Interoperability
Two big-name California health systems have officially signed on with the San Diego Health Connect health information exchange, a deal poised to put an additional 2.7 million patients on the network.
The 21st Century Cures bill put forth by the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health, is set for markup Thursday, a process in which subcommittee members offer amendments.
President Obama's nomination of ONC Chief Karen DeSalvo, MD, to the post of Assistant HHS Secretary, did not surprise many in health IT circles. After all, she was already Acting Assistant Secretary. As some stakeholders say, if she is confirmed, they will have an advocate in an even higher position in government.
ONC chief Karen DeSalvo, MD, has been nominated by President Obama to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. If she is confirmed by the Senate, she would step down as National Coordinator for Health IT, a post she has held since January 2014.
IBM Watson Health is collaborating with Epic and Mayo Clinic to apply cognitive computing capabilities of Watson to EHRs, and also with 14 cancer institutions to reduce from weeks to minutes the ability to translate DNA insights.
Until physicians have EHRs that can talk with one another, the Precision Medicine Initiative introduced by President Barack Obama could be in jeopardy, Sen. Lamar Alexander said Tuesday.
At first glance, it might seem that there is no partnership Cerner would not entertain, but analysts point out recent deals with big-name health systems and with other vendors in the health IT marketplace are strategic and helping to position Cerner for the future.
Marking its entry into the patient identification market, health IT security company Imprivata has acquired Tampa, Florida-based HT Systems, which develops technology for palm-vein-based biometric patient ID.
Interoperability has been part of the healthcare lexicon for at least a couple of decades. Today, however, true interoperability does not seem to be happening at the scale nor the speed the industry needs.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, former National Coordinator David Blumenthal, MD, conjures a vision of connected healthcare in 2030. He notes, however, that "this future won’t materialize unless some problems are solved along the way."