Industry Insight

Standards for Mobile Health Vital to Reaching Scale

The mHealth Alliance recently released a new report that provides guidance for policy makers, donors, developers, and implementers looking to adopt standards to strengthen health systems and promote the continuum of care, particularly for communities that lack access to health services. The report gives an overview of the current state of standards and interoperability in the field, identifies gaps and opportunities related to standards in low- and middle-income countries, and offers key recommendations that the mobile health (mHealth) community can undertake to achieve progress on interoperability.

The value of mobile technology incorporated into a health system lies with its ability to make information available in a meaningful way to the right person—the client, provider, and/or administrator—in the right place at the right time, regardless of how or when it is collected. Yet health systems in both developed and developing countries continue to struggle to realize the full potential of mHealth and, more generally technology, in part because of limited interoperability.

“Experts and leaders in mHealth recognize that the current lack of standards and technological integration present a key barrier to scaling mHealth,” says Patricia Mechael, executive director of the mHealth Alliance. “In our efforts to improve reach and quality of care, standards and systems integration can help ensure that people move seamlessly through the health system and their data can move with them.”

The report proposes that greater guidance by governments and donors, promotion of open standards, and a shift in market dynamics would be particularly effective ways to incentivize interoperability. Existing dynamics do not penalize, and sometimes even reward, the development and use of new and noninteroperable systems, but governments, donors, and technology partners all can play an important role in effecting this transition.

— Source: mHealth Alliance

 

White Joins Pyramid Healthcare Solutions as Director of Coding Services

Michelle White, RHIA, has joined Pyramid Healthcare Solutions as director of coding services. Pyramid provides revenue cycle management services for the health care industry.

In her new position, White will oversee the day-to-day operations and the growth of the HIM and coding division. She will help manage and support all aspects of the on-site, remote, regional, and traveling coding teams to ensure that coding and abstraction assignments are accurate, guidelines are followed, and client deliverables are met.

Previously, White served as implementation project manager for Nuance Communications, Inc; revenue cycle operations system manager for Indiana University Health in Indianapolis; and director of HIM for Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis.
In addition, she is an AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer.

— Source: Pyramid Healthcare Solutions

 

Consortium Announces Intelligent Hospital Award Recipients

The RFID in Healthcare Consortium and IntelligentHospital.org recently announced the following awards and their recipients:

• Improving Regulatory Compliance was awarded to VA Veterans Integrated Service Network 11 and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System Sterile Processing Services.

• Most Innovative Use Case was awarded to Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

• Improving the Patient Experience: Care and Safety was awarded to Florida Hospital Celebration Health.

• Best Comprehensive Integration was awarded to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

The judges recognized two other outstanding nominations. The finalists for Best Comprehensive Integration were Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, and St Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta.

Award recipients were invited to the HIMSS13 conference and exhibition to participate in the Intelligent Hospital Awards Ceremony.

— Source: RFID in Healthcare Consortium