Health IT optimization
The health IT optimization process refines healthcare technology systems to improve performance, efficiency and user experience. The process streamlines workflows, enhancing data integration and accessibility, and may include implementing updates or add-ons. Understand how optimization efforts maximize the value of health IT investments.
Top Stories
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News
12 Jun 2026
CMS creates office dedicated to health technology
The Office of Health Technology and Products is the latest technology development from the CMS as it doubles down on digital tools. Continue Reading
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08 Jun 2026
GAO: EHR modernization office needs to improve cybersecurity collaboration
According to GAO, the Federal EHR Modernization office does not fully follow leading practices for cybersecurity collaboration; the Department of Defense disagreed. Continue Reading
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27 Sep 2023
Nuance Releases Generative AI Copilot for Clinical Documentation
The Nuance DAX Copilot uses generative AI to automatically create draft clinical documentation for physician review and entry in the EHR. Continue Reading
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21 Sep 2023
3 User-Centered Design Practices to Drive EHR Usability, Optimization
Employing user-centered design practices can help healthcare organizations pinpoint clinical workflow challenges to improve EHR usability. Continue Reading
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21 Sep 2023
MEDITECH EHR Integration Taps Generative AI for Clinical Notes
The MEDITECH EHR integration leverages ambient technology and generative AI to help providers spend less time on clinical documentation. Continue Reading
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19 Sep 2023
Ochsner to Pilot Epic EHR Integration for Generative AI Patient Messaging
Approximately 100 Ochsner clinicians will test an Epic EHR integration that uses generative AI to draft responses to routine patient requests. Continue Reading
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07 Sep 2023
Personalized Clinical Documentation Tools Linked to EHR Satisfaction
Physicians who use personalized clinical documentation tools, such as templates and shortcuts, report the highest levels of EHR satisfaction, a KLAS report found. Continue Reading
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29 Aug 2023
Epic Sepsis Prediction Model Lacks Clinical Decision Support Timeliness
A new study found that the Epic Sepsis Prediction Model was less timely and missed more cases than other clinical decision support tools, including SOFA and SIRS. Continue Reading
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24 Aug 2023
Additional Epic EHR Education Linked to Clinician Satisfaction
While Epic EHR education courses boost clinician satisfaction, providers want more opportunities to share best practices with their peers. Continue Reading
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18 Aug 2023
Effective Resident EHR Training Hinges on Personal Initiative
Researchers said residency programs should foster relationships between medical assistants and residents to support EHR use and clinical documentation. Continue Reading
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17 Aug 2023
Epic Announces Integration for Generative AI Clinical Documentation
Emory Healthcare in Georgia will deploy the generative AI integration across its Epic EHR to streamline clinical documentation workflows. Continue Reading
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28 Jul 2023
Three Provider Orgs Look to eClinicalWorks EHR for Workflow Upgrades
Primary Care Joliet, Encore Health Group, UniVida Medical Centers have recently invested in eClinicalWorks EHR to advance workflow upgrades. Continue Reading
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28 Jul 2023
EHR Work Associated With Clinician Burnout Across Specialties
A study found that a “pooling” system to triage patient portal messages did not reduce the odds of clinician burnout from EHR work. Continue Reading
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27 Jul 2023
AWS Releases Generative AI Service for Clinical Documentation
The new AWS service will support generative AI clinical documentation capabilities for general medicine and orthopedics specialties. Continue Reading
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26 Jul 2023
VA Deploys Verizon Private 5G Network to Advance Patient Care
The Verizon private 5G network is set to enhance bandwidth and support patient care improvements at VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Continue Reading
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19 Jul 2023
NLP EHR Integration Identifies Acute COVID-19 Cases with 94% Sensitivity
A study found that an NLP EHR integration helped speed time to treatment and improved reporting accuracy for COVID-19 cases. Continue Reading
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11 Jul 2023
The Sequoia Project, AHIMA Aims to Enhance Data Usability Efforts
