Network Infrastructure

TRICARE, the Department of Defense healthcare program, has contracted with San Mateo, Calif.-based Epocrates to offer physicians mobile access to the TRICARE formulary list.

Health plans are stepping up to become key players in forming accountable care organizations.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has issued a health IT strategic plan for 2011 through 2015 for public review.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed regulations on accountable care organizations, released March 31, will be one of the first delivery-reform initiatives to be implemented under the Accountable Care Act and will be key to overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, said Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Kaiser Permanente this week has opened a new Center for Total Health near Capitol Hill.

The ONC announced earlier this week that more than 60 healthcare and health IT organizations - from EHR vendors to integrated delivery systems to state-based and private-sector HIEs - have expressed their support for the Direct Project's simple and secure messaging protocols.

HealthPoint, a network of 12 not-for-profit clinics in suburban Seattle, has reaped significant cost savings by consolidating IT that had been spread throughout seven of the network's facilities.

David Blumenthal, MD, the national coordinator for health information technology, announced his departure from the ONC just 17 days before the HIMSS11 conference began on Feb. 19 in Orlando, Fla. Blumenthal came onboard just two weeks prior to HIMSS09.

The cloud, social networking are key

As the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Beacon Communities focus on using IT to improve the quality and efficiency of care, they also have a rare opportunity to spur regional economic growth by making use of private-sector systems and technology.