Meaningful Use
Mitt Romney is no stranger to health information technology advocacy. But despite his earlier initiatives as governor of Massachusetts, many experts say health IT policies and their funding could be at risk if he were elected president.
Healthcare IT News Associate Editor Erin McCann talks with Stephen Beck, MD, CMIO of Catholic Health Partners in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Electronic health record systems vendor Allscripts, which is said to be shopping for a buyer, announced Monday that Richard J. Poulton will sign on as chief financial officer, effective Oct. 29.
After one year at the helm of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Susan Turney, MD, is presiding over nothing short of a reinvention for medical practices across the nation. She talked with Healthcare IT News about the promise and the difficulties practices face as they shape a new model.
The Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) has added its voice to those of four Republican lawmakers who recently called for a temporary halt to meaningful use incentives until the program is revamped. But, unlike the lawmakers, CCHF wants federal involvement in EHRs eliminated altogether.
The added work anticipated from meaningful use requirements, the pressure to achieve data sharing and the clock ticking toward the 2014 deadline for conversion of diagnostic and medical billing codes from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets has driven the demand for consultants, creating what some call a boom.
Healthcare organizations have a lot on their plates nowadays, and the challenges are only growing. Meaningful use is a big one, of course - not least Stage 2's new focus on patient engagement.
Everyone wants to be heard. And, by all accounts, the providers and healthcare organizations that commented on the proposed rule for meaningful use Stage 2 weren't just wishing upon a star when they sent their carefully crafted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for consideration.
The federal government released the final rules for Stage 2 meaningful use on Aug. 23, with federal officials' assurance that the public's voice was heard. But some key players are saying doctors' best interests weren't met.
Chief information officers were scrambling to wade through and make sense of more than 1,000 pages of Stage 2 meaningful use rules yesterday afternoon, with some poring over the details late into the night. Most seem pleased, so far, but say there's lots of work to do.