The organizations created a new initiative to assist healthcare organizations in navigating data usability. Continue Reading
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10 Jul 2023
Health System Deploys Support Service for Epic EHR Usability
After moving to an Epic EHR system last year, Emory Healthcare is leveraging a virtual support tool from Experis to support EHR usability. Continue Reading
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07 Jul 2023
SOGI Data Missing in Over 60% of Adult EHR Records, Study Finds
Accurate sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data are needed within EHR systems to address health disparities for SGM individuals. Continue Reading
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23 Jun 2023
Part-Time PCPs Spend Greater Share of Clinic Hours on EHR Than Peers
A study found that part-time PCPs spend more time on the EHR per eight hours of scheduled work time than full-time physicians. Continue Reading
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22 Jun 2023
State HIE Data Helps Drive Value-Based Care Across Management Org
A tool that inserts the most critical HIE data into patient health records has helped a medical management organization achieve significant value-based care savings across its clinics. Continue Reading
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21 Jun 2023
AMA Announces 2023 Recipients of EHR Use Research Grant Program
Awardees of the AMA EHR Use Research Grant include AllianceChicago, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and MedStar Health. Continue Reading
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14 Jun 2023
Mercy Health Introduces Community Data Hub for Public Health
A new resource from Mercy Health aims to help public health officials better understand community health by aggregating millions of publicly available data points. Continue Reading
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13 Jun 2023
64% of Clinical Documentation Integrity Clients Cite Reporting Issues
While many clinical documentation integrity customers cite reporting as a challenge, health IT vendor Nuance stands out for high reporting accuracy, according to a KLAS report. Continue Reading
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12 Jun 2023
EHR Workflow Prompts Boost Lung Cancer Screening, LDCT Ordering
EHR workflow prompts helped simplify the identification of patients for lung cancer screening and allowed physicians to order LDCT with a single click. Continue Reading
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07 Jun 2023
KLAS: Client Adoption Varies Across Clinical Communication Platforms
Healthcare organizations using Stryker Edge’s clinical communication platform reported the highest average number of exchanged messages, the KLAS report found. Continue Reading
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05 Jun 2023
Using EHR Data to Advance Chronic Disease Surveillance, Public Health
Regenstrief researchers are working with local public health partners to share EHR data for chronic disease surveillance through the state HIE. Continue Reading
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02 Jun 2023
Researchers Develop eCQMs for Cancer Diagnostic Process, Follow-Up
Healthcare organizations could use eCQMs to incentivize cancer diagnostic performance improvement and develop interventions to reduce missed follow-up opportunities. Continue Reading
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30 May 2023
HIE Boosts Care Coordination, Home Discharge Among Older Adults
Beneficiaries had 9 to 15 percent higher odds of discharge home with home health when health information exchange (HIE) was available. Continue Reading
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30 May 2023
Transparency Key for Default Opioid Dosing EHR Interventions
Transparency regarding EHR interventions that change default dosing settings for opioids could help improve clinician support for such interventions, according to a qualitative study. Continue Reading
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24 May 2023
UNC Health to Implement Generative AI Tools Through Epic EHR Integration
The Epic EHR integration will use generative AI to auto-draft replies to some of the most common and time-consuming patient portal messages. Continue Reading
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23 May 2023
MEDITECH Enhances Telehealth through EHR Integration with Doximity
The MEDITECH EHR integration with Doximity Dialer will allow healthcare providers access to telehealth capabilities directly from MEDITECH's Expanse Now. Continue Reading
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23 May 2023
Standard Metrics Needed to Measure After-Hours Clinician EHR Work
Accurately quantifying clinician time spent on EHR work outside time scheduled with patients is critical for understanding occupational stress and clinician burnout. Continue Reading
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16 May 2023
How Clinician Perceptions of EHR Use Can Drive EHR Innovation
Qualitative EHR use research can help researchers gather insight on what to target for quantitative analysis and better inform EHR innovation. Continue Reading
