PHILADELPHIA, July 16, 2013 -- Physicians in the U.S. are struggling with managing shifting reimbursement models with payers (91 percent), financial management (90 percent) and spending time with patients (88 percent) as the top three business challenges, according to a new survey from Wolters Kluwer Health. Financial management challenges are coming from increasing costs, healthcare IT adoption and the Affordable Care Act/increasing legislation.

While excitement abounds about the prospects of mHealth to improve health and reduce the cost of care, a recent report offers this reminder: Don’t forget the science.

While the dramatic growth in rural EHR adoption and the amount paid in Meaningful Use incentives so far this year bode well for the future of interoperability, I thought the most salient news this month came from the Health Affairs study on the challenges of health information exchange sustainability.

Wayne Fellmeth, MD, CMIO of Hunterdon Healthcare in Flemington, NJ, shared his experience as a first-timer in the role during a presentation at the AMDIS 22nd Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium in Ojai, Calif., on June 27.

To better evaluate and communicate the impact of health IT investments, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) unveiled the Health IT Value Suite, a comprehensive knowledge repository that classifies, quantifies and articulates the clinical, financial and business impact of health IT investments.

The global market for tablet PC devices in healthcare is expected to increase to $1.7 billion for 2013, reflecting an increase of nearly 27 percent over the prior year, according to Kalorama Information.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Health care prices grew 1.0 percent in May 2013 relative to May 2012, the lowest rate in our data series, which extends back to January 1990. The 12-month moving average, at 1.7 percent, is the lowest since the same reading was recorded in September 1998. National health expenditures, which combines prices and utilization, grew 4.2 percent in May, and revised data for the first quarter of 2013 put spending growth at 3.8 percent, below the record low levels seen annually since 2009.

Wearable devices potentially hold the key to new approaches to improving healthcare quality, delivery costs and consumer engagement, said Antonio Zugaldia, chief technology officer at Washington, D.C.-based Silica Labs, which develops Google Glass healthcare apps. He spoke during a July 11 health innovation event at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health, which is a “Google Glass explorer,” or part of a group brainstorming its uses.