The Affordable Care Act Survives The Supreme Court (For The Most Part)

Rich Temple, Executive Consultant, Beacon Partners

The Supreme Court today handed down a historic decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), virtually in its entirety, on the basis of Congress having the authority to levy a “tax” (i.e., the non-compliance penalty for the individual mandate).  This is a different angle than many observers expected for upholding the ACA; most were focused [...]

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The Hidden Pools of Healthcare IT Talent

As leaders in health IT, we are all too well aware of the challenges involved in attracting and retaining top-grade talent.  As we are confronted with ever more complex challenges in our health care landscape, we are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit people who can take leadership roles in moving projects forward and, simultaneously, [...]

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EHR Value & the Importance of Studying Studies

A study was recently published by Stanford University calling into question the value of Electronic Health Records as drivers of improved patient care.  This study has caused quite a buzz in the EHR community, and I think it is important for us in this community to be ready to explain how some aspects of this [...]

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CPOE AND MEANINGFUL USE – DON’T RUSH IN

I felt compelled to write a few paragraphs about the most recent Leapfrog report that just came out on CPOE systems (full report right here on healthsystemcio.com), and their failure in repeated testing to catch a vast preponderance of errors that they should have caught. Leapfrog revealed that it had tested CPOE systems at 214 [...]

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“Patient Safety” Contrasted with “Patron Safety”

I just returned from a weekend with my family at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH (the “roller coaster capital of the world”).  While we certainly had fun taking in all the coasters, I couldn’t help but think about health IT (I know, what can I say, I need a life!). What really struck [...]

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Data Security – Pay Now or Pay (More) Later

As we enter the era of Meaningful Use, we are truly seeing an increased realization of the central role that IT plays in provider strategic planning.  Happily, we are also starting see recognition from many corners of healthcare organizations of the wisdom of making targeted, shrewd, IT investments as down payments on organizations’ futures. And [...]

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Health Insurance Exchanges – Good or Bad News?

Rich Temple, Executive Consultant, Beacon Partners (former CIO, AristaCare)

2014 may seem pretty far away. However, it is closer than one may think, and it is the year where the “health insurance exchange” piece of the recently-enacted Health Care Reform act will come into being. These exchanges are meant to provide a “one-stop shopping” option for people who are not able to get insurance through their employers to compare options for purchasing insurance on their own.

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Vendor Viability Assessment – Financial/Strategic

Rich Temple, Executive Consultant, Beacon Partners (former CIO, AristaCare)

With the seismic changes taking place in the health IT landscape these days, it becomes more important than ever for health IT leaders to be able to gauge whether their most critical business partners are going to be able to be there for them – three, five, or even ten years down the road.  At [...]

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