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16 May 2023
Review Finds EHR Nudge Interventions Drive Care Quality Improvements
The most common EHR nudge intervention, changing choice default options, improved care quality in all reviewed studies. Continue Reading
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15 May 2023
Study Finds EHR Communication Methods Hinder Care Team Well-Being
Virtual care team communication strategies that support rich communication could help address EHR communication challenges. Continue Reading
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15 May 2023
KLAS Report Demonstrates Value in Virtual, Self-Directed EHR Training
KLAS found that self-directed, virtual EHR training sessions usually last less than an hour and can generate a significant ROI in terms of clinician time savings. Continue Reading
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12 May 2023
Health IT End-Users Alliance Unite on SDOH Data Collection for Health Equity
A Health IT End-Users Alliance statement offers principles to guide the public and private sectors in SDOH data collection to achieve health equity. Continue Reading
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09 May 2023
DirectTrust Releases Finalized Criteria for TNAP-Participant Accreditation
Updates to the DirectTrust TNAP-Participant accreditation program address requirements that participants must meet for data exchange with a TEFCA QHIN. Continue Reading
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09 May 2023
Northwell Awards $1M to Employee-Driven Digital Health Innovation Projects
Northwell Health will fund two new digital health innovation projects, including one focused on an AI-enabled solution to navigate cancer patients to care. Continue Reading
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08 May 2023
Algorithm Harmonizes EHR Data into ‘Macrovisits’ for Clinical Research
Researchers said the algorithm is a foundational step in quantifying EHR data heterogeneity and harmonizing data for clinical research. Continue Reading
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05 May 2023
Opinion: EHR Reform Requires Clinical Note Reinvention to Cut Clinician Burnout
JAMA viewpoint authors suggested that EHR reform to cut clinician burnout should focus on removing administrative functions within the clinical note. Continue Reading
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04 May 2023
AEHADA Announces Plan to Drive Digital Health Innovation Through Collaboration
AEHADA aims to support digital health innovation by empowering members with training, education, and networking opportunities, officials said. Continue Reading
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04 May 2023
PCORI Unveils Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research Funding Opportunities
A new PCORI funding opportunity will focus on clinical effectiveness research that aims to mitigate hypertension management disparities. Continue Reading
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03 May 2023
KLAS Ranks Hospice Health IT Vendors for Customer Satisfaction, Value
The KLAS report found that hospice solutions from health IT vendors MatrixCare and WellSky were best for supporting independent hospice agencies. Continue Reading
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02 May 2023
Partnership Enables Open Data Sharing for Spinal Cord Injury Research
The Reeve Foundation and University of Alberta partnership aims to facilitate open data sharing in spinal cord injury research to promote value, shared knowledge, and data transparency. Continue Reading
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01 May 2023
Writing a New Ending in the Patient Access to Care Story
Patient access to care is at risk as physician shortages persist and hospitals seemingly close every day; supporting pharmacists through technology can help to fill access gaps and keep patients healthy and happy. Continue Reading
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25 Apr 2023
US Census Bureau Data Linkage Bridges Gaps in Race Data Collection
New research from the Census Bureau reveals that linking Medicaid with census and survey data reduces missing race data by 63 percent, improving race data collection for health disparity research Continue Reading
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21 Apr 2023
ED Nurses Report Cumbersome Documentation for EHR Behavioral Flags
ED nurses said EHR behavioral flag documentation should be easier to complete and there should be more leadership follow-up after flagged incidents. Continue Reading
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21 Apr 2023
Intermountain Develops FHIR-Based Platform for Clinical Decision Support
The new FHIR-based tool will combine various solutions, including the Intermountain ePneumonia app, for clinical decision support. Continue Reading
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19 Apr 2023
3M HIS Taps AWS Generative AI to Advance Ambient Clinical Documentation
3M will use AWS generative AI services, including Amazon Bedrock, to help refine and scale the delivery of its ambient clinical documentation solution. Continue Reading
