Allscripts On Call: The Healthcare Podcast

Kathleen McGrow (Chief Nursing Information Officer, Microsoft) and Paul Minton (VP, Allscripts) discuss their shared clinical background and how they leverage it in the Allscripts/Microsoft partnership. Hear how this collaboration between healthcare and technology leaders is developing stronger security for providers, more powerful and efficient data tools for clinicians, and convenient, consumer-grade care for patients wherever it’s needed.

A significant impact of COVID-19 has been to kickstart the use of telehealth technology, so providers can continue to practice medicine and patients can receive the care they need without leaving the house. Population health expert Mike McAfee discusses why this means maintaining interoperable systems is more critical than ever, and how sharing information will be key to the whole-patient health economy of the future.

In the post-COVID normal, clinicians are defining how to best deliver care going forward. Dr. Constantin Jabarin, who has successfully implemented customized EMR solutions in the UK, discusses supporting work practices during a time of change, directing all technology to the unique needs of an organization.   For more questions, contact Dr. Jabarin at constantin.jabarin@allscripts.com, or visit our contact page.

Most community hospitals provide a range of essential healthcare services to their areas. But during COVID-19, delivering this care – and maintaining a revenue stream – became a challenge. Longtime emergency clinician Dr. Mark Pratt (Director of Solutions Management, Allscripts) describes what defines community hospitals, and how they’ve adapted to best serve patients both inside and from a distance. Contact Dr. Pratt at mark.pratt@allscripts.com

The science of behavioral economics helps us channel our natural urges toward accomplishing our goals. Karen Horgan, cofounder of behavioral economics consultancy VAL Health, describes the principles of behavioral economics and how we can apply them in healthcare, by making it easy for patients to communicate with providers and engage with their own care.  In episode: www.VALhealth.com Books: Nudge, by Richard Thaler  Thinking Fast and Slow, Freakonomics

When so many factors are critical to delivering safe multi-episode healthcare, we need the data from care coordination platforms more than ever. Founder Dr. Lissy Hu describes how CarePort’s platform Supports older adults who are at risk for COVID-19, as well as their families Ensures those who do get the virus have safe places to recover Creates data insights to help manage not only COVID care but other conditions in the future To learn more about CarePort visit www.CareportHealth.com For COVID transitions of care visit www.COVIDtoc.com

As 80% of healthcare issues and outcomes are influenced by factors outside the patient encounter, it’s critical to address these from a clinical perspective, especially in a time of crisis. Rick Krohn, principal of HealthSense, discusses collecting data around key social determinants of health, such as education, transportation and access to care, and building it into clinical workflows to support both individual patients and communities. Learn more about HealthSense here

Today, during COVID-19 and its associated restrictions, older adults face not only immediate health risks but serious challenges in their daily lives. Dr. Charlotte Yeh (Chief Medical Officer, AARP Services) discusses how these reflect the broader health challenges of older adults, as well as their benefits, and the role technology plays in shifting from “aging in place” to “thriving in motion”.

As the amount of healthcare patient data grows exponentially, provider organizations must comply with rapidly shifting compliance standards. dSheet leader Michael Kirwan discusses how the providers he collaborates with have worked to meet these standards – including Bluetooth, HL7 FHIR, and 5G – and what providers can do now to ensure compliance themselves. Also hear how the March 2020 ONC/HHS updates, and the growing sophistication of wearables and patient monitoring devices, could further change the future of information sharing. For more information, connect with Michael on LinkedIn. 

In this special episode, Allscripts Ambulatory leader Leah Jones discusses the challenges physician practices face during a nationwide shift to value-based care. Learn how to identify financial and care gaps, and find where your organization can use the support of an expertise partner to achieve the best possible financial and clinical outcomes.    To learn more about partnership offerings from Allscripts, visit www.allscripts.com and click the mail icon.

By examining the four P's of experience design - people, places, platforms and processes - healthcare providers of any size can create a customized, engaging and trust-building experience for patients and staff. Cynthia Sharpe, Theme Park and Museum Principal at experience design firm ThinkWell Group, explains:  What makes the best healthcare experiences similar to the best cultural and educational ones Why guests trusted the Disney Cruise Line experience during a healthcare crisis How strong healthcare experiences raise patient engagement, lower staff burnout and improve care.  Resources in episode:  Recommended book: The Experience Economy, by Joseph Pine  Check out the ThinkWell website and blog, reach out with questions For more on informal science education principals, which apply to patient engagement, visit The American Association of Museums and the Association of Science and Technology Centers.

