Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
The Regional Extension Center (REC) program was designed to assist priority primary care providers in small practices, small and rural hospitals, and public health clinics. Some industry groups, however, worry that rural communities and communities of color will still be left behind the digital transformation.
After receiving concerns from stakeholders, EHR technology developers and ONC-ATCBs about public health surveillance specifications for certified EHRs, the ONC issued an interim final rule requesting to remove the specs.
Since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) in 2009, Congress has been ever-watchful of the progress being made on electronic health record adoption.
In West Texas, where unemployment is at 2 percent, the popular chain Chili's had to close some of its restaurants because there were not enough employees to fill the jobs. Imagine what it's like for a healthcare system in that part of the country to recruit IT staff, says Gary L. Barnes, CIO of Medical Center Health System in Odessa, Texas.
Bonnie Cassidy, vice president of HIM product management at Reston, Va.-based QuadraMed and the president-elect of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), sat down with Healthcare IT News at AHIMA's 82nd annual convention and exhibit to talk about the importance of the health information management profession, and her vision for the future.
The European Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) is a flagship initiative of the EU 2020 strategy, which focuses on sustainable growth through ICT. eHealth is a key part of it, said Flora Girogio of the EC’s ICT for Health unit, speaking at the Global eHealth Forum in Hamburg today. The DAE will develop the necessary infrastructure.
As you read this November issue of Healthcare IT News, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Across the country healthcare IT personnel are beginning to count their blessings.
Not since the rise of managed care in the 1990s has there been such a surge in the acquisition of physician practices by hospitals and health systems.
Health IT vendors should make sure they market and sell their products and services to healthcare providers in minority communities to avoid a new form of "digital divide" that could leave low-income areas without the benefit of electronic health records, according two of the nation's top physicians.
CCHIT chair Karen Bell says the EHR certification process required for meaningful use is moving steadily in the right direction. "It's a little bit like the Wild West because things are changing so rapidly," she said. "But we're clearly making progress."