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18 Apr 2023
Health IT Vendor eClinicalWorks Announces Azure OpenAI EHR Integration
eClinicalWorks will expand its partnership with Microsoft Azure through EHR integration of machine learning models from Azure OpenAI Service. Continue Reading
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17 Apr 2023
Study Finds EHR Issues Can Contribute to Ambulatory Diagnostic Errors
The researchers said that more granular reporting taxonomies are needed to understand the EHR issues that may be contributing to diagnostic errors. Continue Reading
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11 Apr 2023
ONC Releases Proposed Rule to Further Cures Act Interoperability Goals
The proposed rule includes provisions to update standards adopted under the ONC Certification Program to advance interoperability and reduce costs. Continue Reading
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10 Apr 2023
FDA Selects Cerner Enviza to Develop EHR AI Tools for Drug Safety
Cerner Enviza will help create AI tools for extracting critical information from EHR notes to support drug safety in a new FDA project. Continue Reading
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05 Apr 2023
Restricted EHR Configuration Does Not Improve Clinician Efficiency, Study Finds
Restricting providers to opening one EHR record at a time did not reduce wrong-patient orders or clinician efficiency. Continue Reading
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31 Mar 2023
PCORI Awards $123M to Support Clinical Effectiveness Research
PCORI awarded six of the studies through targeted funding opportunities on specific high-priority topics identified through input from patients and other stakeholders. Continue Reading
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30 Mar 2023
BCBSA Offers Health Equity Guide to Standardized SDOH Data Collection
Old SDOH data collection methods can exacerbate disparities; BCBSA and NMQF have called on the healthcare industry to close health equity gaps through standardization and updated approaches. Continue Reading
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29 Mar 2023
KLAS: Personal Initiative Drives Clinician, Nurse EHR Satisfaction
About one in three nurses reporting high EHR satisfaction said being proactive about learning the EHR was key to their success. Continue Reading
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27 Mar 2023
How the Cloud Improves Clinical Care, Healthcare Operations
The cloud improves care access and affordability while redirecting resources from managing infrastructure to supporting clinical and operational workflows. Continue Reading
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21 Mar 2023
KLAS: Speech Recognition For Clinical Documentation On The Rise
While front-end speech speech recognition is growing, transcription will continue to play a limited but key role in clinical documentation, KLAS found. Continue Reading
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20 Mar 2023
How HL7 FHIR APIs Are Driving Healthcare Innovation, Interoperability
With use cases across clinical care, research, health information exchange (HIE), and public health, HL7 FHIR APIs span the healthcare innovation spectrum. Continue Reading
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17 Mar 2023
VA Report Outlines Solutions to Key EHRM Patient Safety Issues
With go-lives at VA health centers set to resume in June, a VA team suggested technical fixes for patient safety issues related to the EHRM program. Continue Reading
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16 Mar 2023
Rigid MAT EHR Workflows Add to Nurses’ Cognitive Load
Researchers suggested that medication administration technology (MAT) that compiles essential patient information could improve nurses’ EHR workflows. Continue Reading
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14 Mar 2023
Clinical Decision Support EHR Alert Doubles Heart Failure Drug Prescriptions
A banner-like EHR alert was a more effective form of clinical decision support than a monthly email for improving MRA prescription rates. Continue Reading
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24 Feb 2023
KLAS Ranks Long Term Care EHR Vendor Performance, Customer Satisfaction
According to KLAS, long term care organizations are highly satisfied with EHR vendor PointClickCare, but some customers want more communication regarding new functionality. Continue Reading
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22 Feb 2023
Analyzing Free-Text EHR Orders to Support Clinical Workflow Optimization
Patterns of nursing-related free-text EHR orders can reflect clinical workflow problems that force providers to use system “workarounds.” Continue Reading
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16 Feb 2023
ONC Brief Outlines How Standardized SDOH CDS Can Support Health Equity
CDS systems that include SDOH factors could improve health equity through widespread adoption, ONC officials suggested. Continue Reading
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16 Feb 2023
8 in 10 Care Orgs Collect SDOH Data, But EHR Coding Challenges Persist
