Tom Sullivan

As IBM and Apple team up for a new "mobile first" platform, we could be seeing what happens when the power of Watson analytics is put into a smartphone to be queried like Siri at the point of care.

CMS and ONC revealed the latest statistics on Tuesday morning, showing that 1 percent of eligible providers and 3 percent of eligible hospitals have attested to Stage 2 to date.

With $23 billion already spent on incentivizing providers to adopt electronic health records, many in government and industry are wondering whether taxpayers and patients got what they paid for. The heart of the debate: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, its meaningful use program and interoperable EHRs.

The U.S. Senate voted in Sylvia Matthews Burwell as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday afternoon. Burwell, the former head of the Office of Management and Budget, was confirmed 78-17. Before and after the vote, Burwell both faced her share of fire and garnered high praise.

Burwell, the former head of the Office of Management and Budget, was confirmed 78-17. Before and after the vote, Burwell both faced her share of fire and garnered high praise. So now the pressure is on.

Healthcare providers and IT vendors just got a dose of welcome relief from the increasingly controversial certification pieces of meaningful use.

In the conference room of a D.C.-area hotel, Rob Gibran rose from one of many round tables, waited in line, stepped up to a mic, and called for an impromptu vote. Does anyone believe ICD-10 is ever really going to become part of the American healthcare system? Not one of the 100 attendees at WEDI's ICD-10 emergency summit raised a hand.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said late Thursday it expects the Department of Health and Human Services to "release an interim final rule in the near future that will include a new compliance date that would require the use of ICD-10 beginning October 1, 2015."

Pushing off testing is only one of the unintended consequences triggered by delaying ICD-10. Organizations now have to reassess the project and redefine their requirements, and many will have to find resources to do that.

Industry observers and insiders alike were a bit surprised that the American Medical Association did not appear overjoyed with the prospect of ICD-10 being pushed back. But, the organization had its reasons.