Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
Meeting meaningful use is taking precedence in health IT budgets for 2011, according to hospital executives polled in a recent survey.
There are many eligible candidates who come to mind when thinking about who could fill the shoes of David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for health information technology. Experts cite meaningful use and electronic health record implementation experience as important criteria, but one consultant puts particular emphasis on finding a new leader who possesses a care team approach to health IT.
The Center for Technology and Aging has awarded a total of $500,000 to California, Indiana, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington to help each state evaluate the benefits of technologies, such as personal health records and EHRs, for improving patients' transitions from hospitals to their homes or other settings.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has announced the conversion of 113 NQF-endorsed measures from a paper-based format to an electronic "eMeasure" format. The conversion, requested by the Department of Health and Human Services in compliance with the HITECH Act, will allow the measures to be more easily readable by EHR systems.
In order to make sure Medicaid providers qualify to receive meaningful use incentives, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has proposed a two-year project aimed at understanding the barriers they face.
The Health Information Trust Alliance has designated PricewaterhouseCoopers US as a Common Security Framework Assessor, qualified to evaluate and certify security standards of CSF-related services.
Getting rural providers, including critical access hospitals, to adopt electronic medical records is a monumental challenge, as the healthcare industry and advocates of healthcare IT are experiencing.
Medical Informatics Engineering, which has carved out a healthy niche for itself as a regional EHR player in the Midwest, has about 68 employees. Cerner, by comparison, has nearly 8,000.
Analysts offer their hints on the top trends and tricks for the coming year
Miramont Family Medicine in Fort Collins, Colo., is crediting its recognition as a HIMSS Davies Award winner to its participation in a slew of IT projects at both state and national levels.