Eighty-three percent of respondents in an AHIMA survey listed staff training and education as a top challenge for EHR coding of SDOH data. Continue Reading
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10 Feb 2023
Site-Specific ‘Discount’ EHR Usability Testing Can Improve Clinician Experience
‘Discount’ EHR usability testing on a small group of providers helped an organization flag system issues to optimize the clinician experience. Continue Reading
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10 Feb 2023
EHR-Based SDOH Screening Accuracy Falls Short for Housing Instability
While EHR-based SDOH screening and external single-domain questionnaires share much of the same wording, they may measure different constructs, a new study found. Continue Reading
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08 Feb 2023
Leveraging EHR Audit Logs to Inform Clinician Burnout Interventions
Healthcare systems can use EHR audit logs to characterize how physicians spend time on the EHR, offering strategic insight on how to mediate clinician burnout, ONC officials said. Continue Reading
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07 Feb 2023
Regenstrief Institute Appoints New CEO to Drive Health Equity Research
Rachel E. Patzer, PhD, MPH, an epidemiology and health equity research expert, will officially begin her new role as CEO of the Regenstrief Institute on May 1. Continue Reading
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06 Feb 2023
Machine Learning Model Predicts Physician Departure With EHR Use Metrics
The machine learning model found that physician demographics, EHR use metrics, and patient panel characteristics contributed most to the risk of physician departure. Continue Reading
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02 Feb 2023
Non-Interruptive CDS EHR Integration Boosts ED Naloxone Prescribing
A CDS EHR integration increased clinician use of a standard OD documentation template, which helped improve naloxone prescribing practices. Continue Reading
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30 Jan 2023
Veradigm Makes EHR Data Available in OMOP CDM Data Standard for RWE
Veradigm Network EHR data, which contains RWE from over 170 million patients, will now be available in the OMOP CDM data standard. Continue Reading
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27 Jan 2023
KLAS: Infection Control Health IT Streamlines Regulatory Reporting
Many Epic EHR customers are leaving their best-of-breed infection control health IT and moving to Epic Bugsy for regulatory reporting, the KLAS report found. Continue Reading
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26 Jan 2023
Ambient Clinical Intelligence EHR Documentation May Fall Short
Over 90 percent of the time, ambient clinical intelligence EHR documentation was incorrect for non-lexical conversational sounds like “Mm-hm” that conveyed clinically relevant information. Continue Reading
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25 Jan 2023
State, Federal Healthcare Datasets Exclude Prison Hospital Data
Researchers have limited access to prison hospital data, as health information from hospitals managed by DOCs are not included in federal healthcare datasets. Continue Reading
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23 Jan 2023
Racial Disparity in ED EHR Behavioral Flags Draws Implicit Bias Concerns
ED clinicians were more likely to use EHR behavioral flags for Black patients than White patients, which could have implications for implicit bias. Continue Reading
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20 Jan 2023
ONC Data Shows Increase in ePrescribing Adoption for Controlled Substances
The ONC data revealed that 62 percent of prescribers used ePrescribing for controlled substances (EPCS) “often” in 2021 compared to 37 percent of prescribers in 2019. Continue Reading
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16 Jan 2023
Reduction in EHR Inbox Notifications Not Enough to Cut Clinician Burnout
Collaboration between health system leaders and primary care providers is necessary to address clinician burnout brought on by EHR inbox notifications. Continue Reading
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13 Jan 2023
KLAS Outlines Strategies to Improve Clinician EHR Satisfaction
KLAS outlined several strategies on how healthcare systems can improve clinician EHR satisfaction as part of a study conducted through its Arch Collaborative initiative. Continue Reading
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12 Jan 2023
69% of Hospitals Can Access Clinical Documentation Measures from EHR Vendors
Critical access hospitals are less likely to have access to clinical documentation measures from their EHR vendors than their higher-resourced counterparts. Continue Reading
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09 Jan 2023
Electronic Informed Consenting Improves Data for Clinical Research
Clinical research participants completed 100 percent of electronic informed consenting fields, compared to 94 percent of data in paper-based consenting surveys. Continue Reading
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06 Jan 2023
Behavioral Nudges in EHR Workflows May Reduce Healthcare Waste
