Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
61 CIO / HEALTH IT Rural Hospitals Save $81k Per Year with Telemedicine By Jessica Kim Cohen T elemedicine may help rural hospitals limit spending and stimulate revenue, according to a report from NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. The Arlington, Va.-based association produced the report, titled An- ticipating Economic Returns of Rural Telehealth, to quantify how virtual healthcare can address health disparities. In the United States, rural residents face health challenges related to income and access at high- er rates than nonrural Americans, according to the report. Here are four economic benefits of rural telehealth. Figures represent the annual median value. 1. Hospital cost savings: $81,300 2. Increased local revenue for blood work: $156,000 3. Increased local revenue for MRIs: $105,600 4. Increased local revenue for CT scans: $144,000 "Telemedicine holds tremendous potential for improving the overall quality of healthcare in rural America," according to the report. n HIEs Have 'Reached the Limits of Their Effectiveness,' Says Chilmark By Jessica Kim Cohen A pplication programming interfaces will solve the healthcare in- dustry's issues with data interoperability, according to a Chilmark Research report. The report, titled 2017 Clinician Network Management Market Trends Report, provides an overview of the challenges and potential solu- tions to data interoperability in the healthcare industry. While document-based health information exchanges have helped healthcare coordination in the past, these approaches "have reached the limits of their effectiveness," according to the report. Chilmark Research recommends healthcare organizations establish a centralized space for data. Using APIs, organizations can provide differ- ent applications and users with access to this space. This direct access to data will streamline analytics development and integration, according to the report. "The advent of value-based care is driving the need to assess risk across a population and effectively manage that risk across a distributed clin- ical care delivery network," according to the report. "This requires far richer, diverse information flows across a greater diversity of market par- ticipants." n 41% of Intel's New US VPs Are Women, Minorities By Jessica Kim Cohen I ntel boasted 45.1 percent diverse hiring in 2016, a benchmark it is committed to surpassing in 2017, according to a blog post by Danielle Brown, In- tel's vice president of human resources and chief di- versity and inclusion officer. e blog post, dated Feb. 28, reflects on diversity and inclusion milestones from Intel's 2016 Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report. Here are five statistics Ms. Brown highlighted. 1. Female representation at Intel is now 25.8 per- cent, representing a 2.3-point increase since 2014. e representation rate for underrepresented mi- norities, however, only increased from 12.3 percent in 2014 to 12.5 percent in 2016, "leaving room for improvement in 2017," according to Ms. Brown. 2. In terms of leadership, 41 percent of newly ap- pointed vice presidents in Intel's U.S. workforce are women or underrepresented minorities. Women also represent one-third of this year's fellow induct- ees, which Ms. Brown described as a "distinguished technical leadership position" at Intel. 3. Intel achieved 100 percent pay and promotion parity for women and underrepresented minorities, meaning pay and promotions are distributed "fairly and equitably between diverse and nondiverse pop- ulations," according to Ms. Brown. 4. e company's retention rate for its minority employees is now higher than the retention rate for its counterpart majority employees. In part, Intel attributes this milestone to its WarmLine service, which is a retention-focused program that provides U.S. employees with a personal advisor to discuss options before leaving the company. 5. Intel also focused on developing an inclusive supply chain, spending $555 million with suppliers owned by women or underrepresented minorities in 2016. Ms. Brown also highlighted one of Intel's global programs, which encourages female business owners in 24 countries. "Each of these milestones is worth celebrating and represents the tangible results of our efforts to- ward real change and inclusion," Ms. Brown wrote. "However, there is still much work to be done to achieve our 2020 goal of full representation, name- ly with increasing the number of underrepresented minorities and countering the retention issue." n