanding virtual nursing technology to nearly 1,000 patient rooms, representing about half its beds. The four-hospital system is rolling out dual-camera virtual care devices from telehealth company Caregility to scale its virtual nurse offering. The remote fleet management tools come with artificial intelligence capabilities and cloud-based updates. "Our virtual nursing program introduces innovative possibilities in patient care workflows by connecting the care in the complex patient journey," Lee Health Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Higgins, DNP, RN, said in an Oct. 16 statement. "From admissions and discharges to continuous patient monitoring, patients benefit from an additional team member dedicated to their care."

Effectiveness of a mobile app (Meds@HOME) to improve medication safety for children with medical complexity: Protocol for a randomized controlled trialJMIR Research Protocols; Nicole E Werner, Makenzie Morgen, Sophie Kooiman, Anna Jolliff, Gemma Warner, James Feinstein, Michelle Chui, Barbara Katz, Brittany Storhoff, Kristan Sodergren, Ryan Coller; 9/24The Meds@HOME mobile app provides a promising strategy for improving PCG [primary caregiver] medication safety for CMC [children with medical complexity] who take high-risk medications. In addition, this protocol highlights novel procedures for recruiting SCGs [secondary caregivers] of CMC. In the future, this app could be used more broadly across diverse caregiving networks to navigate complex medication routines and promote medication safety.

Why recent outages are a wake-up call for healthcare and regulators Forbes; by Chris Bowen; 10/11/24 When the CrowdStrike outage first started to show itself in the early hours of that hazy July morning, it was hard to believe that this wasn’t a hack or cyberattack. I was driving in my car that morning and looked up to see a digital billboard glitch into the "blue screen of death" before my eyes. Flights were grounded, travel was delayed, and nearly every Windows machine in the world was unusable. It was total mayhem. Clearly, this was an outage of major proportions, as millions of Windows systems worldwide essentially cratered. Caused by a faulty misconfiguration, we saw firsthand how the very digital advancements that have helped transform and modernize our world also expose us to more vulnerabilities than ever. ... In healthcare, this event laid bare the vulnerabilities we cannot overlook—the gaps that directly threaten patient care and safety. It’s a clear reminder of our industry’s utmost responsibility to patient privacy and well-being. ...

Asian-American communities face ‘digital divide’ in health equity, hospice care Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 10/1/24 Recent research has dug into the barriers limiting greater telehealth utilization among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. The data come at a time when hospices are striving to better understand how to improve those groups’ end-of-life trajectories. Technology utilization has gained momentum in health care, including in hospice care delivery. Though increased virtual health care access can help hospice providers reach patients upstream, the trend may be worsening disparities and outcomes among Asian American populations, according to Victoria Tsze, an outpatient hospice social worker at Tucson Medical Center (TMC) Hospice. 

SNF, home health [and hospice] CEOs could be jailed over cybersecurity issues under new billMcKnight's Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 9/30/24New legislation aimed at improving cybersecurity in healthcare could see leaders at skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospices jailed if they lie about their cybersecurity precautions, according to one of its sponsors. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) announced the Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act on Thursday. The bill also covers other types of healthcare businesses. “The healthcare industry has some of the worst cybersecurity practices in the nation despite its critical importance to Americans’ well-being and privacy,” Wyden said. “These commonsense reforms, which include jail time for CEOs that lie to the government about their cybersecurity, will set a course to beef up cybersecurity among healthcare companies across the nation and stem the tide of cyberattacks that threaten to cripple the American healthcare system.”

Visible, active leadership is vital to change management, says Epic emeritus CIO advisor Healthcare IT News; by Bill Siwicki; 9/26/24 [Part 1 of 2] Lost amidst talk of all the amazing technologies used in healthcare today is a subject very important to Robert Slepin: change management. ... Clinical workforce shortages and burnout, increasing costs and decreasing reimbursement, and capacity to care for patients with behavioral health/addiction issues – these are among the top issues confronting U.S. hospitals, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives. ... While there is no magic wand to accelerate progress, in my experience you can significantly improve the outcomes in a healthcare transformation initiative with an intentional focus and disciplined approach to change management. Conversely, not being thoughtful and effective in leading change could hinder your efforts or adversely impact the outcomes, and even possibly spell disaster. ... Visible, active leadership is vital. ... A hands-off approach of issuing orders from the corner office and asking others to "let me know when it's done" won't cut it. ... Besides being visible and hands-on, the best leaders I have worked with demonstrate a positive style; for example, they are authentic, coaching, transformational, engaging and compassionate. They remove fear and build trust, and inspire, educate, coach and support people in moving together toward a common, stretch goal. ...

77% of health system IT employees eyeing new jobs Becker's Health IT; Naomi Diaz; 9/25/24 Health system IT employees are keeping their options open, with 77% actively seeking new jobs or planning to do so within the next year, according to Bloomforce's "2024 EHR Salary Insights Report." The report, based on an online survey conducted between November and December 2023, gathered responses from 284 healthcare professionals across various roles, including application analysts, team leads, project managers and people managers. It explored areas such as salary, job satisfaction, work-life balance, talent retention and attitudes toward remote work. Here are some key findings from the report: [Click on the title's link to read more.]

AI 'early warning' system shows promise in preventing hospital deaths, study says Pique NewsMagazine, Toronto, Canada; by Nicole Ireland; 9/16/24 An AI early-warning system that predicts which patients are at risk of deteriorating while in hospital was associated with a decrease in unexpected deaths, a new study says. The study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found a 26 per cent reduction in non-palliative deaths among patients in St. Michael's Hospital's general internal medicine unit when the AI tool was used. "We've seen that there is a lot of hype and excitement around artificial intelligence in medicine. We've also seen not as much actual deployment of these tools in real clinical environments," said lead author Dr. Amol Verma, a general internal medicine specialist and scientist at the hospital in Toronto. "This is an early example of a tool that's deployed that was rigorously tested and evaluated and where it's showing promise for actually helping improve patient care." ... The technology called CHARTwatch continuously analyzed more than 100 different pieces of information about each patient in the unit, Verma said. When the AI tool predicted that a patient was deteriorating, it sent an alert to physicians and nurses, prompting them to quickly intervene.