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S. Michael Ross MD, MHA

S. Michael Ross MD, MHA
Dr. Ross serves as Cureatr’s Chief Medical Officer where he is responsible for determining the company’s clinical strategy, supporting business development and market validation efforts and driving the research agenda and outcomes measurement. Dr. Ross is a visionary physician executive with more than 25 years of experience delivering shareholder value through cost-effective, quality innovations in healthcare. Previously, Dr. Ross held executive positions at RxAnte, NaviNet, Prematics, and Varolii. A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Ross managed one of the most successful pediatric practices in Washington D.C. and was named a Top Doctor in Washington in peer reviews for Washingtonian magazine. Dr. Ross received his Bachelor of Science and MD from George Washington University, and his Masters in Healthcare Administration from the Virginia Commonwealth University.

Recent Posts

medication reconciliation form

Medication Reconciliation

What’s Missing From Your Medication...

In 1975, the work of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) officially began. Six years ...

pharmacist-1

Medication Management

How the Medication Therapy Management...

A while back, we compared medication therapy management (MTM) and comprehensive medication ...

Enhanced Medication Services

Medication Management

Enhanced Medication Services: Go Beyond...

We have a bone to pick with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC states ...

Improving-medication-reconciliation-800928-edited

Medication Reconciliation

4 Ways to Improve Medication Reconciliation in...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the brisk pace of the emergency department (ED) already made it a ...

Understanding Medication Therapy Management and Its Flaws

Medication Management

What Is MTM: Understanding Medication Therapy...

If you've come to this blog to get an answer to the question, "What is medication therapy ...

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Medication Reconciliation

Best Practices to Improve Your Medication...

More than 15 years after The Joint Commission established medication reconciliation as a National ...

FAQs About Medication Reconciliation Post-Discharge

Medication Reconciliation

FAQs About Medication Reconciliation...

At Cureatr, one of our areas of focus is medication reconciliation post-discharge (MRP). It's a ...

Medication Reconciliation: CMS Quality Measures Highlight Importance

Medication Reconciliation

Medication Reconciliation: CMS Quality Measures...

Medication reconciliation has been a subject of significant importance for many years, considering ...

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Medication Reconciliation

6 Reasons to Get Serious About Medication...

"Bring your meds." It's a ubiquitous instruction by admissions and medical office staff when ...

medication reconciliation joint commission

Medication Reconciliation

Medication Reconciliation According to the Joint...

In 2005, The Joint Commission added medication reconciliation as a National Patient Safety Goal ...

3 Real-Life Medication Reconciliation Example Success Stories

Medication Reconciliation

3 Real-Life Medication Reconciliation Example...

In recent blogs, we've highlighted the importance of effective medication reconciliation, noting ...

What is Medication Reconciliation

Medication Reconciliation

What is Medication Reconciliation? Why Isn’t It...

On the surface, the concept of medication reconciliation seems quite simple. It can be defined as ...

5 Medication Reconciliation Steps to Complete at Every Care Transition

Medication Reconciliation

5 Medication Reconciliation Steps to Complete at...

Just how important is medication reconciliation? A regularly referenced survey shows that ...

Deprescribing Movement: Background, Goals, and Obstacles to Success

Polypharmacy

Deprescribing Movement: Background, Goals, and...

The results of a recent study published in JAMA have further shined the spotlight on the risks ...

Risk Factors for Polypharmacy in the COVID-19 Era

Polypharmacy

Risk Factors for Polypharmacy in the COVID-19 Era

We've been discussing polypharmacy at length in recent blogs, touching on everything from ...

Defining Polypharmacy and Understanding Its Risks and Benefits

Polypharmacy

Defining Polypharmacy and Understanding Its Risks...

While polypharmacy has received increased attention in recent years, the term has been in use for ...

Polypharmacy in Older Adults: Statistics That Help Tell the Story

Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy in Older Adults: Statistics That...

Polypharmacy has been described as a "global risk factor for elderly people" and for good reason: ...

