Diana Manos
The Department of Health and Human Services withdrew its final breach notification rule for unsecured protected health information. Withdrawal of the rule came in late July, just days before the Rite Aid Corp. agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of federal privacy rules.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will announce the names of the authorized testing and certification bodies (ATCB) "soon," according to Carol Bean, ONC's division director for certification and testing.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on July 8 a 234-page notice of proposed rulemaking on health IT privacy and security that promises to strengthen existing laws.
Federal officials released the final rule on meaningful use July 13, a rule sets the criteria for physicians and hospitals to qualify for thousands of dollars in stimulus funding incentives for the adoption of electronic health records.
In the healthcare IT world, probably nothing has been more anticipated than the meaningful use rules. At last, they arrived on July 13, and I liken the magnitude of the 864-page document to that of an historic snowfall. As I write this column, people are still digging out.
The "2010 U.S. Ambulatory Electronic Health Records Certification Study" from research and consulting firm CapSite aims to assess the industry views on ambulatory EHR certification.
Though many fear the timetable is cutting things too close, federal officials and industry insiders paint a picture of everything coming together in time for providers to have their electronic health record products certified to meet the meaningful use requirements by Oct. 1, when data collection is first allowed.
At its monthly meeting held Wednesday, the HIT Policy Committee wrestled with patients' rights to opt in or opt out of health information exchange.
The Regional Extension Centers aimed at helping physicians across the country convert to digital records have begun their work, and some of the centers’ leaders were trumpeting their goals at the 2010 Government Health IT Conference and Exhibition June 15-16 in the nation’s capital.
As part of the National Health IT Week, held June 14-18 in Washington, DC, leaders of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) urged Congress to make haste on meaningful use, without losing sight of what can be realistically achieved by the industry.