Who manages social media at hospitals? Survey says it’s still a part-time effort for most

This Week's Healthcare Online News



Med City News
Who manages social media at hospitals? Survey says it’s still a part-time effort for most (infographic)
Mar,11,2013
by:+Deanna Pogorelc
While as many as 90 percent of hospitals use social media, it’s still a part-time effort for most of them, according to a survey of small and large hospitals, and health systems in Ohio. The Ohio Hospital Association and social media agency Mindset Digital conducted an email survey among OHA-member organizations last fall. Of the 84 hospitals that responded, only 15 percent said they had full-time personnel to manage their social media channels, and those tended to be large health systems. The Cleveland Clinic, for one, last year made some of its part-time social media staff full time. But most of the people doing this job at other hospitals are full-time employees with other duties. Six percent of hospitals said their social media manager was an intern and 4 percent said it was a part-time employee.
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Modern Healthcare.com
Half of states have chosen benchmark insurance plan: report
Mar, 13,2013
by+ Jessica Zigmond
A little more than six months before open enrollment begins, 24 states and Washington, D.C., have chosen a benchmark plan that will determine what health insurers must cover in health plans sold in the state exchanges and individual and small-group markets, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund.
In the rest of the country, the snapshot suggests, the federal government will model the minimum benefits on the largest small-group plan sold in the state.
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, individual and small-group plans must offer an “essential health benefits” package. The core set of benefits must cover 10 broad categories, such as emergency services, maternity and pediatric care, prescription drugs, and mental health and substance-abuse services. HHS issued a final rule in February on essential benefits for 2014 and 2015 and will revisit the provisions for the 2016 benefit year.
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Government Health IT
Patient engagement pilots find success, face challenges
Mar,11,2013
by:+Anthony Brino
Expanding Americans’ access to their health information in digital form is one of the Office of the National Coordinator’s main goals, and last year, HIE cooperative programs in Georgia, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska began pilot projects aimed at finding successful patient engagement models.
In a report on the pilots, the ONC has found some success and potential for expansion and improvement, amid several legal, technical and financial challenges.
In southeastern Georgia, the HIE ChathamHealthLink developed Chatham Connect to bring personal health records to mostly low-income or uninsured patients served at two federally qualified health clinics and three Volunteers in Medicine clinics.
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Med City News
The mobile phone as the ultimate medical tool: Hacked iPhone saves lives in Africa
Mar,
By:+John Koetsier
Scientists have hacked together a microscope out of an iPhone, a piece of glass, double-sided tape, and a cheap flashlight that is good enough to detect intestinal worm infections with 70 percent accuracy.
MacGyver, you’re out of a job. According to a study published today in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, scientists used the hacked-together microscope to examine almost 200 stool samples taken from children in Pemba Island in Tanzania. Each glass slide with the sample was covered in cellophane, taped to the iPhone, and lit from behind with the flashlight. Then the researchers took a picture with the phone’s camera, and examined the image on the iPhone’s screen.
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Only 2% of insurers cover mandated essential health benefits

