News

• Data Challenges

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  Winners Announced for Two RWJF Data Challenges

  RWJF challenged video game developers to leverage data from Aligning Forces for Quality, the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, and other databases to create games that engage patients and health providers in generating new quality data.

  RWJF also challenged information technology specialists to use recently released CMS hospital price data to build visualizations of the data and applications & tools that can help consumers make better decisions.
  

  Winners were announced at Health 2.0's fall conference.

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• HIT Adoption

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  Hospitals, Physicians Make Major Strides in Electronic Health Record Adoption

  Driven by major federal investments in health information technology (HIT) over the last several years, hospitals, physicians and other providers have made significant strides in the adoption of health information technology, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s annual report, Health Information Technology in the United States: Better Information Systems for Better Care, 2013.
  

  The report, co-authored by Mathematica Policy Research and the Harvard School of Public Health, finds that in 2012, 44 percent of hospitals reported having a basic electronic health record system—commonly called an EHR—up 17 percentage points from 2011. Since 2010, when health care providers began receiving federal funding to encourage EHR adoption, the proportion of hospitals with at least a basic EHR has nearly tripled. Physicians have also made substantial progress, with 38.2 percent reporting the adoption of basic EHR functionalities in 2012.

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• Reducing Readmissions

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  The Revolving Door Syndrome

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report showing that one in eight Medicare patients were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of being released after surgery in 2010, while patients in the hospital for reasons other than surgery returned at an even higher rate of one in six. Both rates were virtually unchanged from 2008. The analysis shows that the overall lack of improvement in readmissions extends back to 2004, the earliest year that the Dartmouth Atlas has studied, with the national rate for readmissions following a medical discharge remaining the same in 2010 as it was in 2004 (15.9%).

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• Patient Engagement

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  Encouraging Patient Engagement

  New patient engagement principles have been developed by a committee of nurse leaders and patient advocates to offer guidance to the nursing community and other health care providers. The principles are intended to help those on the front lines of patient care develop models for patient engagement, as well as quality and safety interventions that support and encourage patients and families to become partners in their care.

  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-supported Nursing Alliance for Quality Care (NAQC) released the nine principles to support nurses and other health care providers in delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. NAQC leaders believe the principles can spark discussion among practicing nurses, nurse educators, students, and other providers, leading to policy initiatives that better integrate patients and families in all care decisions.
  

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