Tom Sullivan

As the new year gets off to a start, the latest findings for ICD-10 remain stark. With an October 1 deadline for conversion of the medical coding system from ICD-9 to ICD-10, some 80 percent of participants have not begun testing, and only about half have undergone the initial step of conducting an impact assessment, according to a recent survey.

Some front-runners are wanting desperately to harness mobile technologies to improve care for individual patients, but so much depends on the changing payment model.

A joint CMS and ONC blog post today divulges the government's intentions to extend the timeline for meaningful use Stages 2 and 3. Under the revised schedule, Stage 2 would be extended through 2016 and Stage 3 would begin in 2017 for those providers that have completed at least two years in Stage 2.

The top ICD-10 takeaway from the AHIMA Convention and Exhibit is that the industry's readiness still comprises all the points between not-knowing and already prepared.

Calling himself a digital omnivore, Iverson Bell, MD, offered words of wisdom for doctors trying to figure out how to adapt to the proliferation of mobile devices in their lives and practices.

With one year until the doomsayer-friendly mandate's deadline, the time has come to lay the mismatched comparison to rest.

It's a simple enough question. The answer, however, might be difficult for many in the health IT realm to accept.

While some observers wagered that he would succeed his colleague Farzad Mostashari, MD, as the new national coordinator, Principal Deputy David Muntz actually ended up departing ONC this past month alongside him. And as he announced his leave-taking, Muntz actually foreshadowed his next move.

Joining the interactive patient care vendor as CIO, former ONC deputy principal director David Muntz will draw on his policy and HIT experience to fuel patient-provider partnerships.

EHR usability is among the greatest barriers to digitizing America's healthcare system. EHRs present a push toward modernization, but to fulfill the promise, industry insiders say, the clunky technology has to be made easier for doctors to use.