Government & Policy

Speakers at the ICD-10 Forum on Monday said that now is the time to start the transition, including practicing with ICD-10 codes.

A longtime proponent of evidence-based medicine, Donald Berwick, MD, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, believes his home state's healthcare system can be a "model for the nation."

ONC has a real understanding of the importance of consumer engagement, the head of the ONC's Office of Consumer eHealth, says. When ONC was originally created and even when HITECH passed, there was a lot of emphasis on providers and hospitals. But it's only in more recent years that it's become more generally understood that patients and consumers play a critical role, too.

Lygeia Ricciardi, Office of Consumer e-Health director, on public understanding of personal health information, healthcare consumer empowerment, and her experience with mobile maternity health.

The national coordinator, speaking at HIMSS ICD-10 Forum, said that because "there's a lot of money to be made in helping doctors get ready" for the new code sets, expressed faith that the free market will offer solutions and services to make the transition easier.

At the Government Health IT Conference and Exhibition in Washington this week, chief information officers from the Military Health System and the U.S. Navy offered candid discussion about the way they make their IT decisions -- most notably with regard to the EHR system DoD is looking to acquire.

Facing ongoing and intense public scrutiny about its joint iEHR with the VA, more recent decisions to evaluate commercial options, and perceived absence from similar projects, such as Healtheway, OSEHRA and VLER, the top tech officials discuss challenges of balancing legacy systems with modernization.

In saying that she will step down soon, Regina Benjamin, MD says the movement away from a healthcare system concentrating on treating disease and sickness has begun.

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, has announced plans to step down in July, after four years as the nation's top voice for public health.

There are more similarities than it might appear, such as storage, refinement and ensuring value. Should the federal government create some sort of big data agency?