Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/922733
31 CIO / HEALTH IT Does It Matter Which EHR Your Health System Uses? This Study Says Yes By Julie Spitzer A lthough the goal of the federal EHR certifica- tion process is to create a level playing field for quality in support of the meaningful use pro- gram, some EHR vendors consistently outperform oth- ers, according to a study published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. A team of researchers, led by Jay Holmgren, a doctoral student in the health policy management track at the Boston-based Harvard Business School, examined na- tional hospital data on EHR products used for mean- ingful use attestation provided to ONC, and compared those measures against EHR incentive program data reported to CMS. e study was limited to hospital performance on six meaningful use stage two criteria. Here are the six criteria. 1. Availability of medication computerized physician order entry 2. View, download and transmit technology availability 3. Whether VDT can be used by patients 4. Medication reconciliation capabilities 5. Ability to provide summary of care records 6. Ability to electronically send summary of care records Epic was associated with higher performance on five of the six measures, while other vendors received mixed results. EHR vendor choice accounted for between 7 percent and 34 percent of performance variation across the criteria. Here are the top four vendors contributing to hospitals' success meeting meaningful use stage two criteria, ac- cording to the study. 1. Epic 2. Cerner 3. Meditech 4. McKesson "Our results suggest that policy makers should improve the certification process by including more 'real-world' scenario testing and provider feedback or ratings to re- duce this variation," the authors wrote. "Hospitals can use these results to guide interactions with vendors." n Amazon's Cloud Poised to Strike Deal with Cerner, Sources Say By Julie Spitzer A mazon Web Services, the e-commerce giant's cloud business, is planning to announce a partnership with the North Kansas City, Mo.-based EHR vendor Cerner, according to CNBC. Sources familiar with the matter told CNBC AWS CEO Andy Jassy would publicize the partnership as part of his keynote at re:Invent, the annual AWS conference. Although discussions are still in their final stages, the partnership will initially focus on Cerner's population health product, HealtheIntent, sources told CNBC. Under the agreement, healthcare providers may be able to use patients' data to make health predictions about pa- tient populations and make recommendations for things like medi- cations or identifying at-risk individuals, the sources added. Cerner did not provide comment to the CNBC report, and AWS rep- resentatives did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment. n Analysis: What the CVS-Aetna Deal Means for Telemedicine By Julie Spitzer N ew mergers in the healthcare space — like the $69 billion Aet- na and CVS takeover — may give telemedicine its long-await- ed, and much-deserved, boost, according to an analysis by CNBC health and technology reporter Christina Farr. Although telemedicine has been around for nearly 10 years, it has yet to become a household name among consumers. But through partnerships with tech giants, prominent healthcare namesakes are helping it gain recognition, Ms. Farr argues. When striking the deal with pharmacy giant CVS, Aetna CEO Mark Ber- tolini reiterated the benefits of remote monitoring technologies, includ- ing Bluetooth-connected glucose meters coupled with apps for virtual providers that alert patients when their blood sugar levels are off, as a vital part of his strategy — one that will improve care and lower costs. Another recent venture in the healthcare space that propagates virtu- al healthcare is Apple's Heart Study app, which brings together Apple, Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine and telemedicine provid- er American Well. The study connects patients monitoring their heart rates with study physicians through American Well's telemedicine ser- vice to collect data on irregular heart rhythms known as atrial fibrillation. "It was a huge deal [for us]," said American Well Chairman and CEO Ido Schoenberg, MD, when asked about the Apple partnership, ac- cording to CNBC. Ms. Farr adds that these mergers and partnerships are signaling a bright future for telemedicine, which is "great news for the growing crop of venture-backed companies that offer virtual consultations, home-health monitoring and digital health apps. It's finally making people aware of some technology that's been around for years, which represents a more convenient alternative than a long drive to a medical clinic," she writes. n