Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
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Cloud-based EHR company athenahealth will resign from the EHR Association. Its executives say it does not belong there, since it is neither an EHR company nor a software vendor.
Sure, the EHR Incentive Program, with its $22 billion plus paid out thus far to meaningful users, might have helped bring the healthcare sector out of the Dark Ages and into the 21st Century, technologically speaking, but do these systems really improve the quality of patient care? A new study out says: for the most part, no.
Meaningful use just might have its financial perks. That's according to the top 25 highest performing meaningful users under the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, all of whom brought in some $171 million in Medicare payments back in 2012.
Encouraged by the patient engagement spurred by giants such as Geisinger and the VA who've taken part, Kaiser Permanente Northwest and eight other health systems in the region have signed on to OpenNotes -- the first widespread adoption of the data sharing program.
To healthcare mogul Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, the dirtiest four-letter word in the realm of digital health is "silo."
EHRs were designed to satisfy specific functions for distinct parts of the care process. Currently, EHRs are all about making sure all the warnings are heeded, and all boxes are checked. It's about bringing the information together to make physicians' jobs easier so they can make faster, more informed patient care decisions.
ONC chief Karen DeSalvo, MD, envisions an agency with new workgroups and a less siloed approach, with consumer and privacy advocates participating across all the groups.
Healthcare CIOs report their workload is growing in both scope and complexity, and there seems to be no end in sight. This is according to a new report from nationwide healthcare executive search firm SSi-SEARCH.
Bill Spooner "retired" from his post as leader of Sharp HealthCare's 450-member IT team on Feb. 14. The quotes around "retired" are necessary because he has something in the works -- he won't say what yet. It's something that will keep him working halftime, or maybe more. It's too hard to leave healthcare IT altogether at this promising juncture, he says.