Avicenna Medical Blog

DeAnn Dennis

Recent Posts

Care Management Weekly News Update 4/27/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Thu, Apr 27, 2023 @ 12:07 PM

In the latest setback for the initiative, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that all deployments in its EHR Modernization effort will be halted while it prioritizes improvements at the five sites that currently use the new EHR, as part of a larger program reset.

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 4/19/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Apr 19, 2023 @ 02:02 PM

The integration hinges on generative AI-powered tools, according to the announcement, to increase productivity and enhance patient care. One of the integration’s tools, which helps automatically draft message responses, is being implemented at UC San Diego Health, UW Health and Stanford Health Care, according to the companies.

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 4/12/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Apr 12, 2023 @ 11:34 AM

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ latest pause in the rollout of its new Electronic Health Record will last longer than expected.

Laura Ruzick, director of Veterans Integrated Services Network 10 — which covers parts of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana — told staff in a memo that recent assessments show the Oracle-Cerner EHR “is not yet ready for the planned June deployment in Saginaw.”

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 4/5/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Apr 05, 2023 @ 12:05 PM

Called the EHR Program RESET Act, the bill would require the VA and the EHR’s developer Oracle Cerner to fix underlying issues with the technology identified in a sprint report published last month. The bill would also compel the department not to implement the technology at any additional health facilities until data shows that it is surpassing the performance of the VA’s VistA legacy...

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/29/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Mar 29, 2023 @ 11:45 AM

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced the Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act. The legislation aims to close a gap between Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of a breakthrough medical device and when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) covers it for Medicare. 

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/23/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Thu, Mar 23, 2023 @ 11:36 AM

The Biden administration is exploring requiring new certifications for provider electronic health records to help facilitate electronic prior authorization, a major source of administrative burden, officials said. 

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/15/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Mar 15, 2023 @ 11:49 AM

This is the largest budget proposal in U.S. history for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors. The total FY 2024 request for VA is $325.1 billion, a $16.6 billion (+5.4%) increase above the FY 2023 budget enacted level. 

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/8/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Mar 08, 2023 @ 02:48 PM

One in three adults who are enrolled in Medicaid have high blood pressure, which costs the U.S. about $131 billion each year. 

The use of self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring can help improve hypertension control and reduce costs, yet Medicaid coverage is insufficient in some states and remains a key access barrier to wider adoption of SMBP. That is something Maryland set out to change.

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 3/2/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Thu, Mar 02, 2023 @ 12:57 PM

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) late last week, compared hospitalization rates between Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare A. The study found MA had fewer avoidable hospitalizations for acute care than traditional Medicare, a trend that may be caused by shifting patients to other sites of care.  

Read More

Care Management Weekly News Update 2/22/23

Posted by DeAnn Dennis on Wed, Feb 22, 2023 @ 11:59 AM

How the CPT Code Set Can Be Used to Help Advance Health Equity

CPT is “not just a methodology for getting paid,” said Christopher Jagmin, MD, vice chair of the AMA CPT Editorial Panel and Aetna’s vice president of clinical policy, noting that “there is a great interest now in diversity and equity in how we deliver health care services to patients in this country and we need to recognize that in the development of our code set.”

Read More