While behavioral nudges in EHR workflows can reduce healthcare waste, stakeholders must balance the benefits with the cost of their implementation. Continue Reading
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04 Jan 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Cases to Mitigate Clinician Burnout
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can automate administrative tasks to help address clinician burnout and give providers more time to deliver patient-centered care. Continue Reading
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29 Dec 2022
EHR Optimization, Clinical Automation Top Health IT Priorities Next Year
Health IT vendor executives say that healthcare organizations will look to EHR optimization and clinical automation in 2023 to address clinician burnout. Continue Reading
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12 Dec 2022
KLAS Weighs User Experience to Rank Clinical Decision Support Vendors
According to a KLAS report, consumers want CDS vendors to boost solution usability through training, proactive support, and easy navigation while ensuring affordability. Continue Reading
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09 Dec 2022
Using Machine Learning to Help Characterize Clinician EHR Behavior, Workflows
The machine learning approach identified two distinct EHR information-gathering strategies, which could reflect individual variations in clinician EHR behavior. Continue Reading
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07 Dec 2022
Nonprofit Integrates EHR Data into Duchenne Registry for Clinical Research
The organization will securely send EHR data from consented patients' health records to the Duchenne Registry to build a comprehensive dataset for clinical research. Continue Reading
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06 Dec 2022
PPRL Boosts Patient Matching Across Clinical Research Networks
Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) produces unique sets of de-identified tokens to support patient matching for clinical research. Continue Reading
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05 Dec 2022
ONC: Interoperable Health IT Key for HIV Prevention, Health Equity Efforts
The latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan outlines interoperable health IT as a strategy to enhance HIV prevention efforts and health equity. Continue Reading
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02 Dec 2022
Hispanic, Female Healthcare Providers More Likely to Report Clinician Burnout
Multivariable models identified Hispanic and female healthcare providers as particularly vulnerable to clinician burnout, even when accounting for variations in EHR message volume. Continue Reading
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30 Nov 2022
athenahealth Launches Clinical Advisory Board to Improve EHR Workflow
The EHR vendor will bring on the clinical advisory board consisting of 30 members aiming to address EHR workflow challenges such as provider burnout. Continue Reading
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29 Nov 2022
How AI Scribe Technology Can Cut Clinician Burnout from EHR Documentation
A New York FQHC adopted an AI-based EHR documentation service from eClinicalWorks to alleviate clinician burnout after its on-site scribe service went virtual due to COVID-19. Continue Reading
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23 Nov 2022
CHIME Awards TrueCare CIO Collaboration Award for Health IT Partnership
CHIME member TrueCare reduced patient no-show rates by four percent through collaboration with health IT vendor Artera. Continue Reading
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22 Nov 2022
Behavioral Health Org Pursues EHR Optimization for Gender-Affirming Care
Clinical documentation of chosen names and pronouns jumped from 52.5 percent to 99 percent after the gender-affirming care EHR optimization project. Continue Reading
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14 Nov 2022
Team-based Clinical Documentation Cuts Physician Time Spent on EHR Notes
Researchers found that decreased time spent on EHR notes is primarily a function of manual text reduction and team-based clinical documentation practices. Continue Reading
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11 Nov 2022
Elation Health Leads in Small Practice EHR Satisfaction Ranking
Elation Health took home the top small practice EHR satisfaction ranking, outpacing many of its EHR vendor competitors in performance, training, experience, and functionality. Continue Reading
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28 Oct 2022
Home Health Agencies Look to Epic, MEDITECH EHR Implementations for Interoperability
Home health agencies report high satisfaction with Epic EHR implementations for advancing interoperability, but some desire additional documentation enhancements. Continue Reading
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28 Oct 2022
Standardized Disability EHR Data Collection Key to Health Equity
Researchers recently issued recommendations to improve health equity and address the inequities of people with disabilities through better standardized disability EHR data collection. Continue Reading