Network Infrastructure

The new health IT jobs that were promised as part of the government’s big push toward digital medical records are there, and there are plenty of job seekers to fill them, but are they the right people for the jobs?

As more employees use their personal mobile devices at work, it is vital that healthcare organizations have a "policy in place to keep their employees productive and their data safe," says one expert.

The start-up and management costs of an accountable care organization (ACO) is considerably higher than estimated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its proposed rule, according to the American Hospital Association.

Denmark's hospitals keep closing, but its residents don't stop getting sick. That's where telemedicine can play a role in maintaining efficient and effective healthcare delivery.

– "I see healthcare as in many ways the torture test for networking," said Kiren Sekar, director of marketing at San Francisco-based wireless firm Meraki.

TRICARE, the Department of Defense healthcare program, has contracted with San Mateo, Calif.-based Epocrates to offer physicians mobile access to the TRICARE formulary list.

Health plans are stepping up to become key players in forming accountable care organizations.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has issued a health IT strategic plan for 2011 through 2015 for public review.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed regulations on accountable care organizations, released March 31, will be one of the first delivery-reform initiatives to be implemented under the Accountable Care Act and will be key to overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, said Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Kaiser Permanente this week has opened a new Center for Total Health near Capitol Hill.