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Since its initial launch to much fanfare, Google Health has struggled to be relevant. Since its formal launch in May 2008, Google Health has not dedicated the resources to build out this platform into a truly engaging ecosystem of applications to assist the consumer in managing their health or the health of a loved one.

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.

Across the country, in practices large and small, urban and rural, general and specialized, health care providers are beginning their journey towards the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs).

Professor Carl Gunter of the Department of Computer Science and the Information Trust Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a mission to develop technology that would make EHRs and health information exchange safe and secure, and therefore help patients and providers become more comfortable with these systems.

Yesterday, the HIT Standards Committee held their May meeting via teleconference and discussed several important topics.

When drawing up those ICD-10 strategies, healthcare organizations ought to be sure that “having enough coders” is on their priority list.

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.

They say all healthcare is local. That could also be said about the regional extension centers (RECs) anointed by the Dept. of Health and Human Services and ONC.

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.