Meaningful Use

Healthcare IT is not lacking innovation these days. It seems like everyday there’s a winner of a new app contest, or yet another challenge is launched. One recent announcement, though, stood out among the rest.

A new study from HIMSS Analytics and Kroll Advisory Solutions shows that, a diligent focus on security compliance notwithstanding, healthcare providers are still badly lacking when it comes to privacy protections. In fact, data breaches have only increased in recent years.

With some federal agency either launching or crowning the winner of a new developer contest seemingly every week these days, Wil Yu, HHS special assistant of innovations and research and director of ONC's SHARP program, discusses the challenges' true value -- and explains what happens after the winners collect their prizes.

As associations, advocacy groups and other interested parties gear up to submit comments on meaningful use Stage 2, John Loonsk, MD, explains how health IT professionals can offer opinions on the proposed rules, making substantive suggestions without actually weakening the regulation.

"We're in a classically disruptive moment right now," said newly-minted U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, speaking Monday at the Healthcare Experience Design (HxD) conference, "from which more good will come than we can possibly imagine."

For physicians, the proposed rule for meaningful use Stage 2 offers some changes that make it easier for healthcare providers to demonstrate the requirements, including aligning measures with other quality reporting programs.

Though most stakeholders are still drowning in the 455-page meaningful use Stage 2 proposed rule, issued February 23 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a few groups have stepped forward to weigh in.

After some stops and starts, at last the federal government has released the long-awaited proposal for Stage 2 of qualifying for the meaningful use of electronic health records incentives.

On the third day of the HIMSS12 conference in Las Vegas, Farzad Mostashari, MD, took to the stage in what ended up being a rousing address to a packed room of attendees. Here are seven key highlights from Mostashari's keynote speech.

We sit down with Brantley Whittington, president of EHR vendor Extormity, provider of the world's most expensive, exasperating, and exhausting electronic health record. Mr. Whittington talks about HIMSS12 trends, the rising costs of HIT, and why he's lobbying for a stage 4 and 5 meaningful use within the next 24 months.