28 May Health Data News Roundup: Heath IT Benefits for Medicare ACOs; Health Plan Care Coordination; and EHR Alerts News

Welcome to the Health Data Weekly News Roundup from IMAT Solutions. As the power of data continues to grow in the healthcare arena, today’s care organizations need to be on the forefront of all news and trends to help ensure that their data analytics efforts deliver accountable and informed care. Each week, we will provide you with the actionable news you need to meet these goals.

OIG: Health IT Brings Both Benefits, Challenges to Medicare ACOs
Medicare accountable care organizations were able to better coordinate patient care thanks to their use of health information technology tools, according to the HHS Office of Inspector General.

Interoperability Improvements Stagnated Between 2015 and 2017
Interoperability among office-based physicians improved very little from 2015 to 2017, with only about ten percent of physicians reporting the ability to send, receive, query, and integrate patient health data into their EHR systems, according to the ONC.

Health Plan Care Coordination Key as Beneficiary Satisfaction Climbs
While beneficiary satisfaction with commercial health plans continues to climb, there are still key areas for improvement to drive an overall better consumer experience, according to a recent survey conducted by JD Power.

Social Determinants of Health Data Deemed Most Difficult to Share
Social determinants of health data and behavioral health data are the most difficult types of information to share through health information exchanges (HIEs), according to a recent eHealth Initiative survey.

Intermountain Healthcare Creates EHR-Integrated Predictive Tool
Intermountain Healthcare recently tested the effectiveness of its newly developed Summit Score tool, an EHR-integrated risk calculator, and found the tool serves as a more accurate way to predict clinical health outcomes for respiratory patients.

EHR Alerts Help to Increase Prescriptions of Preventive Therapy
EHR alerts may be more effective in encouraging providers to prescribe preventive therapy than educating providers on the value of preventive therapies, according to a 2019 study by researchers at Penn Medicine.

5 Industry Groups Form Initiative to Aid Interoperability
Five healthcare industry stakeholders have joined to establish a new Trusted Network Accreditation Program to boost health data interoperability.