Profile of Alison Diana

Senior Editor Member Since: 11/18/2013
Author
News & Commentary Posts: 462
Comments: 827

Alison Diana has written about technology and business for more than 20 years. She was editor, contributors, at Internet Evolution; editor-in-chief of 21st Century IT; and managing editor, sections, at CRN. She has also written for eWeek, Baseline Magazine, Redmond Channel Partner, ZDE's custom group, and CIO Insight, as well as many of the industry's leading vendors and channel organizations. Alison, who lives in Central Florida, is an avid Yankees fan. She enjoys rooting on her daughter's travel softball team and reading mysteries. She can be reached on Twitter at @alisoncdiana; on LinkedIn at AlisonDiana, or Google+.

Wearables Carve New Path To Health In 2015

1/2/2015
Wearable devices coming in 2015 will add health and athletic capabilities to enhance value and keep users' interest.
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Health IT In 2015: What's In The Cards?

12/31/2014
Healthcare CIOs need to build on existing groundwork to improve compliance and efficiency in what should be a demanding year.
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9 Healthcare Tech Startups To Watch

12/29/2014
As venture capital flows into healthcare startups, look at some new companies that should be on your radar.
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8 Technologies Changing Home Healthcare

12/18/2014
Technologies such as sensors, GPS, and even senior-focused social networks can help seniors continue to live at home.
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Healthcare Security In 2015: 9 Hotspots

12/10/2014
With data breaches growing, 2015 promises to be the healthcare industry's most challenging security year yet. These nine areas demand attention in 2015.
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CDOs: Right For Healthcare C-Suite?

12/2/2014
With the rise of data and the increasing importance of how it's handled, chief data officers have become a popular addition across industries. Healthcare organizations need CDOs just as much, say experts.
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Nuance Opens PowerShare Images Network To Developers

12/2/2014
Nuance aims to improve radiologists' workflow not only through PowerShare image-sharing network but industry regulations embedded in clinical decision software.
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Cloud Gains Traction In Healthcare

12/1/2014
Greater flexibility, access, and cost cutting prompt more healthcare organizations to adopt cloud technology.
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DirectTrust Delivers Interoperable Messaging To Healthcare

11/24/2014
The nonprofit counts EHR developers, health networks, and care providers among its growing roster of members.
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Fitness Trackers: Holiday Gift Guide

11/24/2014
Wearable fitness devices top many holiday lists this year. Here's how to choose the right one.
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Healthcare Interoperability: Who's The Tortoise?

11/21/2014
Are EHR vendors or government committees leading the race to interoperability?
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Silverton Banks On Analytics For Turnaround

11/20/2014
Oregon healthcare organization Silverton Health hopes sophisticated analytics can help it fight rising tide of patients who don't pay their bills.
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ACA Open Enrollment: Showtime For Health Insurance Sites

11/14/2014
During the next three months, consumers can sign up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period. New technologies at health insurance websites aim to smooth the way.
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Cerner To Double Workforce Within 10 Years

11/13/2014
EHR developer plans to hire 16,000 workers to staff new $4.45 billion campus in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Virtualization Delivers For Children's Miracle Network

11/12/2014
Children's Miracle Network, which helps 170 partner hospitals raise money, wants to generate $1 billion annually through 2022. New virtualization infrastructure is helping to realize this goal.
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Clinical Decision Support Software Guides ADHD Treatments

11/12/2014
Optimal Medicine's Mehealth software replaces manual reporting on ADHD treatment effectiveness, adds analytics to clinical decision making.
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Telepsychiatry Brings Help To Remote Patients

11/7/2014
Telehealth technology, now being using by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, enables mental health professionals to treat patients regardless of location.
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Jawbone's 2 New Fitness Trackers

11/5/2014
Jawbone takes on Nike and Fitbit with entry-level Up Move and sensor-laden Up3 fitness trackers.
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8 Innovative Health IT Startups

11/5/2014
Investors keep pouring money into health IT startups, and that's good news for patients set to benefit from time- and life-saving inventions.
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GPS Cuts Fraud, Costs For Home Healthcare

11/5/2014
GPS-based electronic visit verification products such as Axxess and Celltrack help ensure caretakers actually visit patients' homes.
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Crowdsourcing Helps Patients, Doctors Speak The Same Language

10/31/2014
Technology helps healthcare providers break down language barriers, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.
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Cleveland Clinic Taps IBM's Watson To Fight Cancer

10/30/2014
Cleveland Clinic will use IBM's Watson supercomputer to research cancer and treat patients.
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Health IT Leader DeSalvo Takes Dual HHS Roles

