Tom Sullivan

During the government shutdown, only four of the total 184 on-board staffers at ONC would be retained and charged with handling "orderly phase-down and suspension of operations."

The outgoing national coordinator also discusses the only day he plans to take off, how his views evolved during his ONC tenure and widespread misconceptions about healthcare policymakers.

Outgoing National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, spoke with Government Health IT Editor Tom Sullivan recently about the difference between applying his passion for improving healthcare through health IT at the local level and federal level.

The federal government could do a better job helping to transform the nation's healthcare system, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said at a Capitol Hill press conference Sept. 18. The conference was part of the HIMSS HIT Policy Summit held during National Health IT Week.

Mass shootings like the recent Navy Yard tragedy are actually more expected than they're portrayed to be. Could the healthcare community help police use more tools to prevent them?

At a Capitol Hill press briefing on Wednesday, Rep. Honda was also there touting the gains and joking about the losses technology creates, namely relating to cell phones and memory.

Will the omnibus HIPAA final rule arrive on September 23 as the scary new face of healthcare privacy and security, or a countenance of incremental change?

The general public needs greater urgency in monitoring medical records and reporting these types of crimes. Two experts offer easy ways for patients to get started.

Big data and analytics are also creating new career opportunities, according to the Journal of AHIMA, and HIM professionals are ripe to grow into the emerging roles.

Cloud computing may have finally reached a tipping point within the healthcare realm, according to a soon to be published report, which found that CIOs' perspectives and trust of the model are evolving quickly.