In this special episode, hear the full conversation between Dr. Geoff Caplea (Allscripts) and three leaders from ECRI Institute. Learn about the work the organization has done in the past decades to promote patient safety. Also hear how ECRI continues to align healthcare, technology and analytics to create solutions for the future. Released for Patient Safety Week 2020.

In this final episode of our series, Dr. Lorraine Possanza shares the outcomes achieved by the ECRI Institute’s Patient Safety Organization Workgroups, and how their multi-stakeholder teams "ferret out" the most useful information from decades of safety data. The ECRI experts, including Janice Kaczmarek and Dr. Karen Schoelles, also look ahead to priorities for 2020, emphasizing the continued importance of shared trust.

In this second part of the series, ECRI Institute’s Janice Kaczmarek tells how the Institute developed its own Guidelines Trust to replace the Guidelines Clearinghouse. Dr. Lorraine Possanza describes how the ECRI Patient Safety Organization empowers all healthcare stakeholders to collaborate for stronger, better care.

Healthcare technology – whether medical devices or IT – has always had a direct connection to patient safety. In this first episode of a three-part series, Dr. Geoff Caplea (Allscripts) joins experts from  ECRI Institute to discuss how the organization was founded in 1968, and what’s changed in patient safety issues in the decades since. Featured on this episode are Dr. Karen Schoelles, Janice Kaczmarek and Dr. Lorraine Possanza.

Physician practices face unique operational and financial challenges, including declining revenue, increasing denials, increasing patient balances and lack of actionable analytics. Consultant Paola Turchi explains how practice leaders can use revenue cycle management to address these gaps, improving employee, physician and patient satisfaction.   In episode: Connect with HFMA, MGMA, and ACHE

The public health data pool is growing larger, especially as patient-consumers share their information through devices and personal programs. While providers can find valuable knowledge in this, they're also challenged to preserve patient privacy and comply with HIPAA and other regulations. Joel Gurin, founder of CODE, an organization that maximizes the value of data as a public resource, discusses optimizing health data while keeping it private and secure. To learn more, check out Joel's education session at HIMSS 2020   In episode: CODE Roundtable Reports Leveraging Data on the Social Determinants of Health     Recorded at ACE 2019    

As healthcare moves into the next decade, patients, providers and technology partners must combine their strengths to address the challenges ahead. Molly McCarthy (National Director, US Health and Chief Nursing Officer, Microsoft) tells how Microsoft technology is powering healthcare outcomes, and how the right partnerships with both patients and organizations will continue to move healthcare in the right direction. Recorded at ACE 2019 In episode: Microsoft Healthcare Industry Blog

As patients are increasingly acting as consumers, consumer companies are stepping up to help deliver care. Dr. Chet Robson, Chief Medical Officer of Walgreens, discusses these trends and the services retail healthcare offers to help make patient-driven care effective and affordable. Recorded at ACE 2019

As delivering care becomes more complicated, it can be difficult for providers to find joy in the work they do. Neil Patel, founder of HIMSS innovation services company Healthbox, discusses how tech vendors and providers can partner to identify key challenges, build solutions to address them and even fall in love with the problems they work to solve.    Recorded at ACE 2019 In episode Subscribe to Newsletters Healthbox Insights and Newsletter Healthcare Tech Newsletter (Kevin O'Leary) The Weekly Gist (Gist Healthcare) MobiHealthNews Reach out to Neil at neil@healthbox.com

Today’s healthcare providers have countless ways to connect clinicians and patients at every point of care. Dr. Jim Nielsen (CMIO, Baptist Pensacola) discusses how his community health system used the Internet of Things to address operational problems and improve delivery of care, as well as what other organizations can do to implement this themselves. 

Many patients need affordable transportation to receive healthcare. But access to their local community and social resources is also essential to their health and wellbeing. Omar Nagji (Head of Healthcare Partnerships, Lyft) talks about Lyft’s partnering with Allscripts to move into the healthcare space. Hear how Lyft’s expertise in consumer experience and transportation logistics is opening and enriching patients' lives. In episode: Lyft Healthcare Offerings

Technology today has the potential to deliver the best healthcare to everyone tomorrow. In this episode, Allscripts CEO Paul Black talks about what defines today’s healthcare landscape. Hear about up-to-the-minute opportunities in analytics and mobile platforms, as well as challenges in privacy and industry competition and how consumer devices and data could improve patient health across populations.