10/29/2014
Karen DeSalvo will remain active on health IT issues while leading efforts on Ebola and other public health threats at the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Medifast Gains Fitbit Integration, Digital Weight Loss Tools

10/28/2014
Like Weight Watchers, Medifast adds digital tools, services for weight-loss clients.
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Practice Fusion Optimizes New EHR For Tablets

10/28/2014
Practice Fusion, which offers free cloud-based EHR, creates new software that brings desktop power and features to iPads and Android tablets.
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Fitbit Takes On Apple With New Wearables

10/27/2014
Fitness device market leader preps a smartwatch and two new fitness trackers in a preemptive strike against challenger Apple.
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DeSalvo Joins HHS In Fight Against Ebola

10/24/2014
Dept. of Health and Human Services taps ONC's Dr. Karen DeSalvo to help address Ebola and other public health concerns.
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Ebola: 10 Tech Responses To Deadly Disease

10/24/2014
Tech companies are addressing the Ebola scare by offering everything from germ-zapping robots to Ebola tracking apps.
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Power To The Patient: How Hospitals Can Improve

10/24/2014
A loved one's week in the hospital provides insight into ways hospitals can enhance the patient experience and cut costs. Here are seven suggestions.
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Prescription Database Privacy Case Heads For Legal Showdown

10/8/2014
California Supreme Court will decide whether the state's medical board breached patient privacy when it used data from a state prescription database to discipline a physician.
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Inside A HIPAA Breach

10/7/2014
A business associate's breach has a serious ripple effect on one small healthcare provider.
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Facebook Health? Thumbs Down

10/6/2014
Facebook may be eyeing the healthcare space to create new communities and apps. Given Facebook's privacy history, users will be wary.
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Texas Hospital Blames EHR For Ebola Mishandling

10/3/2014
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas cites lack of interoperability between nurse and physician workflows as reason Ebola patient was sent home.
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FDA Delivers Medical Device Security Guidelines

10/3/2014
As the FDA attempts to bolster the security of medical devices, some experts warn that guidance is too little, too late.
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Walgreens, WebMD Partner On Wellness Coaching

10/2/2014
Two healthcare companies team up to create a consumer-friendly health resource.
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Eliminate The Waiting Room

10/1/2014
As healthcare providers remodel the waiting room with virtual queues and better intake methods, patients get care faster and with fewer frustrations.
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25 Years Of Health IT: Highs & Lows

9/30/2014
IT has transformed the business of healthcare over the past quarter century. Take a look at some of the major consequences -- good and bad -- of health IT's growth.
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Health IT's Future: 9 Issues To Watch

9/29/2014
Expect the pace of innovation to pick up as healthcare providers increasingly leverage IT to improve patient care, make competitive gains, and save costs.
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25 Years Of Health IT: A Complicated Journey

9/29/2014
Policy changes and consumer pressures have spurred huge changes in health IT. Take a look back at how we got here -- and where we're going.
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VA Implements Waiting Room 'Smart Chairs'

9/25/2014
The Department of Veterans Affairs installs Vecna's kiosk-based Vitals Chair at some facilities, aims to give patients more control and insight into their healthcare while streamlining practitioner workloads.
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Weight Watchers Pursues Image Makeover

9/22/2014
After four successive quarters of loss, Weight Watchers asks CTO Dan Crowe to transform the company into a sleek, digital mobile health-app startup.
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Meet Misfit's $50 Fitness Tracker

9/16/2014
Misfit Wearables unveils $50 Flash, setting a new low price for fitness trackers.
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Health IT Early Mover Advantage Examined

9/16/2014
Early technology adopters have higher growth rates than healthcare organizations that hold back on health IT, says Harvard Business Review/Verizon study.
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Simplify HIPAA, Devs Tell DC

9/16/2014
App developer association ACT teams with AirStrip and other mobile app companies to ask for simpler, updated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules governing app development.
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Mental Health Tools: From Office To Pocket

9/11/2014
Mobile apps and telehealth will never replace in-person treatment, but new tech tools can help millions who suffer from mental health conditions. Consider these apps and services.
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ONC Releases Final EHR Guidelines

9/10/2014
Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT abandons voluntary 2015 criteria and instead adds flexibility to 2014 EHR certification criteria.
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Who Owns EHR Data?

9/9/2014
The owners of electronic health records aren't necessarily the patients. How much control should patients have?
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HealthCare.gov Breach: The Ripple Effect

9/6/2014
Hackers breached a HealthCare.gov test server, reportedly affecting no records, but the repercussions could spread across many medical organizations.
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Healthcare Storage Makeovers: Execs Share Secrets

9/5/2014
Overhauling their picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) and virtualization environments helped these healthcare execs stem user complaints and save their organizations money.
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Seattle Children's Hospital CIO: Don’t Call Me Superman

9/2/2014
Seattle Children's SVP/CIO Wes Wright says IT needs more Clark Kents and fewer Supermans to get real work done.
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Former Acting HHS Cybersecurity Chief Guilty Of Child Porn

8/27/2014
Timothy DeFoggi faces 20 years to life after jury takes two hours to convict him in federal court.
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National Health Database: Good Medicine Or Privacy Nightmare?

