Gracia Lam

Here's The Latest in Health Care:

•  Over a third of calories that Americans consume these days come from foods purchased or eaten in restaurants, and most of these restaurant-goers are completely clueless about how many calories they're consuming. Every restaurant has their extreme calorie contenders, like Cheesecake Factory's Breakfast Burrito or Chili’s Honey-Chipotle Crispers & Waffles. The obesity crisis, which has reached epidemic proportions is showing no signs of slowing down for Americans over 5 years old.  Read More

•  A group of insurers filed a petition in July 2016 requesting two clarifications to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2015 Omnibus TCPA Order, which allows HIPAA-covered entities to communicate with patients that give their phone number to a health care provider. The changes to the current language would allow a patient's phone number given to any HIPAA-covered entity to constitute prior consent to make non-marketing calls.  Read More

•  Federal health officials have reported a sharp increase in STDs in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in 2017, a record high and 20,000 cases more than the previous year.  Read More

•  In a recent study from Pew Charitable Trusts, highly customizable EHRs that vary in design and use have been found to lead to inefficiencies that can fail to prevent patient harm or ultimately contribute to it. Organizations are encouraged to test EHR usability to evaluate system safety and identify challenges to prevent future harm.  Read More

Each Friday, Signor Goat reports the latest from the week in health care. Check back next Friday for your dose of our little medical corner of health care news. Brought to you by pMD, innovators in charge capture, secure messaging, clinical communication, MIPS registry, clinically integrated network, and care navigation software.

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