Meaningful Use
The Department of Health and Human Services will provide competitive funding for states to design and implement the information technology infrastructure needed to operate health insurance exchanges.
Through the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP), Maryland went live with its statewide health information exchange in mid-October. But not everyone in the state was singing the praises of EHRs and the sharing of electronic patient data.
More than 40 percent of U.S. hospitals plan to invest in new health information management systems, according to a new study from healthcare technology research firm CapSite.
Leaders from the University of Michigan Health System and the Physicians' Organization of Western Michigan have announced the founding of the new Physician Organization of Michigan, meant to support independent physicians as they adapt to the new healthcare environment.
The Medical Group Management Association released new survey results that bode well for EHR adoption. Medical practices that have implemented an EHR system reported better financial performance than those with paper record systems, according to the survey, "Electronic Health Records Impacts on Revenue, Costs, and Staffing: 2010 Report Based on 2009 Data."
According to a recent survey, physician offices that are owned by hospitals and health systems are leading the adoption of EHRs. As one consultant said, this survey result is not surprising at all.
One of the largest recent security breaches of personal health information (PHI), involving 280,000 individuals, is on the surface a "pretty low-risk scenario," says one privacy expert. But, he acknowledges, "these things are like an onion: the more layers you peel back, the stinkier it gets."
Home-based care, which is gaining favor among providers and patients, encompasses many characteristics. Patients can monitor their vital and other signs needed to help them control their chronic conditions through remote devices in the home. Another trend is home visits by physicians and other healthcare providers.
The Massachusetts eHealth Institute expects 600 physicians and small practices will be signed up by the end of October for health IT consulting services, which it is offering as one of 60 regional extension centers (RECS) now courting health IT newcomers throughout the country.
Medical practices that have implemented an electronic health record system report better financial performance than those that have not, according to the Medical Group Management Association's newly released "Electronic Health Records Impacts on Revenue, Costs, and Staffing: 2010 Report Based on 2009 Data."