In the final episode of this series, our experts discuss how clinical users and leaders can communicate their perspectives on EHR needs and issues; how users must learn to navigate the systems that are available; and how everyone can keep brainstorming together to maintain a safe and usable EHR. This is the conclusion of our conversation with Dr. Raj Ratwani (Director, MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare).

The adoption of healthcare technology since the HITECH Act of 2009 is unprecedented across industries. People in healthcare today still deal with the implications, especially in EHR implementation and use. In the second episode of our three-part series, Dr. Raj Ratwani (Director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare) talks about making EHR issues transparent to everyone who has a role in solving them. In Episode: EHRSeeWhatWeMean.org: Part of MedStar’s campaign to highlight real clinician issues with EHRs

When implementing and using an EHR system, many factors – and human users – contribute to its safety and effectiveness. When a change is needed, it can be challenging for all these to align and move forward. In the first episode of our three-part series, Dr. Raj Ratwani (Director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare) discusses the need for safety roundtables to keep systems safe and effective, especially in the US.   In Episode: ECRI Institute

When patients are shocked by the price of their prescriptions, this can severely disrupt their care. Patients may reduce or abandon their medication in order to save costs. Tom Pasquariello (Clinical Pharmacist, Veradigm) describes how prescription price transparency, especially integrated in the EHR, helps patients and clinicians work together to create an effective care plan for an affordable price. 

The final part of our conversation with Dr. Janey Barnes (founder, User View). Dr. Barnes discusses how health IT platforms compare to those in other fields (and how pharma software is like lottery software); how hands-on training helps achieve stronger EHR functionality, satisfaction and regulatory fulfillment; and how a human-centered approach at every step, from implementation to daily use, creates systems that fit each unique organization. Resources and research in episode: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) MedStar National Centers for Human Factors in Healthcare, led by Raj Ratwani (listen for Raj in future episodes) SAFER Guides by University of Texas’s Dean Sittig and Hardeep Singh David Bates, Brigham and Womens Hospital

The second episode with Dr. Janey Barnes (founder, User View) on human factors in EHR design and health IT. Here, Dr. Barnes and our experts discuss the unique challenges of healthcare technology; how HIT partners should engage directly with users to discover their true needs; and how the right system supports patient safety and relieves clinician burden. In episode: I Love Lucy - The Chocolate Factory Clinician tasks are the chocolates.

The first of three episodes with Dr. Janey Barnes (founder, User-View) on incorporating human factors in EHR design and health IT. Here, Dr. Barnes and our experts discuss the difference between human factors, usability and user experience; responding to US patient safety and usability standards today; and how healthcare organizations and IT partners can raise the bar for EHRs. 

Patients and clinicians alike may engage with technology at different levels. Connecting with each other can be a challenge. Bonnie Bordeaux (Allscripts) describes how IT partners can meet clinicians where they are, how clinicians can in turn meet patients, and what technology is available, especially on mobile platforms, to help everyone create personalized and quality care. 

The tech tools exist for healthcare organizations to take huge strides in both operations and patient care. Chris Harris (Deloitte) discusses how organizations can assess the right solutions for them, which operational issues are key to focus on and what results can be achieved when the strongest tech is deployed in the most strategic ways.

Community and rural health organizations are in many ways just like larger ones. But they also face a special set of challenges, from barriers to physical access (like literal railroad tracks) to lack of support for health data integration. Dr. Chris Caggiano describes his experience with community health challenges and successes, and shows how organizations can use the resources they have to deliver the best care their patients need. In episode: National Rural Health AssociationFederal Office of Rural Health (HRSA.gov)

Opargo’s practice optimization tool delivers learnings from the airline industry to meet healthcare needs. In a conversation with Allscripts’ Tina Joros, Opargo leaders Paul Wiley and Nancy Harvey discuss how scheduling patients is like assigning plane seats; how the right scheduling system can positively impact care and revenue; and how data analytics help organizations find their challenges and strengths before designing the right system for themselves.  In episodeOpargo websiteOpargo on YouTubeOn Allscripts app store

Part of the Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open source initiative to build blockchain solutions across industries. Executive director Brian Behlendorf discusses what blockchain is, and how this “distributed ledger” model applies to healthcare challenges both now and in the future. Recorded at HIMSS 2019.   In episode: Hyperledger website