NRHA's Rural Health Voices blog offers informed commentary on the latest news in rural health care from NRHA staff and editorials from selected contributors.

9 Challenges in the Era of Interoperability

  • Author: MEDHOST

Mid-way through 2019, much of the healthcare marketplace is well into Promoting Interoperability (PI), which is the most recently proposed electronic health record (EHR) initiative from CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid).Today many hospital IT leaders and CIOs nationwide are persisting on a path toward interoperability with many of their peers, however, while some lead the way, many others lag far behind.

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2 Digital Health Tools Every Rural Clinician Should Try

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic disease affects 117 million Americans and is a primary reason behind skyrocketing health care spending. But patient outcomes are not improving; in fact, for patients with chronic disease, outcomes are typically the poorest as they are challenged to self-manage their conditions on a daily basis. Access to support for social determinants of health in addition to medical needs can lead to better outcomes for patients. Digital...

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Regulations, health IT, and rural health care

Evolving legislative and regulatory demands require health care organizations to better manage their health IT strategies. Health care providers in rural areas feel this impact more intensely. Dr. Geoff Caplea, Allscripts medical director of regulatory affairs, quality assurance, and patient safety, outlines how rural health care organizations can use health IT to drive smarter health care delivery, including how it can help engage patients with their care plans and confront the opioid crisis.

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Leveraging Technology to Improve Rural Health Outcomes in the Now and Next

Rural hospitals are often the lifeblood of their communities – which makes their closures noteworthy. By now, many have likely heard the data around rural hospital closures within the last decade: Since 2010, there have been more than 80. But if we push the timeline back just five years to 2005, the number of such closures increases to more than 120. Additionally, there are currently more than 650 additional rural facilities around the country that are at risk of closing.

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The Impact of Real-Time Decision Support

During high-stress health care events, providers of all levels (doctors, nurses, and paramedics) need to navigate the steps of evidence-based care and make the right decisions under pressure. When every second counts, having instant access to step-by-step decision support helps providers deliver the best care possible.

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