Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1092388
74 CIO / HEALTH IT 7 specialties with the most EHR-related stress By Julie Spitzer A study from the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, R.I., identified a link between EHR usage and stress among physicians, re- ported student newspaper The Brown Daily Herald. Rebekah Gardner, MD, an associate professor of medicine at the university, led a team of researchers who added questions about EHR-related stress to a biannual technol- ogy survey of every physician in Rhode Island. The survey, sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Health, has been conducted for the past 10 years but doesn't typically inquire about burdens associated with health IT. The survey divided respondents by specialty and asked them to identify how many measures — one, two or three — of health IT-related stress they typically experience. Here is how seven specialties rank in regard to health IT-re- lated stress, according to the percentage of respondents reporting three measures of health IT-related stress: 1. Internal medicine 2. Family medicine 3. Dermatology 4. Pediatrics 5. Neurology 6. Cardiology 7. Emergency medicine n Apple hires prominent Kaiser-affiliated obstetrician By Julie Spitzer C hristine Curry, MD, PhD, an obstetrician affiliated with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, was hired for Apple's health team, CNBC reported. Sources told CNBC Dr. Curry will help Apple explore proj- ects related to women's health, among others. Dr. Curry is well known for her work leading a clinical re- sponse effort to the Zika virus in pregnant women at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. CNBC also noted that Dr. Curry has worked in a women's prison facility in Massachusetts. Apple has ramped up hiring for its health efforts in 2019, in- cluding snagging several physicians for its on-site medical clinics for employees, AC Wellness. At the time of writing, Apple also listed several health-focused jobs on its website related to hardware, software and services. n Apple, Aetna's new health app: 5 things to know, 4 questions that remain By Julie Spitzer T here are a few features that make Attain — Apple and Aet- na's new health app — stand out from the rest, according to Chilmark Research. Apple and Aetna developed Attain as part of a new initiative, under which Aetna will give those who enroll an Apple Watch Series 3, if they don't already have an Apple Watch. Program par- ticipants will be able to "pay off " the device by meeting fitness goals over the course of 24 months. It's a voluntary program that will accept the first 250,000 to 300,000 people who enroll, although Aetna plans to eventually make it available to its more than 22.1 million members. Five things to know about Attain, a health, wellness and medica- tion-adherence app: 1. e watch-based app employs nudges, or notification-like reminders, designed to promote healthy habits and change unhealthy behaviors. 2. Attain will set wellness goals based on a participant's age, gender and weight, but will adjust them over time to per- sonalize the health and wellness experience. 3. In the early stages of the program, Aetna will promote the app directly to its members instead of through employers. 4. Chilmark notes that the benefit is a "loss-framed incen- tive" program, whereas most wellness benefit programs are gain-based incentives. With Attain, the loss-framed incentive means the participant must pay back a portion of the Apple Watch if they fall short of their goals. 5. Regarding data, Aetna and Apple are taking strong stances on privacy and security. Aetna said it won't use collected data for underwriting and won't sell the information to third parties, and Apple noted it will only collect de-iden- tified data — with the customer's permission — which it will use to improve the app. Chilmark also shared four unanswered questions about Attain: 1. Attain hasn't said how it will address chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes or mental health. 2. e companies have yet to reveal whether Attain will be- come a platform with open application programming in- terfaces that enables developers to build modules for it. 3. Aetna and Apple haven't equipped Attain to alert mem- bers about care gaps or help them schedule medical ap- pointments. 4. It's not yet clear how data captured through Attain could be used by providers to improve patient outcomes. n