Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
One of the most interesting and innovative elements of the advancement of health information technology that I’ve encountered, is Blue Button, a web tool patients can use to view and download their personal health information. Blue Button has been in use for two years by the Veterans Health Administration and other healthcare organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, McKesson, Aetna and United Health Group.
“We’re not award seekers,” said Daniel Nigrin, CIO at Boston Children’s Hospital. Standing among a meager 1.2 percent of hospitals achieving HIMSS Stage 7 Analytics Award, Boston Children’s Hospital has one of the nation’s most sophisticated electronic health records systems, garnering nine ‘Most Wired’ titles from the Hospital and Health Network. Knowing this, it’s hard to believe Nigrin’s assertion, but any visit to the hospital will confirm that it really is all about the patients.
Reavis Eubanks, MD, defies the odds when it comes to giving up his paper charts and adopting an electronic medical record system. First, solo doctors, by many accounts, have a tough time making the transition; there's no IT personnel on staff to guide them and to troubleshoot, and then there's the issue of cost.
Christopher Boone, director of outpatient quality and health IT for the American Heart Association in Dallas, will fill a vacancy on the federal Health Information Technology Policy Committee. Boone will fill one of three committee positions held by advocates for patients or consumers.
Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote at HIMSS13 in New Orleans on March 6. HIMSS officials released its list of speakers on Sept. 5, the same day Clinton delivered the keynote at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
The Hawaii Island Beacon Community is focused on improving care for individuals with complex chronic conditions to avoid hospital readmissions, and engaging patients to better understand and get involved in their care. Contributing Editor Mary Mosquera saw first-hand how it works.
Sue Schade has been named chief information officer of University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, after 12 years as CIO of Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate Brigham and Women's Hospital, which is part of Partners HealthCare.
In a year and a half, Unique Electronic Health Records will become obligatory in Colombia. Law 1438 of 2011, which reformed the Social Security System for Colombian healthcare, states that the Single Electronic Health Record will be obligatory by the 31st of December 2013.
The second quarter of 2012 proved to be better than the troubled first quarter for Allscripts. The EHR company reported Q2 bookings of $194.1 million, revenue of $370 million and cash flow from operations at $58.8 million, better than what financial analysts expected.
Robert Kolodner, MD, admits to keeping a low profile following his stint as interim National Coordinator for Health IT, a position he left in 2009 after a 31-year government career - three years at ONC, and before that 28 at the Department of Veterans Affairs. As chief informatics officer at VA, he led the development of VistA, the department’s open-source electronic health record.