This Week's Healthcare-Online News



Fierce Health Payer
Only 2% of insurers cover mandated essential health benefits
Mar,9,2013
by+ Dina Overland
Very few insurers--only 2 percent--offer all the benefits they will be required to provide next year under the reform law, according to a new analysis from technology company HealthPocket.
Based on an analysis of 11,100 private health insurance plans available for individuals and families, HealthPocket determined insurers will need to to bridge a "significant gap" between now and January to ensure they're providing all the reform law's mandated essential health benefits.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services outlined the specific essential health benefits insurers must cover in the file rule issued last month.
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Modern Healthcare.com
As D.C. waits for a new panel to explore how to pay for long-term care, Medicaid is bearing the brunt
Mar,9,2013
by:+Jessica Zigmond
As a former investment banker, Henry Purchase was no stranger to paperwork. But even with that professional background, Purchase said, he was not prepared for—nor did he fully understand—the mounds of forms and myriad regulations he sorted through when he moved his mother, Dorothy, into a nursing home nearly a decade ago.
And the administrative headaches were just one small part of what Purchase experienced during that process. For years, he and his wife paid someone to care for his aging mother so she could live with them. In the beginning, the service was for four to five hours a day. Then, as Dorothy's dementia worsened, her caregiver's hours increased to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, at a rate of $15 an hour.
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Med City News
3 ways for brands to create groundbreaking mobile experiences
Mar,9,2013
By:+Carin van Vuuren
It’s no secret that smartphones are overwhelmingly the most popular and fastest growing mobile access point to the Internet today. Just recently we learned that by the end of this year, mobile devices will outnumber the amount of people on earth, and by 2017, there will be over 10 billion mobile-connected devices. So how does this influence the future of mobile development?
As consumer behavior continues to trend towards mobile as the primary channel for customer engagement, the stakes have clearly been raised for brands. Increasingly, brands need to offer tailored mobile experiences that are relevant, add tangible value, and meet users goals in the journey.
The early evolution of mobile was centered around optimizing a desktop site for mobile, but with rising consumer expectations, a fresh approach is needed. Here are three ways brands can ensure a compelling mobile experience.
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Fierce Health IT
The idea of virtual doctor visits is growing on us
mar,7,2013
by:+Susan D. Hall
Consumers are growing more comfortable with virtual doctor visits, with 70 percent of U.S. patients open to the idea, according a global survey by technology vendor Cisco.
The survey compared the views of consumers and healthcare decision-makers in 10 countries on sharing personal health data, in-person medical consultation versus remote care and using technology to make recommendations on personal health. The views of 1,547 consumers and 403 practitioners in the United States are broken out in an infographic.
Overall, healthcare practitioners were more willing to share personal and private information than consumers.
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UnitedHealth reaps rewards of incentivizing members in diabetes program

This Week's Healthcare News



Fierce Health IT
Poll: Patients should be allowed to make EHR updates, but not have full access
Mar,5, 2013 by+Susan D. Hall
Most U.S. doctors believe patients should be able to update their electronic health records, but only 31 percent say patients should have access to their full health record, according to a new poll by Accenture.
While the survey results were largely consistent across 3,700 doctors surveyed by Accenture in eight countries, including Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain and the United States--U.S. physicians were the most open to patients updating their own records.
The U.S. physicians said patients should be able to add into their records demographic information (95 percent), family medical history (88 percent), medications (86 percent) and allergies (85 percent). And 81 percent said patients should be able to add some clinical updates, such as new symptoms and self-measured metrics, including blood pressure and glucose levels. Forty-seven percent, however, believe patients should not be able to update their lab test results.
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Med City News
Health IT leaders initiate alliance to better track patients and their healthcare encounters
Mar,04,2013
by:+ Stephanie Baum
The announcement by McKesson, Cerner, athenahealth and Allscripts that they have formed an alliance to advance the exchange of patient information with two other health IT companies was greeted with a mixture of optimism, bemusement and skepticism from an industry accustomed to the spectacle of splashy announcements at the annual healthcare IT conference HIMSS.
The goal of the CommonWell Health Alliance, which also includes Greenway and RelayHealth, is to take what these electronic medical record vendors are doing in different parts of the country and bring it to a national level. It sets out to help developers and providers link and match patients as they move through the healthcare system. It will also get patients’ permissions to share data in and adhere to HIPAA requirements.
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Modern Healthcare.com
Study ties employer wellness initiatives to steep drop in hospital stays
Mar,4, 2013
By:+ Melanie Evans
One of Missouri's largest employers saw a sharp, rapid drop in hospital visits by workers and their families for costly and chronic conditions after insisting employees in its most popular, generous health plan enroll in wellness initiatives. Outpatient costs, meanwhile, increased almost as much as hospital costs fell.
The results, published in the journal Health Affairs, found an estimated 41% drop in hospital stays between January 2004 and December 2006 for stroke, heart disease (hypertensive and ischemic), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute pulmonary infections among employees and dependents with health benefits from BJC HealthCare.
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Fierce Health Payer
UnitedHealth reaps rewards of incentivizing members in diabetes program
Mar,01,2013
by:+Dina Overland
UnitedHealth has found success through its Diabetes Health Plan, which has helped the nation's largest insurer improve the health of members with diabetes while simultaneously lowering healthcare costs.
For the diabetes program, UnitedHealth has applied its value-based purchasing approach, plus added incentive payments, modernized the benefit design and included next-generation care management. "We put all this together for a more holistic approach," Sam Ho, UnitedHealth's executive vice president and chief medical officer, told AIS Health.
And that approach is working--healthcare costs for members participating in UnitedHealth's diabetes program increased at a 4 percent slower pace than for a control group of non-participants.
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Being healthy should be a natural right that everyone is entitled to. Lack of access and information or financial limitations should never be allowed to further fuel the fear and uncertainty that prevents one from achieving their highest levels of health.
WebDocsNetwork was created to make life easier, better, and most importantly, healthier. To re-distribute healthcare and improve quality and access for everyone. Our vision and mission is to provide people from all over the globe, access to U.S.
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Featured Report: Get Started: Small business caucus, family leave

