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Improving access to care is one of the primary mandates of the Affordable Care Act....many health systems are stepping up efforts to offer convenient, fast and lower-cost alternatives to the traditional in-person office visit. One strategy they are adopting is video visits. Patients can use their computers or their smartphones to consult with their primary or specialist physicians...

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would for the first time make its data, including Medicare claims, available to industry, in a bid to boost innovation… plans to begin accepting research proposals seeking data…jumpstart creativity in using the data, "We expect a stream of new tools for beneficiaries and care providers that improve care and personalize decision-making,..

..ways to reduce incorrect assessments of patient conditions...False-positive alarms cause anxiety for care teams, patients and families, and can lead to clinicians becoming desensitized to true patient emergencies while placing pressure on already constrained hospital resources...

Richard Migliori, MD, UnitedHealth's chief medical officer,...vision of patient-centered technologies, health care policy, and pharmacy’s critical role in patient care.

Passive app requires 'no effort on the part of the user'...Feeling down? Your smartphone will most likely know before you or your doctors do, after a recent study showed promise for an mHealth app that detects depression and monitors at-risk populations....

'Readmissions represent a failure to optimize patients' clinical condition for discharge or set them up with appropriate post-discharge care'...Smartphones are playing a big part in helping them get there...."healthcare organizations are widely beginning to deploy mobile technologies with the aim of engaging patients." ...a way to meet requirements for meaningful use and Medicare reimbursement requirements...

Value-based reimbursement means quality improvement is now imperative; smart clinical decision support is essential...shift from volume to value finally taking hold, moving toward better clinical care is no longer optional.

Ellie is a virtual human created.. at the University of Southern California to help patients feel comfortable talking about themselves so they’ll be honest with their doctors...anonymity can help people be more truthful...felt less fearful about self-disclosure, better able to express sadness and more willing to disclose... the less human involvement, the better...

Hospital datacenters are being overwhelmed by the ongoing data explosion. Pushed to acquire, analyze, secure and deliver actionable intelligence to business managers, clinicians, or customers, many datacenters are struggling to keep pace…as they do healthcare IT leaders are staring down seven critical pain points.

1. Moving datacenters into the cloud.
2. Mastering compliance and security.
3. Job requirements for the new IT.
4. Regional variations inspire and challenge.
5. Enterprise apps.
6. Automation's emerging role.
7. High availability and disaster recovery

..healthcare industry is in need of IT security experts to help manage the fast-paced growth of technology…the implementation of electronic medical records…data analytics, wearables, and health-monitoring devices, healthcare facilities are scrambling to catch up with the demand for staff to manage and support these technological advances.