Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
As David Blumenthal, MD, sees it, Stage 2 is where the rubber meets the road for the Meaningful Use EHR Incentive Program -- the government's grand scheme to drag the American healthcare system, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century. But, is it proving to be just too much for most providers?
The EHR Association, which is made up of nearly 40 EHR companies, urged the Office of the National Coordinator and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide the meaningful use final rule ASAP.
If there is one emerging pattern within the clinical informatics field, it is the quest to make data "actionable" for users. However, providers are finding that the data generated often can't be used in a timely and constructive manner.
Brigham and Women's Hospital is working on a half-dozen projects aimed at lowering healthcare costs through the use of big data.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is adding momentum and new capabilities to its interoperability and population health initiatives.
This year's class of 'Most Wired' hospitals are diving "deeper into data analytics and population health management," according to Hospitals & Health Networks. Here are the 375 hospitals who made the cut.
On paper, it sounds easy. Eligible hospitals that refer patients to another care setting must electronically transmit "a summary of care record for more than 10 percent of such transitions and referrals." One hospital's experience shows it's harder than it might look.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not routinely get involved in telling hospitals how to run operations, but with increasing reports of EHR deployment problems, the Atlanta-based operation now sees the need to act.
As director of health information technology policy and programs for the National Partnership for Women and Families, Mark Savage keeps a close watch on healthcare information technology, along with all other aspects of patient care.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a three-year, $162 million contract for upgrades to its VistA electronic health record. The announcement comes just as government officials assert in a news release Thursday that the multi-billion dollar acquisition to modernize the Department of Defense electronic health record is on track.