This Week's Home/Small Business News



Yahoo Small Business Advisor
Get Started: Small business caucus, family leave
Feb,11,2013
by+ Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — SMALL BUSINESS CAUCUS
Twenty-one House members have formed the Congressional Small Business Caucus with the aim of raising awareness of small business issues and to gather input from small business owners.
The group includes lawmakers from both political parties and is being chaired by Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. The two lawmakers said in a statement that the caucus was formed to raise awareness of small business issues including access to financing and technology, regulations and taxes. It's also designed as a forum to gather input from small business owners about the issues that Congress needs address.
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The Wall Street Journal
Mobile Payments Brighten Cash Flow for Small Business
Feb,27,2013
by:+ANGUS LOTEN and EMILY MALTBY
One of the biggest worries for small-business owners is dealing with fluctuations in cash flow. Nathan Perry's five-year-old New York City catering business has had to operate with up to $30,000 in unpaid customer invoices at any given time, for instance.
Such gaps in cash flow—or so-called "lumpy money"—can make it difficult for business owners to focus on expansion rather than, say, managing payrolls or paying other bills.
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Business News Daily
7 Tips for a Great Elevator Pitch
Feb,28,2013
By:+David Mielach
With just precious seconds to make an impression, nailing an "elevator pitch," can come down to what you do and don’t say. However, striking the balance of deciding what to include and what to leave out presents an interesting and difficult dilemma for most people when delivering the brief summation of what your company is about. To help, BusinessNewsDaily spoke with business professionals to see what every elevator pitch must include.
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The New York Times
Yahoo Orders Home Workers Back to the Office
Feb,25,2013
by:+ CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and CATHERINE RAMPELL
Since Marissa Mayer became chief executive of Yahoo, she has been working hard to get the Internet pioneer off its deathbed and make it an innovator once again She started with free food and new smartphones for every employee, borrowing from the playbook of Google, her employer until last year. Now, though, Yahoo has made a surprise move: abolishing its work-at-home policy and ordering everyone to work in the office.
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Being healthy should be a natural right that everyone is entitled to. Lack of access and information or financial limitations should never be allowed to further fuel the fear and uncertainty that prevents one from achieving their highest levels of health.
WebDocsNetwork was created to make life easier, better, and most importantly, healthier. To re-distribute healthcare and improve quality and access for everyone. Our vision and mission is to provide people from all over the globe, access to U.S.
licensed, board-certified physicians. Healthcare when you need it, where you need it. We provide individuals unlimited real-time, immediate interaction with a national network of physicians via web-cam. phone or secure e-mail. Access 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Affiliate Program
How would you like to save money on you and your family's Doctor's visit while helping other and make extra income. Then become a Web Docs Network Affiliate.
As an affiliate once you sign up three people your services are FREE
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Keith Berggren
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