EHR

Because Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is viewed as one of the Senate’s most knowledgeable healthcare advocates, analysts are guardedly optimistic about the prospects for the Whitehouse-sponsored Behavioral Health Information Technology Act (S.539, which would extend meaningful use incentives to behavioral healthcare providers.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has issued a health IT strategic plan for 2011 through 2015 for public review.

Farzad Mostashari, the newly appointed and fourth leader of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is going to face some stiff challenges his predecessor David Blumenthal did not have to face.

By early summer, four communities in Colorado will be able to securely share patient information through the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization's (CORHIO) network.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has paid out more than $37 million to providers under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs this year.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed regulations on accountable care organizations, released March 31, will be one of the first delivery-reform initiatives to be implemented under the Accountable Care Act and will be key to overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, said Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Ochsner Health System, with eight hospitals and 40 health centers in Louisiana, is deep into the deployment of a new Epic electronic health record system.

Meaningful use Stage 1 is now in effect, and work has already begun in earnest to define the criteria for Stage 2.

Kudos to David Blumenthal, MD, as he returns to his academic work after what many in the health IT realm view as a stellar two-year run (and we do mean run) as the nation’s health information technology chief.

Connecting has never been more critical.