8/26/2014
State health information exchanges could eventually pool patient data into a vast national database, but privacy advocates have significant concerns.
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10 Ways To Strengthen Healthcare Security

8/26/2014
As recent hacks show, keeping a healthcare organization safe from security threats takes planning, technical expertise, and business knowledge. Has your team taken these 10 steps?
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When Big Data & Infants' Privacy Collide

8/25/2014
Technology allows researchers to discover newborns' genetic secrets, but the long-term repercussions worry some parents and privacy advocates.
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Chinese Hackers Hit Community Health System

8/18/2014
Hackers who broke into network hospital group Community Health Systems stole non-medical customer data including credit cards, says new report.
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Practice Fusion EHR Caught In Internet Brown-Out

8/15/2014
Free electronic health record software provider says its cloud system is up again after two days of outages that affected up to one-third of its clients.
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9 Ways Healthcare Providers Can Improve Co-Pay Collection

8/15/2014
Co-payments account for about one-fifth of a private practice's funds, but collecting them can be tricky. These strategies and tools help practices get a handle on unpaid bills.
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Intel, Michael J. Fox Foundation Take On Parkinson's Disease

8/13/2014
Intel partners with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to explore how wearable devices could help advance Parkinson's disease research.
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Apple HealthKit Details Emerge

8/12/2014
Healthcare giants are dipping toes into Apple's promised software, say reports. For instance, Cleveland Clinic is testing a service that helps patients schedule doctor visits if an app detects a health concern.
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Healthcare IT Hiring: No Summer Doldrums

8/12/2014
Healthcare organizations outpace the overall economy in hiring.
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Future ALS, Cardiac Treatments From Existing Products

8/5/2014
Researchers tap big data analytics and Internet of Things technologies to improve healthcare for people with neurodegenerative and cardiac diseases.
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10 Health Apps That Might Make You Sick

7/31/2014
As government and industry groups debate the best way to oversee healthcare apps, some questionable software hits the market.
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Healthcare Security: CSOs Needed

7/29/2014
Too many healthcare environments cling to insecure legacy systems and lax accessibility standards. It's time to enact strong security leadership.
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Insecure Communications Costly For Hospitals

7/28/2014
Even one insecure text message can be expensive, as one North Carolina facility discovered. It's time for healthcare organizations to implement efficient, secure communication systems.
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Senate Committee Seeks EHR Interoperability Investigation

7/26/2014
Bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee wants an investigation into poor interoperability, possible "information blocking" in electronic health records.
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Fit Fido: 10 Apps To Keep Pets Healthy

7/25/2014
Pet owners can now choose from an array of apps and gadgets including doggy Fitbits, meal-tracking and training apps, and scheduling tools to care for critters.
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Wearables In Healthcare: Privacy Rules Needed

7/23/2014
Johns Hopkins patient privacy violation didn't involve Google Glass or wearables but indicates why the healthcare industry must head off trouble with wearables in clinical settings.
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Optum Labs Translates Big Data Research To Clinicians

7/22/2014
Big data shows lots of promise in researchers' hands. By getting this insight to clinicians, it can really improve and save lives, says Dr. Paul Wallace of Optum Labs.
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Fitness Trackers & FSAs: A Winning Game Plan

7/21/2014
Including fitness devices in flexible savings account plans could encourage consumers to adopt a more active lifestyle and improve their overall health.
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Healthcare IT Cloud Safety: 5 Basics

7/17/2014
Healthcare is warming up to cloud services, and that means extra vigilance. Here's what you should be doing at a minimum to keep data safe.
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Health Company's Invention Program No 'Shark Tank'

7/16/2014
Carolina Health Systems and Edison Nation have created Edison Nation Medical, an incubator designed to help employees -- and anybody else -- submit medical inventions to be patented, manufactured, and sold.
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GIS Technology Helps Eradicate Polio

7/14/2014
World Health Organization uses geographic information systems to find and reach the few remaining locations where polio lurks.
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Standardize EMRs, For Security & Safety's Sake

7/14/2014
Electronic medical records help healthcare organizations improve patient care, but lack of standardization could cause safety and security problems.
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EMRs Shape Up Physical Therapy

7/11/2014
Physical therapists find that electronic medical records help improve patient care and save money.
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10 Technologies Changing Diabetes Care

