Molly Merrill
About 75 percent of Minnesotans' patient records are online, thanks to a user group that has connected eight of the state's largest healthcare organizations and is expected to connect two more within the year.
Congress has passed a bill that exempts doctors and other providers from the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flags Rule, which would have required them to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs.
There's little question that electronic health records reduce adverse drug events and improve quality of care. But that doesn't mean healthcare providers shouldn't be doing all they can to make sure they're as safe and as easy to use as possible, said National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, MD.
Hiring in the information technology field – particularly in the healthcare industry – will see an increase in the first quarter, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.
The Rural Nebraska Healthcare Network, a consortium of nine rural hospitals and related clinics in western Nebraska, has begun work on an $18 million fiber optic medical network aimed at improving care throughout the Nebraska panhandle.
“What do you really hold dear to you that you want to preserve into the future as you transition to an electronic medical record?”
Maine’s culture is to “get things done” – and when it comes to improving the quality of care through IT, the state has positioned itself well, said its director of the Office of the State Coordinator for HIT, James Leonard.
About half of all electronic medical record implementations fail, and most of those failures stem from poor planning and preparation, said a family physician who spoke at a regional extension center forum for providers in Maine.
Mobility is a "vital" sign that should be regularly checked in adults over the age of sixty, and according to two health and exercise science professors at Wake Forest University, the iPad is just the tool for the job.
The Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP) has launched a patient centered medical home initiative involving eight practices, which will run over the next three years.