The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has announced the launch of its new Health IT Dashboard this week. The dashboard, accessible at http://dashboard.healthit.gov, was created to present key information about ONC’s strategy and grants programs, regional extension centers, and other research data regarding the national adoption of healthcare IT.
By Lawrence G | May 9, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare IT |
Both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) have officially submitted their comments on the proposed rules of Stage 2 of the Medicare/Medicaid meaningful use program this week.
The AMA said it was generally supportive of the widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems and meaningful use by providers,
By Lawrence G | May 8, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare Laws and Regulations |
The American Medical Association sent out a reminder this past Friday, May 4th, notifying its physicians of the June 30, 2012 deadline for reporting on at least ten electronic prescriptions in order to avoid the 2013 Medicare reimbursement penalties.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final regulation regarding the 2013 Medicare e-prescribing penalty program last November;
By Lawrence G | May 7, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare Laws and Regulations |
A study from the Commonwealth Fund has determined that more technology use and higher prices, and not increased usage of medical services, appear to be the primary forces behind higher U.S. healthcare spending. The study by the private foundation, which supports independent research on healthcare issues, found that the U.S. does not provide “notably superior”
By Lawrence G | May 4, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare IT |
A collaboration among Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Pennsylvania’s Geisinger Health System, and Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center is demonstrating and evaluating the impact of the online sharing of encounter notes between primary care physicians and their patients.
A survey of almost 38,000 patients revealed that over 90% wanted their encounter notes after an office visit to be made available to them,
By Lawrence G | May 2, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare IT |
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has engendered more than 4,000 eVisits, or digital house calls, since April 2009. The health system has also worked with four payers to get reimbursed for the electronic service.
The eVisit platform makes it possible for non-emergency patients to receive a diagnose and seek treatment over the Internet for 25 different primary care issues,
By Lawrence G | May 1, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare IT |
A recent report by Kalorama Information, a medical market research publisher, indicates that Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems sales to physicians are growing faster than EHR sales to hospitals.
Sales of EHRs to physicians grew 22% in 2011 over 2010, and Kalorama’s report also found increasing physician acceptance and sales results.
By Lawrence G | April 27, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News |
In order to garner a better understanding of how comprehensive electronic medical records software has been in the United States, a recent study published by Health Affairs examined a broad volume of data generated by the American Hospital Association.
By Lawrence G | April 26, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News |
Because many medical practices have been slow to transition information from hard-to-manipulate paper documents into electronic medical records software, those that are pioneering technology are at a unique advantage.
By Lawrence G | April 24, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News |
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released a revised draft of the National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Roadmap to Elimination last week. The plan posits an increasing role for healthcare IT in the monitoring, prevention, and eventual elimination of HAIs.
Patients get healthcare-associated infections while being treated for medical or surgical conditions and can occur in any care setting,
By Lawrence G | April 23, 2012 | Electronic Medical Records News, Healthcare IT, Healthcare Laws and Regulations |
