Here are seven things for ASC leaders to know on Jan. 3, 2017.
Trump floats ideas to transform VA, focusing on a private option
President-elect Donald J. Trump could make big changes to the Veterans Affairs medical care.
Mr. Trump made it known that he wanted to change medical care options for veterans, who traditionally received care at VA hospitals. One of Mr. Trump's officials described the potential changes, which would allow veterans to seek care at a VA facility or private physician in a "public-private option."
President-elect Donald Trump meets with leading healthcare executives from Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic & more
Donald Trump met with some of the nation's leading healthcare executives on Dec. 28, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla., including Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Noseworthy, MD; Baltimore-based The Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO Paul Rothman, MD; Boston-based Partners HealthCare President and CEO David Torchiana, MD; and Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Toby Cosgrove.
Wills Eye Hospital files suit for classification as ASC
CMS and Philadelphia-based Wills Eye Hospital are at odds over the agency classifying Wills Eye as an ASC. Wills Eye re-established inpatient care services at its main building in 2013 and then applied for Medicare enrollment as a hospital. Prior to adding these serves, the eye center fell under ASC classification.
Google, Boston Scientific 2017 New Year's Resolutions: Jumpstart digital health startups
Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific's annual Connected Patient Challenge — co-sponsored by Mountain View-Calif.-based Google — aims to revolutionize data analytics in healthcare by awarding a $50,000 prize to an analytic-based start-up.
Physicians rate top 5 patient privacy threats from EHRs
The "Medscape EHR Report" asked physicians to rank the top five patient privacy threats. The top patient privacy concerns among physicians in relationship to EHRs are:
1. Hacking and misusing information: 60 percent
2. Loss of patient information through a malfunction: 57 percent
3. Unauthorized access to patient information: 57 percent
4. HIPAA compliance: 35 percent
5. Internal sabotage of records: 24 percent
The Joint Commission, CMS ban secure text messaging use for care orders
After allowing physicians to use secure text messaging to send care orders, The Joint Commission and CMS are revising their position and are banning the practice. The Joint Commission originally banned the practice in 2011. In May 2016, The Joint Commission released a statement stating that technology was fully able to allow for the secure texting of patient care orders.
How social risk factors will affect value-based care
HHS released a report on how social risk factors like income, education, race and ethnicity could have profound effects on value-based care. If low-quality care yields poor outcomes for patients with social risk factors, value-based care may drive change for this population. However, if risk factors themselves cause poor outcomes for patients, value-based care could be detrimental.