HealthcareDataSolutions.com has a fresh new design and is more easily navigable for website visitors. The new homepage and navigation will allow pharmaceutical, pharmacy, medical device and other life sciences companies to easily find information on marketing, data and compliance solutions, as well as free resources such as whitepapers, webinars and email marketing tips.

Tim Slevin, CEO of Healthcare Data Solutions says, “We focus on providing the best solutions for our customers, and that includes the availability of the most up-to-date news, trends and information in the ever-changing healthcare industry.”

About Healthcare Data Solutions:

Healthcare Data Solutions is a leading healthcare information services company focused on building and maintaining the most accurate, compliance-grade data on Physicians, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners and other Healthcare Providers, as well as Pharmacies and Hospitals. Healthcare Data Solutions provides healthcare data, physician validation programs, data processing, compliance services, web services and new customer acquisition programs for leading healthcare firms. Compliance clients can access over 5 million healthcare provider profiles to crosswalk government databases for accurate reporting. Healthcare Data Solutions is the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 list. For more information, visit HealthcareDataSolutions.com.

David M. Thomas is recognized as one of the leading executives in the information technology and services business. His broad range of experience running global businesses demonstrates his leadership in large innovative organizations. As CEO, Thomas reignited the growth of a global health data company by increasing the company’s investment in core data assets, analytics and new product development, dramatically strengthening the company’s consulting and services capabilities and expanding into new markets and new customers.

Thomas also brings with him a wealth of experience from his 28-year career at a leading global business and technology services company, where he was responsible for a number of domestic and international businesses. 

“I look forward to advancing the strategy of a company with such impressive growth,” says Thomas. “Healthcare Data Solutions is well-positioned to quickly become a leader in the healthcare data industry, and I’m excited to be a part of their team.”

About Healthcare Data Solutions

Healthcare Data Solutions is a leading healthcare information services company focused on building and maintaining the most accurate, compliance-grade data on Physicians, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners and other Healthcare Providers, as well as Pharmacies and Hospitals. Healthcare Data Solutions provides healthcare data, physician validation programs, data processing, compliance services, web services and new customer acquisition programs for leading healthcare firms. Compliance clients can access over 5 million healthcare provider profiles to crosswalk government databases for accurate reporting. Healthcare Data Solutions is the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 list in 2012. For more information, visit HealthcareDataSolutions.com. – See more at: http://www.healthcaredatasolutions.com/healthcare-data-solutions-announces-new-board-member-david-m-thomas.html#sthash.VRJy8zlg.dpuf

Unlike traditional hospitals, which receive about 93% in reimbursement payments for Medicare patients, critical access hospitals receive 101% in payments. To qualify as a critical access hospital, the CMS requires a hospital to be located at least 35 miles from the next hospital providing the same type of care. According to the OIG, 846 critical access hospitals are located less than the required distance, and 71 are even as close as 10 miles to the next hospital.

How did this happen?

CMS determined that 88% of all critical access hospitals were certified under a now-defunct process, which allowed states to overrule CMS’s distance rule – since 1997.

The Obama Administration is calling for a decertification of all critical access hospitals located less than 10 miles from the next hospital, which could save more than $40 million in 2014. Decertifying hospitals less than 35 miles from the next hospital could save almost $800 million.

Critics of the proposed budget cuts say it’s a giant step backward in healthcare reform; instead of increasing access to healthcare, these cuts would decrease access. The question of how to ensure health services for rural residents has yet to be addressed. OIG has proposed some possible alternatives to mass decertification, however. Hospitals located in high-poverty areas could be exempt from the distance requirements, or the government could modify certification language to explicitly state that hospitals must be at least 35 miles away from another hospital that offers the same healthcare services.

- See more at: http://www.healthcaredatasolutions.com/critical-access-hospitals-face-deep-budget-cuts/#sthash.KobMDBk4.dpuf

Proponents of Nurse Practitioner autonomy see it as the perfect solution to several problems, both current and in the future. Less than 25 percent of new medical school students are choosing primary care, which will add to the existing shortage. Conversely, Nurse Practitioners, who are trained to perform 90-95 percent of the functions that primary care Physicians do, are one of the fastest-growing professions in healthcare.

Pushback from Physician lobby groups argue that giving Nurse Practitioners full autonomy will jeopardize patient safety and diminish quality of care. However, numerous studies, including a recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nursing Research Network, show that patients receive comparable care from NPs, and NPs even exceed Physician performance in areas such as consultation time, patient follow-up and patient satisfaction.

Currently, Nurse Practitioners provide primary care within three primary frameworks:

• 17 states allow Nurse Practitioners to set up their own practices and perform healthcare services without Physician supervision.

