Mike Miliard

Long looked upon warily by healthcare security experts, cloud technology could soon find more favor as new rules bring clarity and assign responsibility for privacy protections.

With the deadline for the HIPAA Omnibus Rule less than a week away, the Office of the National Coordinator and the HHS Office for Civil Rights are giving a hand to providers and payers, issuing examples of the notices of privacy practices that must be furnished to patients and plan members under the law.

With more than 2.3 million visits each year, Sharp HealthCare sees plenty of patients pass through its doors. That means ensuring patient information is easily accessible within its electronic health record system -- and patients are correctly identified -- is critically important.

Ever since URAC developed its first healthcare case management accreditation 14 years ago, it has evolved to stay atop a fast-changing industry. Its latest program enables the application of case management standards across care settings, so providers can demonstrate efficient, outcomes-based care.

With profligate use of CT and MRI scans widely blamed for increased healthcare spending, a new report shows that pairing automated prior authorization with evidence-based guidelines can ensure such tests are only used when necessary, improving patient safety while reducing medical costs by perhaps 40 percent.

As it works to broaden health information exchange capabilities across the care continuum, the Office of the National Coordinator has drawn up a certification guidance aimed at technology developers serving specialized providers who are ineligible for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments.

Chock full of IT talent, the San Diego Beacon community is well positioned for a sustainable future. As its health information exchange gains momentum, it's starting to see "how the water flows through the pipes."

Saying "we must not squander this opportunity" to leverage criteria in meaningful use Stage 3 as a means to reducing disparities, the Consumer Partnership for eHealth submitted its ideas to the Health IT Policy Committee.

Arguing that IT offers the opportunity to help "every American" lead a full and healthy life, the Consumer Partnership for eHealth, a coalition of more than 50 consumer, patient and labor organizations, has published an action plan designed to ensure that disparities of care are a critical focus of Stage 3 meaningful use.

Intermountain Healthcare has joined with a group of IT companies including Intel and Dell to launch its new Healthcare Transformation Lab, which will work to bring envelope-pushing technologies to the bedside faster and more efficiently.