Mike Miliard

More and more, health IT is expanding from the clinical into the commercial realm. With patient engagement so crucial to the transformation of care delivery, that's a good thing. But some consumer technologies are better than others.

In his book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster), Michael Grunwald, a correspondent for TIME magazine, makes a compelling case that President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is probably more transformative in the long run than Roosevelt's New Deal.

Seems like everything is "smart" nowadays. Smartphones. Smart TVs. Smart cars. For something to simply exist and perform its intended purpose is no longer enough; now everything must be technologically-advanced enough to all but think for itself.

The first thing one notices, when looking at HIMSS Analytics' tallies of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) adoption in hospitals, is how high they are. Unlike CPOE, e-prescribing or even EHRs, the market penetration for PACS systems is pretty robust.

Not all business decisions turn out as well as it seems they might. It seemed to make sense for Apple to part ways with embedded technology from Google, an erstwhile ally who's now a chief competitor in the smartphone market.

A long, long time ago, way back in 2007, "presidential candidates in both parties were pledging to boost health IT," writes TIME magazine reporter Michael Grunwald in his book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster). "Several bipartisan bills were floating around Congress, and Hillary and Newt Gingrich were both hailing electronic medicine as the future of healthcare."

A long, long time ago, way back in 2007, "presidential candidates in both parties were pledging to boost health IT," writes TIME magazine reporter Michael Grunwald in his book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster). "Several bipartisan bills were floating around Congress, and Hillary and Newt Gingrich were both hailing electronic medicine as the future of healthcare."

The Statewide Health Information Network of New York enabled critical continuity of care as patients moved around in wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The Statewide Health Information Network of New York sees itself as a "public utility" as much as an HIE. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as patients bounce between hospitals (and as other public utilities, such as electricity and transportation, are compromised), it has enabled critical continuity of care.

Healthcare organizations have a lot on their plates nowadays, and the challenges are only growing. Meaningful use is a big one, of course - not least Stage 2's new focus on patient engagement.