• 12 states mandate that Nurse Practitioners be supervised – to varying degrees – by either a Physician or another type of health authority.

• 21 states require Nurse Practitioners to operate under a collaborative arrangement with Physicians to determine things such as the percentage of charts the NP and Physician will manage and which tests an NP is authorized to order.

Despite the roadblocks to full autonomy, Nurse Practitioners are already seeing their workload grow. Nurse Practitioners who see Medicaid patients have experienced a 15-fold increase in patients from 1998-2010. Additionally, the recent passage of SB491 in California, which expanded Nurse Practitioners’ ability to provide primary care in collaboration with Physicians despite vigorous opposition, is viewed as a sign of more changes to come.

1. Use best practices. Highly rated and highly used apps have a few things in common: they’re intuitive, graphically compelling, incredibly helpful, and allow users to connect to third-party data. If your app doesn’t meet these criteria, it might time to go back to the development board.

2. Build partnerships. The tremendously popular Glucose Buddy app, which helps diabetics track blood sugar levels and medications, receives educational content from The Roche Group, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Rather than view external healthcare apps strictly in terms of competition, think of it as a potential partnership – and an opportunity to bolster sales.

3. Think beyond the molecule. Changes in healthcare have increased the pressure for Physicians to improve health outcomes and cut costs. For doctors, increased interaction and better patient management is key. Pharmaceutical companies that can provide real solutions to current challenges in a mobile app have the opportunity to move beyond the standard “medical reference” app into bold new territory. Sensor-based pharmaceuticals that allow Physicians to track patient compliance with medications is one example of applying a 360-degree to mobile app development.

Mobile health is expected to be a multi-billion dollar market by 2017. With greater financial resources and better healthcare information than startup app companies, pharmaceutical companies are in a unique position to lead mobile health innovation.

Physicians are beginning to feel the impact of significant transformations in healthcare resulting from the Affordable Care Act, Sunshine Act and Meaningful Use incentives. Healthcare Data Solutions’ whitepaper reveals how and why they are adapting to or resisting EHRs, ACOs and HIEs. The results uncovered why 20 percent of the respondents don’t use EHRs, explained how technological and procedural requirements prevent the majority of Physicians from receiving Meaningful Use incentives, and revealed skepticism among Providers around Accountable Care Organizations, and more interesting insights.

“With all the transformative changes impacting healthcare right now, it’s important to keep our finger on the pulse of how Physicians and other Providers are reacting, and to pass that information along to our customers,” says Tim Slevin, CEO of Healthcare Data Solutions. “We’ll continue to conduct surveys to Physicians that include key questions about topics that are important to our customers and prospects, and to share valuable insight with them via whitepapers, webinars and other media.”

Click here to download the whitepaper and see more Physician responses.

About Healthcare Data Solutions:

Healthcare Data Solutions is a leading healthcare information services company focused on building and maintaining the most accurate, compliance-grade data on Physicians, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners and other Healthcare Providers, as well as Pharmacies and Hospitals. Healthcare Data Solutions provides healthcare data, physician validation programs, data processing, compliance services, web services and new customer acquisition programs for leading healthcare firms. Compliance clients can access over 5 million healthcare provider profiles to crosswalk government databases for accurate reporting. Healthcare Data Solutions is the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 list. For more information, visit HealthcareDataSolutions.com.

“We are humbled and honored to make the Inc. 5000 list for the second year in a row,” says Tim Slevin, CEO of Healthcare Data Solutions. “I’m proud to announce that our 151 percent growth makes us the highest-ranked among healthcare data companies. Since we were founded in 2006 we have consistently strived to be the number one healthcare data and compliance solutions partner and this incredible recognition signifies how hard we have worked to reach that goal quickly.”

In a stagnant economic environment, median growth rate of 2013 Inc. 500|5000 companies is an impressive 142 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created over 520,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $241 billion. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000.

“Not all the companies in the Inc. 500 | 5000 are in glamorous industries, but in their fields they are as famous as household name companies simply by virtue of being great at what they do. They are the hidden champions of job growth and innovation, the real muscle of the American economy,” says Inc. Editor Eric Schurenberg.

About Healthcare Data Solutions:

Healthcare Data Solutions is a leading healthcare information services company focused on building and maintaining the most accurate, compliance-grade data on Physicians, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners and other Healthcare Providers, as well as Pharmacies and Hospitals. Healthcare Data Solutions provides healthcare data, physician validation programs, data processing, compliance services, web services and new customer acquisition programs for leading healthcare firms. Compliance clients can access over 5 million healthcare provider profiles to crosswalk government databases for accurate reporting. Healthcare Data Solutions is the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 list. For more information, visit HealthcareDataSolutions.com.