Medication Adherence

The Biggest Medication Management Developments...

A few weeks have passed since the end of 2020, and what a year it was. What occurred last year will ...

Decrease Polypharmacy. Large amount of medications outside a bottle.

Polypharmacy

8 Tools to Decrease Inappropriate Polypharmacy

For years, clinicians and medication experts have sounded the alarm on polypharmacy, which is ...

Telepharmacy

Telepharmacy Benefits and Drawbacks: Things to...

As the title indicates, we'll be discussing telepharmacy benefits and drawbacks in this blog. While ...

medicine, technology and healthcare concept - woman or customer having video chat with pharmacist on laptop

Telepharmacy

How Telepharmacy Software is Improving the...

Telepharmacy will celebrate its 20th birthday next year, and yet the concept was still considered a ...

Telepharmacy

4 of the Top Benefits of Telepharmacy

In 2018, an article in Perspectives in Health Information Management, the research journal of the ...

Telehealth

What is Telepharmacy and Why Its Time is Now

In the coming months and years, we expect you will be hearing a lot more about telepharmacy. While ...

Telepharmacy

4 Ways Pharmacists as Providers Would Add Value...

In a recent blog, we discussed a few of the most significant ways pharmacists could further aid in ...

Telehealth

Telemedicine and Telehealth: How They Differ and...

About a year ago, we published a blog discussing the difference between telemedicine and ...

Clinical Pharmacist

4 Ways Pharmacists as Providers Would Add Value...

During a crisis like such as the one we are experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare ...

Telepharmacy Laws

Telepharmacy

COVID-19 Update: Impact of New Telehealth Laws...

Over the past several weeks, as the federal government and state governments have ramped up their ...

Medication Adherence

Best Practices for Medication Adherence During...

As we have highlighted, patients do not take their medicine as prescribed about 50% of the time and ...

Telehealth

6 Things to Know About Telepharmacy During...

Telehealth and telemedicine are in the spotlight as the country works to "flatten the curve" on the ...

Telehealth

The Impact of Telemedicine in Healthcare During...

One of the few positives to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the greater understanding and ...

Main reasons for noncompliance of medication

Medication Compliance

What Are the Main Reasons for Noncompliance of...

Everyone knows the phrase, “Take two pills and call me in the morning.” However, for many patients, ...

Patient Education Handouts

Medication Compliance

Use Patient Education Handouts to Improve...

The fast-paced society in which we live makes it difficult to remember even the simplest details of ...

How to Increase Medication Compliance in the Elderly

Medication Compliance

How to Increase Medication Compliance in the...

Medication management is difficult for many patients, but the challenge is often elevated for ...

Medication Compliance Shortfalls

Medication Compliance

Improving Pharmacy Medication Compliance:...

When providers undertake efforts aimed at improving medication compliance, they not only help ...

Medication Compliance

What is Medication Compliance: 5 Things Providers...

Poor medication compliance (i.e., noncompliance) can have devastating effects on a patient, ...

2019-Medication Management-Year in Review

Medication Management

Medication Management: 2019 Year in Review

As we approach the end of the year, let’s examine some of the most significant news and ...

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Medication Adherence

Key Differences Between Treatment Adherence vs...

Treatment adherence. Treatment compliance. On the surface, these terms appear synonymous. After ...

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Medication Adherence

Defining Medication Adherence: 5 Ways Providers...

The significance of medication adherence for patients is summarized perfectly by NEJM Catalyst: ...

speciality telehealth services

Telehealth

The Importance of Specialty Telehealth Services

Discussions around telehealth often focus on its applications for primary and acute care providers. ...

medication adherence

Medication Adherence

What is Medication Adherence?

What do suboptimal outcomes, higher rates of hospital admissions, increased morbidity and ...

health technology hazards for 2020

Healthcare Technology

ECRI Health Technology Hazards for 2020 Report:...

