Healthcare Informatics’ Top 10 Most Social Stories of the Year
We had a busy year at Healthcare Informatics and the Top 10 Social Stories of the Year reflects that. Thanks to Associate Editor of Reader Engagement, Megan Combs, we were able to parse through our analytics and determine the 10 most social stories of the year. In general, they reflect the year that was 2013. There was controversy, turmoil, uncertainty, sadness, and ultimately, progress on several fronts.
Here are the top social stories in order:
1. The 2013 Healthcare Informatics 100: The signature list of top health IT vendors came out in May and it did not disappoint. Once again, McKesson was ranked at the top spot, in terms of HIT revenue. There was, however, some change in the Top 5 ranking for the first time in two years. HCI’s readers flocked to three major social networks, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to share this list.
2. EHR Implementation May Lead to Revenue Loss, Survey Suggests: News on a report from Health Affairs that suggested implementing an electronic health record (EHR) could to lead to revenue loss was shared frequently. Farzad Mostashari, M.D., then National Coordinator for Health IT, gave it added life when he publicly retorted, saying the cost of EHR implementation isn’t realistically portrayed in the survey.
3. Most Interesting Vendor: Allscripts—Moving Forward With Renewed Focus: After a fairly turbulent 2012, Allscripts was an easy pick for “Most Interesting Vendor” in our HCI 100 issue in May of 2013. New CEO Paul Black talked to us about the company’s past and its future as they began to try and leave the insanity of the previous year behind.
4. "The Gray Lady" Stumbles: How Could The New York Times Get Things So Wrong?: This blog from Healthcare Informatics Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland was in response to a controversial New York Times front-page article that attacked the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act and meaningful use. Released around the time of the HIMSS conference, this blog from Hagland was immensely popular with our readers.
5. James E. Levin, M.D., Ph.D., 1958-2013: An Appreciation: Unfortunately, in February, James (Jim) E. Levin M.D., Ph.D., the CMIO of Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, passed away unexpectedly. The clinical informatics pioneer left behind a legacy that was appreciated by all who were fortunate enough to meet him, including our own Mark Hagland, who wrote about the experience in this moving blog.
6. Delivering Successful Care Coordination: Creating the IT Foundation for Accountable Care (Part Two): In what could be deemed, “The Year of Population Health,” it’s not surprising that this piece on creating the IT foundation for accountable care, part two of a five-part series from Joseph M. Taylor, vice president and ACO practice leader at the Wayne, Pa.-based FluidEdge Consulting, was as popular as it was.
7. Meeting the Needs of Transgender Patients: Medical Informaticists Work through the EHR Challenges: For transgender patients, 2013 meant progress. In this article, HCI Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland interviewed a researcher from the University of California, San Francisco, about the progress underway to modify EHRs to meet the needs of transgender patients.
8. The RIS is dead, long live the RWFMS?: Joe Marion’s blog on the changing nature of the Radiology Information System (RIS) back in March of 2013 generated a lot of interest from our readers.
9. Does Health IT Staffing Crisis: As healthcare organizations continually digitize their data and as vendors ramp up in order to meet those needs, this question, whether or not there is enough HIT talent out there, looms large. It’s not shocking then that this article, an interview with Shane Pilcher, the vice president of Stolenberg Consulting, about the staffing shortage was as popular as it was.
10. 2012 Healthcare IT M&A: The Dog that Didn’t Bark: Ben Rooks annual merger and acquisition piece, from our HCI 100 issue in May of 2013, generated the buzz that we’ve come to expect from it. The theme of this year’s piece centered around the surprisingly low number of M&As that occurred in 2012.
Thanks as always for reading!