Morning Headlines 11/3/15

Geisinger study: Access to doctors’ notes increases med adherence

Researchers working with the Open Notes project at Geisinger Health System report a small improvement in medication adherence among patients with access to their doctors notes. Lead investigator Eric Wright, PharmD and MPH, explains “Providing patients access to their doctors’ notes and reminding them to read them before visiting their doctor is key to reinforcing the doctors’ rationale for prescribing specific medications and dosage."

Combining Search, Social Media, and Traditional Data Sources to Improve Influenza Surveillance

Researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University have combined data from Twitter, Google, Athenahealth, and Boston Children’s Hospital’s HealthMap project to create a machine learning algorithm capable of tracking national flu trends with a 90 percent accuracy compared to CDC reports of actual flu activity.

Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule

CMS released its final Physician Fee Schedule rule, which adds several new telehealth billing codes and limits CQM performance data from being published to the Physician Compare website until each metric is proven to be reliable and appropriately risk adjusted.