A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an electronic health record vendor's claim that it had broad patent protection over shared health information, Health Data Management reports. (Goth, Health Data Management, 1/9).
The usability of the system is the probably most important factor in making an informed choice of which EHR to use for your practice. Most every bit of software says that it is easy to use, but how can you choose an EHR that is actually usable?
Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez offered advice about data security to manufacturers of devices that hold personal health information, MedCity News reports (Baum, MedCity News, 1/7).
Regulation of electronic health records and the implementation of ICD-10 are among the top issues for physicians to watch in 2015, according to a list published by the American Medical Association, FierceHealthIT reports (Hall, FierceHealthIT, 1/7).
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released the first draft test scenario for assessing the real-world usability of electronic health record systems under Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports.
Health IT interest, adoption and use saw big strides in 2014. But debate surrounding federal health IT initiatives, regulation and the future of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT also grew over the last year.
In 2015, the 114th Congress is expected to address several health IT issues, including FDA oversight of certain health IT tools and telemedicine, Politico reports.
According to Politico, health IT issues that this year's Congress could tackle include:
Accenture announced that CMS awarded the company a five-year, $563 million contract to continue managing HealthCare.gov, the Wall Street Journal reports (Armour, Wall Street Journal, 12/29).
Health consumers and health care providers live in parallel universes when it comes to health IT, a smart CMIO friend of mine recently told me. 2015 will be a year when consumers, patients and caregivers pressure providers to converge toward greater convenience, access, transparency and quality using health IT. This health IT forecast for 2015 focuses on the forces that could advance and slow that convergence.
On Thursday, Sens.
Physicians prescribed less-costly drugs when their electronic health record systems were set to default to generic medications, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Data Management<
CMS announced Niall Brennan will become the agency's first chief data officer and will be responsible for overseeing efforts to improve data collection and transparency and leading the department's new Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 11/19).
More medical providers are using health IT, but concerns about privacy continue to pose barriers to further adoption of certain technologies, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers,
A coalition of health care groups sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to ensure that ICD-10 implementation is not delayed again, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 11/18).
Three health IT groups announced a new strategic partnership designed to streamline the process for health data exchange across state lines, Health Data Management reports (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 11/17).
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released a 10-year vision report for leveraging health IT to enable quality improvement in health care, Health Data Management reports.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT announced a new health IT innovation challenge that will award select health care organizations and innovation companies funding to work together to "bridge technological gaps," Health Data Management reports.
A lack of interoperability among electronic health record systems used by participants in accountable care organizations "inhibit[s] progress" toward a value-based care environment, according to a new report produced for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Health Data Management
As of Sept. 30, CMS had paid out more than $25 billion in incentive payments to eligible hospitals and professionals participating in the meaningful use program, according to the latest CMS data, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 11/4).
The federal government continued to implement the HITECH Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, during the third quarter of 2014. As implementation of HITECH's programs begin to wind down, more than $25 billion in incentive payments have been made to providers to spur electronic health record adoption, and more than 90% of eligible hospitals and 75% eligible professionals have adopted and are using EHRs as a result.