Home Monitoring Tool From Cleveland Clinic, Epic Extends Reach Of Clinicians, Available To Other States
The Cleveland Clinic reports it is the first to build on an existing tool to its patient portal MyChart. After an initial outreach call giving patients isolation instructions and other vital information, patients engage with the tool. Worsening conditions trigger an alarm detected by medical staff. Other health technology news reports on an easing of rules about data sharing and a rising number of telemedicine visits.
Crain's Cleveland Business:
Cleveland Clinic, Epic Develop Home Monitoring Tool For COVID-19 Patients
Cleveland Clinic worked with Epic, its electronic health record vendor, to develop and implement a COVID-19 home monitoring program that is now available for other healthcare organizations across the country to use. Collaboration among clinicians and analysts helped the Clinic to rapidly design, build and launch the technology in just 10 days. Typically, it would have taken three months to do so, said Dr. Eric Boose, associate chief medical information officer at the Clinic. (Coutre, 4/30)
Modern Healthcare:
Rucker: Interoperability Would Improve COVID-19 Response
The Trump administration's top health IT official on Thursday said the healthcare industry would be better poised to address the coronavirus pandemic had HHS' recently released interoperability regulations been around earlier, even as the agency delays enforcement. "If we'd had this rule several years ago, we'd be in a far, far better spot for … knowing what's going on with this pandemic," Dr. Donald Rucker, chief of HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said during a webinar hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. (Cohen, 4/30)
WBUR:
Blue Cross Sees Hundredfold Increase In Telehealth Visits During Pandemic
In the past six weeks, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts recorded more than half a million telehealth visits with patients. Before COVID-19, the average number of telehealth visits over a six-week period was 5,000. That shift to virtual medical treatment during the coronavirus pandemic will likely create permanent changes to health care delivery, according to the insurer. (Becker, 4/30)