ECRI Institute has issued its annual list of the top 10 health technology hazards. While addressing ...

benefits of telemedicine in rural areas

Telehealth

The Benefits of Telemedicine in Rural Areas

Today’s health systems have set their sights on value-based care, a large component of which is ...

impact of telemedicine in healthcare

Telehealth

The Impact of Telemedicine in Healthcare

The adoption of telemedicine in healthcare is surging. We're not surprised considering the numerous ...

primary care physician misses medication non-adherence

Medication Management

When a Primary Care Physician Misses Medication...

This is the third in a series of blog posts that describe common challenges associated with ...

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Telehealth

How Else Could Telehealth Be Used in Specialties?

Radiology, psychiatry, and cardiology are three specialties leading the use of telehealth with ...

Cureatr-Blog-Sep 2019-4

Telehealth

Can Mobile Health Technologies Transform...

In 2018, consumers worldwide downloaded more than 400 million medical apps, according to mobile ...

Cureatr-Blog-Sep 2019-3

Telehealth

What Are the Benefits of Mobile Health Technology?

According to GSMA real-time intelligence data, over 5.13 billion people had mobile devices ...

Cureatr-Blog-Sep 2019

Telehealth

4 Telehealth Challenges Impeding Adoption

Telehealth is growing rapidly, with one recent survey finding that inpatient adoption of such ...

Cureatr-August-blog-How-Mobile-Technology-is-Changing-Healthcare

Telehealth

How Mobile Technology is Changing Healthcare

Over the last three to five years, mobile technology in healthcare - often referred to as mHealth - ...

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Telehealth

8 Advantages and Benefits of Telehealth

Are you thinking about adding telehealth technology to your organization and offering telehealth ...

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Medication Management

Handling Missed Therapeutic Duplication at...

This is the second blog in a series of patient scenarios that describe common challenges associated ...

emergency room-1

Medication Management

Serious Medication Errors and Hospital Admissions

Last month, we began a series of blog posts that cover patient scenarios that describe common ...

Morphine Milligram Equivalent (MME) Calculations-1

Medication Management

The Difficulty of Morphine Milligram Equivalent...

Every day, at least 130 people are projected to die from opioid-related drug overdoses, reports the ...

what is telemedicine-1

Healthcare Technology

What is Telemedicine and How Does it Work in...

My recent blog about telehealth described it as the overarching term for healthcare services ...

what is telehealth-1

Healthcare Technology

What is Telehealth and Why is It Taking Off Now?

Telehealth is a broad term used to describe the delivery of healthcare services using ...

EMR-1

Medication Management

Why EMRs Don't Cut It and a Better Solution

When we set out to develop the Meds 360° medication management platform, we wanted to eliminate the ...

chronic disease management-1

Medication Management

How Chronic Disease Management Saves Money and...

How important is chronic disease management? Here are some statistics and facts about chronic ...

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Medication Management

How CMM Helps Meet Medication Therapy Management...

In 2003, passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) ...

telepharmacy-1

Medication Management

How Telepharmacy Enables Comprehensive Medication...

What if you could deliver comprehensive medication management services in your healthcare ...

Medication Management

3 Reasons Your CMM Program Needs a Collaborative...

Organizations striving to implement comprehensive medication management (CMM) programs are ...

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Medication Management

Why Comprehensive Medication Management Should...

The U.S. health system’s current standard of care for optimizing medication therapy is not working. ...

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Medication Management

The Future of Patient Medication Management

Looking to improve patient medication management? Few initiatives have the potential deliver the ...

pharmacy practice-1

Medication Management

Comprehensive Medication Management in Pharmacy...

A recent study calculated the cost of prescription drug related morbidity and mortality to be ...

physician burnout-1

Medication Management

Physician Burnout from Value-Based Care: Why CMM...

There was recently some good news about physician burnout. As an American Medical Association ...

