EHR
A report from the Office of Inspector General outlines the top challenges faced by the Department of Health and Human Services in FY 2014. Among them: meaningful use and interoperability. OIG also highlighted several area HHS continues to struggle with heading into 2015, including electronic health records.
In case anyone was still wondering about a leadership vacuum at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Karen DeSalvo, MD, is still national coordinator -- a fact that was in evidence Wednesday at the close of the American Medical Informatics Association's annual conference.
At the American Medical Informatics Association's annual symposium today, developers and backers of public application programming interfaces talked about how the standard could speed interoperability with add-on apps to enterprise EHRs, and help make those bulky systems more nimble.
What are the responsibilities of covered entities when an encrypted laptop or device is stolen, but the passcodes are handed over in the theft as well? A recent robbery reported by Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital may shed some light on these tricky situations.
Without good data, patient-centeredness is just a buzzword. And without a patient-centric focus and proper organization, data can be rather useless. That was the message Sunday from Amy Abernethy, MD, who delivered the opening keynote address at the American Medical Informatics Association's annual symposium.
As ONC puts forth the government's long-term vision for nationwide interoperability, four industry stakeholders -- the EHR/HIE Interoperability Workgroup, HIMSS, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise and ICSA Labs -- have joined forces to tackle more immediate challenges of data exchange across state lines.
The Institute of Medicine has issued a new report calling for standardized social and behavioral data to be included in electronic health records. That may be good for population health research, but could be unwelcome news for system developers, and for physicians who already complain that EHRs are burdensome and distract from care delivery.
As ONC refines its 10-year vision for interoperability, a diverse coalition of private and public interests has put forth its own ideas for transforming U.S. healthcare through IT. The eHealth Initiative on Thursday released its "2020 Roadmap," spelling out its goals for achieving the Triple Aim.
Electronic health records have seen encouraging uptake among office-based physicians in recent years, with eight in 10 now having at least a basic EHR in place. But what do these doctors really think about how health IT works at the point of care? Their frank opinions may surprise you.
Cerner, which has been going gangbusters on new EHR rollouts since the HITECH Act was passed, took a giant leap Wednesday with a groundbreaking at a new campus and the promise of 16,000 new jobs within the next decade.