About Inc. 500|5000:

The 2013 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2009 to 2012. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2009. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2012. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2009 is $100,000; the minimum for 2012 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.’s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at www.inc.com/500.

Registrants of the NACDS Total Store Expo received the latest whitepaper from Healthcare Data Solutions, which contained in-depth analysis of how pharmacy chains can reduce the risk of fines and audits and how they can remain compliant for reimbursement of Medicare and Medicaid prescriptions. The whitepaper shares ways to reduce risk of costly fines, the cost of invalid NPI & DEA numbers and OIG exclusions, how HDS helped one national pharmacy chain save millions of dollars, and more.

Tim Slevin, CEO of Healthcare Data Solutions comments, “Sourcing key validation information such as NPI and DEA credentials and OIG exclusions from multiple sources is very time-consuming and inaccurate when relying on multiple external sources. By delivering a highly accurate validation service, such as PVSS, our pharmacy customers have the ability to access in real-time all of the validation requirements in a quick, easy and cost-effective way.”

“Pharmacies face many implications when trying to streamline their validation processes to ensure they remain compliant,” says Miranda Rochol, VP Product & Strategy. “Being able to offer a service to help pharmacies minimize the risk of inaccurate data is something we pride ourselves in. It’s important to us that our customers are protecting themselves against steep fines.”

Click here to download the free whitepaper to learn more about how your pharmacy can reduce the risk of costly fines.

About Healthcare Data Solutions:

Healthcare Data Solutions is a leading healthcare information services company focused on building and maintaining the most accurate, compliance-grade data on Physicians, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners and other Healthcare Providers, as well as Pharmacies and Hospitals. Healthcare Data Solutions provides healthcare data, physician validation programs, data processing, compliance services, web services and new customer acquisition programs for leading healthcare firms. Compliance clients can access over 5 million healthcare provider profiles to crosswalk government databases for accurate reporting. Healthcare Data Solutions is the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 list. For more information, visit HealthcareDataSolutions.com.

1. Marketing to Physicians remains the primary focus. This report showed that marketing directors are still allocating 75 percent of their total marketing to healthcare professionals. Forty percent of that total is earmarked specifically for marketing to Physicians.

2. Digital channels are getting boosts in budgets. The marketing mix of respondents showed that traditional channels (conferences, direct marketing, print/TV/radio) still dominate marketing budgets, but digital channels are receiving the biggest budget increases. On average, 35 percent of increases went to digital ads, 31 percent to social media and 29 percent to website development.

3. Printed materials are on the downturn. While digital marketing materials are on the rise, budgets for printed materials are simultaneously being slashed. Thirty-five percent of respondents reported cuts in printed materials, 34 percent saw cuts in journal ads, and 29 percent had cuts in meeting and events materials.

Although marketing to Physicians remains the top priority for executives in the pharma, biotech and medical device industries, marketing to Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants is expected to assume the top spot in the next 1-5 years.

The digital marketing push will also continue emerging as a major area of development, as new benchmarks are established and historical precedents are set. And while print materials may never completely disappear, more reps are expected to use tablets at meetings and at conferences – particularly for products with complicated MOAs (Mechanism of Action).

Ninety percent of the content marketing battle is getting your audience to take action – visiting a landing page, filling out a form or making a phone call. The most effective way to do this is to craft a catchy, compelling headline that speaks to your target audience. Read the headlines and put yourself in your audience’s shoes. If you were a physician, a dentist, a pharmacist, a nurse practitioner or a hospital executive, would the headline draw you in? If the answer is no, take more time to develop a headline that has the potential to turn disinterest into curiosity in a matter of seconds.

Once you draw your audience in, the next crucial step is delivering the right content to the right audience. This means knowing the key differences between a decision-maker and an influencer, and what kind of information they need and want. In today’s healthcare landscape, those roles are shifting: nurse practitioners and care managers are going to play a much more prominent role in the decision-making process at hospitals. Find out where your audiences tend to congregate online – whether for work or in their personal lives – and develop content that is appropriate for that space. Doing this can dramatically increase your content’s shareability quotient.

Remember that creativity swells from the most unlikely sources. The challenge of developing creative content ideas does not need to rest solely on the shoulders of your healthcare marketing staff. Some of the best content ideas may come from Client Services, your company’s Founder, or anyone else in your company that knows the industry well. And finally, don’t forget the impact of visuals. Stat-filled infographics are some of the most shareable types of content around.