The most successful implementations of digital solutions offer value propositions on both sides of the equation — they create value for the patient and family, while also making the clinician’s job easier and more enjoyable by saving time and eliminating ancillary duties.

San Francisco-based Plenful emerged from stealth on Tuesday. The startup sells a workflow tool that automates manual and administrative workflows for pharmacy technicians. In addition to its launch out of stealth mode, the company also announced that it has closed a $9 million funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and signed contracts with more than 20 customers.

This on-demand webinar explores the impact of poor data quality and methods to improve patient data quality. It highlights technology that can improve workflows to help reduce workforce burnout.

The second quarter of 2023 ended with 309 active drug shortages, the highest total in nearly a decade, according to a new report from ASHP. One of the organization’s executives pointed out that drug shortages have two major impacts on health systems: they create a lot of extra work for the pharmacy department, and they force clinicians to make tough decisions about patient care that could potentially result in worse patient outcomes.

The webinar, sponsored by Intelligent Medical Objects, will explore the impact of poor data quality and methods to improve patient data quality. It will also highlight healthcare industry employee burnout and how to improve retention.

Providers just aren’t given the time it takes to build rapport and ask the right questions within the fee-for-service model. That’s why I left traditional medicine. Providers like me who now work in an employer healthcare model can truly help people versus treating them reactively.

Iodine Software recently announced that it is expanding its relationship with OpenAI. By doing so, Iodine will integrate the latest GPT-4 language model into its existing AI technologies and datasets, specifically its AwareCDI product suite.

In Pickens County, Alabama, cardiac arrests are now treated differently. Instead of immediately transporting patients, local EMS now work cardiac arrests in the field for 30 minutes; if there’s no change, they call it a “death in the field” because they know they cannot get the patient to a hospital in time for life-saving care. Why? Hospital closures now mean there’s no hospital nearby.

I interview Punit Singh Soni, CEO of Suki and Niall O’Connor, CTO, Cohere Health to evaluate two areas where AI can have an outsize impact: clinical documentation and prior authorization.

Laudio — a startup providing software that automates administrative tasks for frontline nurse managers — recently raised $13 million in Series B funds. The company’s platform helps managers complete tasks like patient rounding and schedule making more quickly, as well as provides recommendations on how to better engage staff members.

Many physicians, podiatrists, psychologists, and occupational and physical therapists are able to take advantage of the ability to be an independent contractor with little scrutiny. Those who oppose it when it comes to nursing fail to see nurses as anything but a tax classification; they don’t understand that trying to corral nurses back into a system of work that does not work for them will only intensify the nursing shortage by exacerbating the flight from the workforce.

In addition to reducing workload, NLP and ambient voice technology can also improve the quality of care that clinicians provide. By analyzing EHRs and other patient data, NLP algorithms can identify potential health risk factors and recommend preventative measures.

Hippocratic AI emerged from stealth, as well as announced $50 million in seed funding through a round co-led by General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz. The Palo Alto-based startup bills itself as the first large language model designed specifically for healthcare.

To truly solve provider shortages—and get providers practicing sooner—health systems and plans need to automate licensing, enrollment, and credentialing, so they can scale their provider networks and meet increasing patient demand.

Recognizing exceptional mental healthcare providers can lead to improved patient outcomes. Patients tend to have a better experience when they feel appreciated and valued. Acknowledging the efforts of mental healthcare providers can enhance the quality of care provided and, in turn, lead to better patient outcomes.

The burnout crisis among nurses has gotten significantly worse since the peak of the pandemic in 2021, according to new research from AMN Healthcare. Only 40% of nurses said that they have no plans to change their work status in the coming year, and only one-third said they have ideal time to spend with their patients — marking a decrease of 10 percentage points from 2021.

A new study found that ChatGPT might actually be quite successful in providing high-quality answers to patient questions during an era in which doctors and nurses are too busy to do so. The research evaluated two sets of answers to patient inquiries — one written by physicians, the other by ChatGPT. A panel of healthcare professionals determined that ChatGPT’s answers were significantly more detailed and empathetic.

Memora Health recently raised $30 million in funding. The company’s platform automates touch points for complex care patients through text messaging-based programs. Some of Memora’s customers include Mayo Clinic, Penn Medicine, Northwell Health and Boston Medical Center.

By properly selecting and implementing the right technologies for your practice you can reduce burnout and increase earnings. Follow these steps to double your reward.

Preventing drug diversion starts with understanding the signs of a substance use disorder (SUD) in hospital and health system staff workers, those closest to the problem and one of the most affected parties.

Ultimately, the question is whether technology can provide a positive path forward. The answer will not rest in the capabilities of the modern EHR.

By evaluating the potential of healthcare operations software investments to affect each of these three key outcomes areas — patient outcomes, workforce outcomes, and risk and compliance outcomes — CIOs can make informed decisions that drive value and improve outcomes for patients, providers, and the entire organization. 

Holon Solutions CEO Jon Zimmerman thinks more payers should invest in new technology to improve workloads for healthcare workers. The burnout crisis is too big for providers to solve by themselves, and many of the economic incentives for driving quality and efficiency in healthcare are housed within health plans and accountable care organizations, he said.

Just a quarter of healthcare practices offer remote patient monitoring, and the majority of them aren’t too eager to adopt the technology any time soon, according to a new report. A few factors are influencing this reluctance, including data security concerns, unclear reimbursement policies and training requirements.

Healthcare providers will continue having a difficult time retaining employees unless they make necessary changes, such as establishing pay increases and improving company culture. Healthcare ranked last for employee satisfaction with pay among 27 other industries, according to a recent report. A separate report found that many healthcare employees are leaving their jobs because their company’s mission no longer aligns with their values.

History has shown that while healthcare is more open to adopting technology to improve outcomes, […]

Workers at the largest for-profit health system in the country, HCA Healthcare, have planned a rally for Thursday. The goal of the rally is to show HCA that its workers know how profitable the company is and that they won’t be able to tolerate poor staffing levels for much longer.

With most doctors spending less than 15 to 20 minutes with their patients per visit, there is not much time for fact-finding, let alone education for the doctor to learn what preventive screening resources are available for their patients, even if that care is reimbursable by Medicare/Medicaid, such as a lung cancer screening.

While levels have gone down from their pandemic peak, burnout remains high among clinical support staff, according to a new report. It found that 70% of clinical support staff experience moderate to severe burnout, with 32% categorizing their burnout as high to severe. Along with the obvious effect it has on support staff’s wellbeing, burnout also negatively impacts patient care.

Many providers think their telehealth program increases the workload for nurses and support staff, according to a recent report. In 2023, hospitals and physician practices will have to focus on making their telehealth workflows more efficient, which may involve partnering with third-party administrators.