Best Practices for Comprehensive Medication Management-1

Medication Management

7 Best Practices for Comprehensive Medication...

As we discussed in a previous blog, there are many comprehensive medication management benefits. ...

benefits of CMM-1

Medication Management

8 Benefits of Comprehensive Medication Management

Ensuring proper medication therapy isn't easy. As an American College of Clinical Pharmacy notes, ...

comprehensive medication management-1

Medication Management

6 Barriers to Comprehensive Medication Management

Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) has become a more widely used way to improve outcomes and ...

nursing interventions for medication adherence-1

Medication Management

How Nursing Interventions Fill a Vital Need for...

According to Gallup's latest annual poll on how the general American public views various ...

polypharmacy-1

Medication Management

How Physicians Can Prevent or Better Manage...

Polypharmacy is a term to describe patients who are taking multiple prescription medications, over ...

what is polypharmacy-1

Medication Management

What is Polypharmacy? 7 Things to Know

In simple terms, “polypharmacy” refers to the use of multiple (“poly”) medications (“pharmacy”). A ...

drug interactions-1

Medication Management

The Importance of Drug Interactions in Medication...

Drug interactions represent a significant threat to the wellbeing of patients. As part of their ...

medication therapy management-1

Medication Management

Medication Therapy Management & Comprehensive...

Medication therapy is a critical therapeutic component of treating disease and keeping people ...

polypharmacy blog-1

Medication Adherence

6 Ways Polypharmacy Creates Medication Adherence...

Polypharmacy is the simultaneous use of multiple medications by patients to treat one or more ...

mportance of Medication Education for Patients-1

Medication Management

What's the Importance of Medication Education for...

It's easy for patients to make significant mistakes with their medications. We know this because ...

Importance of Medication Administration-1

Medication Management

The Importance of Medication Administration: 5...

Ensuring that medications are given safely and accurately is a cornerstone of safe medical care. ...

Medication Management in Hospitals-1

Medication Management

7 Challenges of Medication Management in Hospitals

Medication management in hospitals is vitally important to the delivery of safe care. As the RARE ...

medication management process-1-1

Medication Management

8 Tips for the Medication Management Process

Medication management is the process of overseeing the medications prescribed for a patient to ...

Medication Error Stories-1

Medication Management

6 Medication Error Stories That Made Headlines

Medication errors can occur at any time between when a clinician prescribes a medication and a ...

medication management activities-1-1

Medication Management

How These 8 Medication Management Activities Can...

Medication management is a patient-focused approach to helping patients take their medicines ...

opioid pain management-1

Medication Management

How Can Healthcare Address the Problem of Opioid...

Opioids claimed over 64,000 lives in 2017 and data show an almost fourfold increase in overdose ...

medication management for seniors-1

Medication Management

6 Ways Clinicians Can Improve Medication...

As people age, their risk of medication-related problems increases. As a Consumer Reports article ...

medication management systems-1

Medication Management

5 Qualities of Medication Management Systems for...

Effective medication management is vital to achieving optimal outcomes. When providers can help ...

new technology in healthcare-1

Healthcare Technology

New Technology in Healthcare: What Providers...

The multitude of ways that artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotic surgery, ...

benefits of technology in healthcare-1

Healthcare Technology

3 Benefits of Technology in Healthcare

The U.S. healthcare industry is notoriously slow when it comes to adopting change and technology is ...

Technology and Healthcare-1

Healthcare Technology

The Relationship Between Technology and Healthcare

When I started practicing medicine, the office staff used a paper-based ledger system to manage ...

emerging technologies in healthcare-1

Healthcare Technology

3 Emerging Technologies in Healthcare to Know

2018 was a year where technology further cemented its critical role in healthcare. There are few, ...

future of healthcare technology-1

Healthcare Technology

5 Predictions on the Future of Healthcare...

How has technology affected healthcare? A column published on the Healthcare Information and ...

healthcare technology trends

Healthcare Technology

2019 Healthcare Technology Trends to Watch

Proliferation of mobile devices and tablets, a drive toward managing and sharing risk, and a need ...

medication adherence

Medication Management

The Role of Medication Adherence in Medication...

