Interoperability

Personalized medicine needs a lot more exposition before it comes part of the mainstream, but a group of dedicated professionals is determined to make sure that it arrives as soon as possible.

With hospitals "raising the bar" to meet meaningful use requirements, new positions are being created within IT departments that have a focus on quality and data, says one consultant.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) approved in June the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as the ONC-approved accreditor (ONC-AA) for the permanent certification program for health information technology.

The comment period ended on June 6 for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule on accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Regional Health in South Dakota advocates standardized electronic charting system as a means to improve care coordination while reducing legal risks.

Doug Celebi is Chief medical officer, payer and government solutions at OptumInsight. Formerly developed disease and care management programs for CIGNA

Blogging, tweeting, texting and facebooking have become routine for many physicians as well as many other healthcare professionals. In this issue, Associate Editor Molly Merrill talks to docs who connect with their patients, colleagues and the public via social media (Cover story and P. 23). She discovers, what she already knew, social platforms aren’t just for idle banter.

From an editorial in the Jan. 31, 2011, issue of The Boston Globe, this real-life scenario is all too typical. Providers make decisions absent easy access to a patient’s complete medical history as well as guidelines, best practices, checklists and scientific findings that support them in providing the best possible care to patients.

Once electronic health records become nearly ubiquitous, the information within them will enable new applications and services geared toward better population health management, says National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD.

The opt-in legislation for Maine's health information exchange was met with "clear opposition" by providers throughout the state, but a revised version that is pending the governor's approval, would make it a mandate that providers who are participating in the HIE provide their patients with a separate form to opt-out.