Chelsea Richwine
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Chelsea Richwine's Latest Blog Posts
Patient Preferences with Social Needs Information Sharing
Chelsea Richwine | October 26, 2023
Screening for patients’ health-related social needs can help providers more effectively coordinate patient care and connect patients to the resources they need. Social needs are social conditions—such as food insecurity, housing instability, and lack of reliable transportation—which often result from underlying social determinants of health and can adversely affect health outcomes if left unaddressed. While studies show that patients are generally comfortable with social needs screening, little is known about patients’ comfort or preferences around how social needs data are captured and shared with other providers and service organizations to inform treatment and care coordination.
Read Full Post.Hospitals Collect and Receive Social Needs Data, but Usage Varies
Chelsea Richwine | July 31, 2023
If left unaddressed, the social needs experienced by an individual may lead to poor health outcomes and more time spent in hospitals and interacting with the health care system. Hospitals, therefore, are uniquely situated to help address social needs and mitigate social risk factors by screening for social needs, assisting with transitions of care, and making connections to social service organizations. According to a recent ONC analysis of data from the 2022 American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology Supplement Survey,
Read Full Post.Physicians have Widespread Access to State PDMP Data, but Data Sharing Varies Across States
Chelsea Richwine | April 6, 2023
A recent ONC blog post showed physicians have widespread access to data from their state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). According to a 2021 national survey of office-based physicians, more than three-quarters of physician prescribers reported checking the PDMP prior to prescribing controlled substances to a patient for the first time. Prescriber use laws and ongoing efforts to integrate electronic health record (EHR) systems with state PDMPs likely contributed to high levels of PDMP use among physicians.
Read Full Post.Flipping the Script: Leveraging EHR Data to Inform Clinical Burden Reduction Approaches
Chelsea Richwine | February 6, 2023
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a strategy to reduce regulatory and administrative burden relating to the use of health IT, including electronic health record (EHR) systems. Key burden reduction goals addressed in the report include reducing the amount of time and effort required to record information in EHRs to meet regulatory requirements and improving the usability of EHRs.
Read Full Post.Evidence on the Growing Use of Health IT to Address the Opioid Epidemic
Chelsea Richwine | January 19, 2023
In the midst of a growing drug overdose crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians’ use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS) technology is critical to improving opioid prescribing practices, informing treatment decisions, and supporting safe and effective patient care. Recent efforts, such as mandating use of EPCS technology and integrating PDMPs into electronic health record (EHR) systems, aim to improve prescribing practices by increasing the utility of information contained in PDMPs and decreasing prescription diversion and doctor shopping.
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