To determine whether an organization's efforts to assist patients with medication management were ...

Impact of Technology in Healthcare

Healthcare Technology

What is the Impact of Technology in Healthcare?

For years, software engineers designed healthcare technologies for use only on terminal screens and ...

Why is Technology Important in Healthcare

Healthcare Technology

Why is Technology Important in Healthcare?

When I began practicing medicine, the medical record was a paper chart. The chart typically ...

medication management goals

Medication Management

3 Medication Management Goals to Set for Your...

All the terrific treatment your organization provides to a patient may be for naught if that ...

medication management care plan

Medication Management

How to Develop a Medication Management Care Plan

It’s well known and documented that medication adherence can mean the difference between a ...

Safe Medication Management

Medication Management

4 Guidelines for Safe Medication Management

With hundreds of millions of drugs ordered or provided every year in hospitals, the cost associated ...

medication management services

Medication Management

5 Medication Management Services

Spend some time researching medication adherence and you will inevitably come across this famous ...

Importance of Medication Safety

Medication Management

Importance of Medication Safety: How to Protect...

How does your hospital or clinic keep patients safe from medication harm? In chaotic emergency ...

Medication Adherence vs. Compliance

Medication Adherence

Medication Adherence vs Compliance: 4 Ways They...

While often used interchangeably, medication adherence and medication compliance can be defined ...

what is medication management

Medication Management

What is Medication Management? Best Practices for...

Many chronic and acute conditions can be successfully treated with medications. As long as patients ...

Medication Adherence Apps

Medication Adherence

Top Medication Adherence Apps

There are literally thousands of apps designed to help patients remember to take their medicine. A ...

improving medication adherence

Medication Adherence

5 Practical Ways for Improving Medication...

A simple pill. When taken consistently and on schedule, it can help patients control and even ...

patient adherence to medication

Medication Adherence

What Does Patient Non-Adherence to Medication...

For years, those of us in healthcare have generally cited the following estimates to illustrate the ...

medication adherence tools

Medication Adherence

Top 7 Medication Adherence Tools for Healthcare...

If your organization doesn’t have effective processes in place for medication adherence, it's time ...

medication adherence statistics

Medication Adherence

You Won’t Believe What These Medication Adherence...

Our team recently ran across these interesting medication adherence statistics, all of which have ...

medication compliance

Medication Compliance

The Importance of Medication Compliance for...

Medication adherence refers to the degree or extent patients conform to a provider’s recommended ...

what is medication adherence

Medication Adherence

Causes of Medication Non Adherence and How...

Consider these statistics: In the United States, nearly 4 million prescriptions are written ...

drug adherence

Medication Adherence

5 Challenges and Solutions with Drug Adherence

It’s widely recognized that about half of the medicines prescribed to patients are not taken as ...

management of patient care

Care Management

How to Enhance Management of Patient Care for...

There is no silver bullet answer to improving medication adherence and management in the outpatient ...

patient intake

Care Management

5 Ways to Improve Patient Intake

One cannot understate the importance of the patient intake process. The results of a survey ...

patient engagement

Care Management

Why Patient Engagement is Crucial for Your Care...

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) defines "care management" as follows: "Care management is ...

care transitions

Care Management

Best Practices for Care Transitions

Billions and billions of wasted dollars — $12 to $44 billion dollars, in fact. That's how much ...

patient care coordination

Care Management

How Patient Care Coordination Affects Care...

From scheduling doctor visits and picking up medications and DME, to finding a home health ...

post hospital syndrome

Care Management

Post-Hospital Syndrome: Is Inpatient Stress...

A recent piece in the New York Times caught my eye for its excellent layman’s primer about a ...

