information technology Archives

Putting Interoperability on FHIR

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Jan 27, 2016 | Healthcare IT

The release of the Office of the National Coordinator’s (ONC) Connecting Health and Care for the Nation marks a dramatic shift from focus on Meaningful Use to incenting all stakeholders to fix our interoperability problem. While the HITECH act moved the nation’s...

Predicting the Future: What to Look for in 2016

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Jan 20, 2016 | Archives

The role of a prognosticator is to accurately predict the future. Although many have tried to predict the trend of the stock market, an imminent earthquake, or even the end of the world, soothsayers rarely get their predictions correct. That said, they are very...

Choosing the “Good Jobs” Strategy

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Nov 5, 2015 | Healthcare Policy

For more than half a century, provider organizations have had a free ride. Unlike other industries that faced rapid disruptions in their markets requiring constant adjustment to survive, healthcare has been fairly stable and predictable. As provider organizations...

Using Patient Acuity to Drive Healthflow

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Oct 15, 2015 | Archives

As decreasing reimbursement rates continue to flog hospital budgets, organizations struggle to find ways to reduce their costs. As labor represents approximately 60% of hospital expenditures, staffing remains a prime target for reductions. While the options to reduce...

Good Jobs or Bad Jobs

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Oct 13, 2015 | Archives

As labor approaches 60% of hospital costs, many organizations are looking to decrease these costs to meet budgetary targets. These organizations are at a crossroads. Do they follow the strategy path toward good jobs or bad jobs? Zeynep Ton, a professor at the MIT...