Thoughts on #HIT100 – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Part 2 (The Bad)

source: yourmoneyguide.co.uk

In a previous post, I offered some thoughts about The Good aspects of the #HIT100 event. In this post I’ll share thoughts and facts about The Bad aspects of #HIT100 event. In a future post I’ll address what I think are some of The Ugly aspects.

The Bad (ok, not ‘bad’ – but could use some improvement)
To be sure, the following are not necessarily “bad,” but they're not among “The Good” or “The Ugly” – but perhaps aspects that might be addressed in next year’s #HIT100 event.

1. More tweets = more votes?

Neil Versel (@nversel) notes in a recent post that many highly ranked HIT100’ers are prolific tweeters and supposes there’s a direct correlation between noise and list ranking. To me, ‘noise’ implies junk tweets, excessive RT’s, and lots of 1 on 1 banter. This is not always the case for some people; witness #2 Justin Barnes (@HITAdvisor) with less than 500 tweets (as of 7/27).

2. “A” is better than “Z?”

Remember all those kids in grade school who were always first up because they had a last name that started early in the alphabet?  Well, that’s not always a undesirable thing because in the #HIT100, people with identical vote counts are assigned a ranking based on how their Twitter handle sorts relative to others having the same count. 

If you got 8 votes this year, you were better off being @annelizhannan (#65) vs. @WittRZ (#78) since that Twitter handle starting with an 'A' vs. a 'W' resulted in a 14 place improvement even though both of these worthy #HIT100 nominees received the same number of votes. Note: I don't imply that either #HIT100 member is better or worse than the other - they just represent the edge cases for those receiving 8 votes.

Technically, if nominees were ranked by number of votes, the #HIT100 would actually be the #HIT31. :)

3. Few votes separated the majority of the #HIT100

Only 19 votes separated 74 nominees! And only three votes separated @HJluks (#89) and @harrygreenspun (#61) – a rise of 28 places! So in my opinion this is a major blemish on the ranking process.

 4. Adding the #hcsm and #hitsm hashtags clouded many Twitter streams

There sure were a lot of extraneous tweets with #hcsm and #hitsm. As @tyrulallc tweeted: “Going cross-eyed scrolling through all the #HIT100 nominations in my home feed.”

5. What else was not so good about #HIT100?

What Else?

In my next post I’ll share some thoughts that I – and others I’ve heard from – have about some of The Ugly aspects of the #HIT100 event.  I’ll then close with a post outlining some ideas for addressing some of The Bad and The Ugly aspects; and what I consider are the qualities of a good #HIT100 nominee.

Footnotes:

2011 – #HIT100 List http://nateosit.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/hit100-the-list/

2012 – #HIT100 List http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hit100-2012-list-revealed

2013 – #HIT100 List http://www.healthcaretechnologyonline.com/doc/hit-100-list-unveiled-0001

Thoughts on #HIT100 – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Part 1 (The Good)

source:businessadvicecolumn.com

No one can argue the #HIT100 event hasn’t helped socialize the importance and value of using social media to share information and ideas about information technology and services in the healthcare space. It’s definitely a “good thing.” Alas, like most good things that grow in size and prominence over time, there are always a few bad and ugly aspects. And the #HIT100 event is no exception.

In this post I offer some thoughts and facts that I – and others I’ve read from – have about The Good aspects of the #HIT100 event.  I’ll share more about The Bad and The Ugly of the #HIT100 event in two future posts.

The Good

1. Generates awareness of people using social media to advance information technology in the healthcare space

Over 30 – or about one-third – of the 2013 #HIT100 nominations didn't make the 2012 #HIT100 list. Personally I’ve become aware of about 15 new sources of health information technology and related services who frequently share via social media channels.

2. Helps socialize the importance and value of information technology and services in the healthcare space

As Elin Silveous (@ElinSilveous – ranked #23) tweeted: “#HIT100 & #HITsm will serve to broaden reach, encourage more #HIT folks to get involved in SM.”

Or, as David Shaywitz (@DShaywitz – ranked #67) noted:  “A freakishly smart way to generate buzz.”

3. Offers recognition to those who invest their time in social media

There’s no doubt being included in the #HIT100 list brings attention. I can attest: Last year I (@ShimCode - ranked #29) was ranked in 5^th place in the #HIT100 and received a lot of recognition including several interviews, 100’s of new followers (who work in the health IT industry) over the ensuing days, an increase in being quoted in articles covering my area of expertise and literally dozens of inquiries as to whether I was interested in new job opportunities.

4. Helps individuals develop their personal brand

This is a natural by-product of my previous comment.  Indeed I’ll mention the flip side of this in my future post on The Bad aspect of the #HIT100 event.

5.     Provided opportunity for others to share why they think someone deserves recognition in HIT space.

Many “voters” added a note to their nomination and I found that valuable.

6.     Offers a little levity over the typically slow and long 4^th of July holiday

The “HIT100 Song” is evidently a candidate for a future Grammy Award nomination (@RossMartin ranked #37) 

7.    What else did you think about the #HIT100 event?

What Else?

As we all learned in kindergarten, if you can’t say anything nice about someone or something, don’t say anything at all.  So now I've shared what I think are the nice/good things about the #HIT100 event. In my next two posts I’ll share some thoughts that I – and others I’ve heard from – have about The Bad and TheUgly aspects of the #HIT100 event.

Footnotes:

2011 – #HIT100 List http://nateosit.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/hit100-the-list/

2012 – #HIT100 List http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hit100-2012-list-revealed

2013 – #HIT100 List http://www.healthcaretechnologyonline.com/doc/hit-100-list-unveiled-0001

Helping Decode the Business of Healthcare IT: One Blog Post at a Time

A couple of years ago I made a pledge to myself to make a blog post at least 4-5 times a month. But blogging on a regular basis takes focus and dedicated effort; and due to some major new, positive events on the work and home front, I’ve not made the time needed to work this blog. 

Today I’m starting at it again. And I credit @HealthBizDcoded for providing this post as the inspiration to get me going again.  Being listed along with some real health IT blogging pros has incented me to clean up my act and get back at it.  Thanks @HealthBizDcoded!

In addition to continuing a focus on ICD-10, I plan to offer information and opinion on the IT and service-related aspects on the topics listed below.  Why?  Because these are the primary areas I’m involved with and focus on every work day (and many weekend days too).

Medicare Advantage Rollout

Project to begin offering a MA plan - addressing the IT aspects including eligibility/enrollment aspects, provider network and covering providers, referral capabilities, care management aspects, EOB’s, and product financials.

Medicare Stars Measures

Collecting various data points, interfacing to 3rd party vendor for measure calculations and receiving actual measures and reports.

Medicare Advantage EOB

Project to provide a new explanation of benefits complying with new format requirements.

Risk Adjustment & Reporting  - Edge Server and 3R’s

Project to deploy the Direct Data Entry (DDE) Edge Server mandated by CMS. Includes services to address provider contracting and incentives, suspect identification and outreach, chart review and HCC coding, member outreach and medical risk management and interfacing to various vendors.

Coordination of Benefits Agreement (COBA)

Project to improve the way eligibility and Medicare claims payment data within a claims crossover context is exchanged.

Accountable Health System

Project to rollout IT and services infrastructure to support an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) including provider network and referrals, provider channeling, Capitation payment and risk sharing, and medical/care management tools.

ICD-10

The original topic that got me started in blogging: ICD-10.  I’ll continue a focus on testing, implementation and post-implementation topics.

So if you’re interested in the IT and service-related aspects of the above aspects of healthcare, check back here a few times each month for more information.  You can also get more of the same by following me on Twitter at @ShimCode