7/11/2014
Healthcare organizations turn to technology to reduce the far-reaching, costly impact of diabetes.
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HIPAA Complaints Vex Healthcare Organizations

7/8/2014
Since 2013, complaints to the Department of Health and Human Services have risen regarding Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations.
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Florida Law Aims To Tighten Data Security

7/7/2014
Florida's new data privacy law increases security accountability for all enterprises; healthcare providers could face greater burden to protect patients' personal information.
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Hurricane Arthur: Healthcare IT Teams Brace

7/3/2014
As the first hurricane of the Atlantic season approaches, healthcare organizations can still take steps to secure data.
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Cerner, Mission Health Rewrite Partnership Rules

7/3/2014
Ten-year contract rewards EMR vendor Cerner if Mission Health saves money on new cost-saving measures they implement together.
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OmniMD To Expand Specialty EMR Offerings

7/1/2014
Cloud-based electronic medical records vendor expects to add at least five new surgery specialties and 14 practice specialties.
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ICD-10 Delay: Organizations Prep For New Deadline

6/30/2014
Healthcare organizations are taking advantage of the delay in a variety of ways, such as training more staff, improving documentation integrity, and conducting more robust testing, according to a survey.
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Big Data Helps Insurer Pinpoint At-Risk Patients

6/30/2014
Aetna and GNS Healthcare use analytics to predict patients at risk for metabolic syndrome.
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Philips Seeks Bigger Role In Healthcare Market

6/27/2014
The Dutch company partners with Salesforce.com, introduces a cloud-based platform to expand its role in the healthcare market.
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Surescripts Taps AppDynamics To Scrutinize Apps

6/26/2014
Surescripts expects AppDynamics application performance management to improve app performance and reliability, free engineers to pursue innovation.
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Montana Health Department Hacked

6/25/2014
State of Montana notifies 1.3 million patients of breach to Department of Public Health and Human Services server.
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Verizon Virtual Visits Enters Telehealth Market

6/25/2014
Verizon launches telehealth service to insurers, employers, and health services.
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VA Studies Telehealth For Chronic Illness Management

6/24/2014
Veterans Health Administration seeks to expand its 44 telehealth service areas.
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23andme, FDA Walk Toward Reconciliation

6/24/2014
Seven months after the FDA told the Google-backed 23andme to stop marketing health results to customers, the government agency agreed to accept the company's first premarket notification report.
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Infirmary Health Turns To Computer-Based EHR Training

6/24/2014
Infirmary Health used Ancile's CBT system to train more than 1,000 hospital clinicians and staff within weeks to use their new Epic electronic health record platform.
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Florida Hospital Shows Power Of Patient Engagement

6/20/2014
Florida Hospital Celebration Health uses GetWellNetwork software to improve patient care and build a culture of empowerment.
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Analytics Help Patients Follow Doctors' Orders

6/19/2014
Community Health Plan of Washington's most vulnerable patients are doing a better job of sticking to their treatment plans -- thanks to big data, analytics, and hospital partner Health Integrated.
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Former HHS Exec Launches ACO For Independent Physicians

6/18/2014
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, former national coordinator for HIT at the US Department of Health and Human Services, founds an ACO to help physician-led practices deliver value-based population health services to patients.
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Google Glass Gains Momentum In Healthcare

6/18/2014
Google Glass plays a growing role in healthcare as developers incorporate the device into medical and personal health software.
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EHRs Move Into Assisted Living Centers

6/17/2014
Assisted living centers find electronic health records help them accommodate residents with more complex care needs and the staffing needed to serve them.
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When Is Anonymous Data Really Anonymous?

6/17/2014
Confusion over the standards for anonymous data, or deidentification of data, damages adoption of mHealth apps, curtails innovation, and could generate needless extra laws.
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Healthcare Organizations Prep For Increased Audits

6/16/2014
With audits expected to increase this year, healthcare organizations increasingly invest in risk assessment software or services to ensure compliance.
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Sorry, AMA: You're Wrong About Telehealth

6/16/2014
By recommending that doctors be licensed in a patient's state, the American Medical Association places another hurdle in the path of telehealth adoption.
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9 Mobile Apps To Get You Fit

6/13/2014
With more than 100,000 mobile health apps available today, you need help sorting through the fitness contenders. Consider these nine apps.
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Epocrates Retains Lead In Crowded Mobile Health Marketplace

6/12/2014
By giving clinicians the information they want, Epocrates stays atop the medical reference category for the fifth consecutive year.
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Healthcare Fee Structure: Changes Ahead

6/11/2014
Both payers and providers support a shift to value-based payments, a study says.
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