Jeff Rowe

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Xerox Corp. shed light on consumers' perceptions about EHRs. While nearly half of the 2,180 people polled said EHRs would make healthcare delivery more efficient, they didn't know how it would impact them as patients.

With the looming deadlines resulting from the HITECH Act, physicians are scrambling to choose and implement technology that will meet meaningful use guidelines certified by the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Ohio wants its commercial payers to incentivize physicians to adopt EHRs in the same way that CMS is incentivizing physicians through the federal stimulus programs. It makes sense.

There were many concerns when ARRA funds were first announced, with fears of the digital divide widening being one of the major ones. Thus far, HHS and ONC have done a great job in terms of thoughtful and thorough strategic planning and establishing programs to ensure that those concerns are addressed.

With the HITECH provisions of the ARRA, federal policymakers have resorted to a classic "carrots and sticks" approach to moving the healthcare sector toward greater use of HIT.

How do you get physicians to use EHRs? As many early adopters and current implementers are finding, just making them available in the physician office, hospital or clinic is not going to cut it.

A new study shows how a move from paper records to electronic medical records can speed up the treatment of Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. Expect to see more of these types of studies bolster the use of EMRs and EHRs.

According to a new HIMSS Analytics report, many clinics and hospitals are behind on their transition from paper to digitized patient records. Even worse, the digital divide is alive and well with larger, urban healthcare systems faring better than smaller, rural facilities.

As new HIT makes ever greater inroads into the nation’s healthcare system, there is bound to be an expanding array of stories that highlight the advantages HIT brings to patients and doctors alike.

Maricopa County officials will spend $10 million to implement an EMR system, which will help document and manage medical data for its thousands of jail inmates. The county has tied EMR capabilities to efficiency and better clinical outcomes. This is a good story to inspire other jail and prison systems, and healthcare providers that are still on the fence about EMRs.