The usability of EHR systems as defined by meaningful use has implications on care quality and patient safety and no more so than in emergency departments, according to a recent… (continue reading article at EHR Intelligence – How EHR adoption impacts patient safety in the ED)
Here, David Linthicum discusses the importance of data integration in the realm of patient portals. Data integration is an important aspect of heath data management. However, it’s often overlooked as a core health care I.T. strategy. This is largely due to the fact that we’re used to dealing with data integration as tactical one-off projects, […]
Understanding Meaningful Use with a Focus on Testing the HL7 Version 2 Messaging Standards Use of electronic health records (EHRs), especially systems with clinical decision support capabilities, has been shown to enable quality improvement in healthcare as well as reductions in the cost of that care when used regularly in the practice of medicine. These […]
More than half of U.S. doctors have switched to electronic health records and are using them to manage patients’ basic medical information and prescriptions, according to federal data set to be released Wednesday. The Department of Health and Human Services says it has reached a tipping point as it seeks to steer medical providers away […]
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) has introduced a bill (HR 1701) that would prohibit HHS from mandating that health care providers switch to ICD-10 code sets, ICD-10 Watch reports (Natale, ICD-10 Watch, 4/25). About ICD-10 U.S. health care organizations are working to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets to accommodate codes for new diseases and […]
Six Republican Senators have formally requested that U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provide a written plan to address how the agency is implementing the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. In an April 16 letter–signed by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Mike […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have each proposed new rules to extend existing protections that allow hospitals to donate electronic health record (EHR) technology to physicians who refer patients to their facilities. By way of background, […]
The digital picture of a patient’s health is incomplete unless it includes electronic information from all clinical encounters with healthcare providers from primary to specialty care. The challenge of creating… (continue reading article at EHR Intelligence – Making health information exchange meaningful, useful)
Imagine going to school, but never knowing if the valuable time you spent in the classroom was having an impact on the outside world. Unfortunately, this happens every day in… (continue reading article at EHR Intelligence – Integrating EHR with medical education for improved care)
March marks a shift for small and medium medical practices that are working on their ICD-10 transitions. According to timelines provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), small and medium-sized practices should have completed a significant amount of planning by now. Review ICD-10 resources from CMS, trade associations, payers, and vendors. Inform […]