Importance of Patient Safety in Healthcare

Patient Safety

The Importance of Patient Safety in Healthcare

One day after the wedding, my colleague’s new husband was in the yard chopping wood when his foot ...

communication and patient safety

Patient Safety

5 Ways that Communication and Patient Safety Go...

Multiple studies indicate that ineffective communication among health care professionals is one of ...

discharge planning process

Care Management

Creating a Seamless Discharge Planning Process

“Seamless” discharge planning happens when a patient is effectively and safely transitioned from ...

providing quality patient care

Patient Safety

How the Best Organizations are Providing Quality...

How do you know when an organization is excelling in providing quality patient care? It receives ...

hospital discharge planning tools

Care Management

5 Hospital Discharge Planning Tools to Improve...

The responsibility for patients does not end for hospitals upon discharge. Hospitals maintain and ...

hospital discharge summary

Care Management

What Should Be Included in a Hospital Discharge...

A discharge summary plays a crucial role in keeping patients safe after leaving a hospital. As an ...

patient safety model

Patient Safety

Creating a Patient Safety Model That Prevents...

A patient safety model that truly works for patients can only exist in a culture of safety. Yet 15 ...

patient care coordination medication-667152-edited

Medication Reconciliation

How Patient Care Coordination Improves Medication...

Medication reconciliation is not intended as a single event. Rather, as The Joint Commission notes ...

patient care in hospitals

Patient Safety

5 Patient Care Issues in Hospitals

I considered dozens of patient care issues for this post. I chose these five for their relevance to ...

nurse role in patient safety

Patient Safety

The Nurse's Role in Patient Safety

In a busy pediatric ER at the end of a grueling 12 hour shift, a nurse and a physician were caring ...

medication errors

Medication Reconciliation

Preventing Medication Errors: Getting the Most...

It doesn't take much to cause a medication error. Misplace a decimal point. Change a couple letters ...

patient safety issues in nursing

Patient Safety

4 Patient Safety Issues in Nursing

Nurses are a stalwart player on the patient care team. But even the most dedicated face a series of ...

hospital readmission

Care Management

Reducing Hospital Readmissions Requires...

Approximately 13 percent of 30-day hospital readmissions occur due to adverse drug events (ADE), ...

improving care transitions

Care Management

Performance Data All CMIOs Should Have for...

Just how important are effective care transitions to ensuring patient safety and avoiding adverse ...

patient safety initiatives

Patient Safety

Involving Patients in Patient Safety Initiatives

In my post from June, "The Importance of Patient Safety in Hospitals," I discussed the major impact ...

patient-safety-1-528526-edited

Patient Safety

Top 10 Hospital Patient Safety Issues: Part 2

In my post from June 21, 2018, I briefly discussed how the first five of ECRI’s Top 10 Patient ...

patient-safety-prescription-medication-782554-edited

Medication Reconciliation

Safely Prescribing Medications: Knowing What You...

The number of patients taking prescribed medicines is shocking. Nearly half of the U.S. population ...

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Care Management

Hospital Workflows: The Key to Better Patient...

If your hospital is looking to strengthen patient outcomes, there may be no better area to target ...

patient-responsibility-medication-173254-edited

Medication Reconciliation

What’s the Patient’s Responsibility in Preventing...

After refusing to have an infected tooth pulled, Sue’s dentist prescribed amoxicillin to treat the ...

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Medication Reconciliation

Why Medication Adherence Must Be the Cornerstone...

Patients don’t take their medicine as prescribed about 50% of the time.[1] And approximately 25% of ...

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Patient Safety

The Importance of Patient Safety in Hospitals

As healthcare providers, it is imperative that we put ourselves in the shoes of our patients. ...

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Patient Safety

Ensuring Patient Safety in an Emergency Situation

Imagine this scenario: Someone is lying on the sidewalk, having a seizure or unconscious. A ...

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Patient Safety

Top 10 Hospital Patient Safety Issues: Part 1

Since 2009, the ECRI institute has released an annual report identifying the top 10 patient safety ...

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Patient Safety

Improving Patient Safety Begins with Improved...

A 2016 analysis by Johns Hopkins patient safety experts revealed that more than 250,000 deaths ...