A recent survey of healthcare organizations found that 94 percent aren't ready to comply with the privacy and security provision of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which take effect next February.
The survey of 77 U.S. healthcare organizations was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States.
The Medical Group Management Association, which represents nearly 14,000 large and small physician practices across the country, is giving kudos to information technology components of the health reform bill passed Saturday by the House.
The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) passed by a vote of 220 to 215. The Senate now must vote on its own health reform bill. If that bill passes, both chambers would work to forge one bill for a vote by the full Congress.
Healthcare providers should be gearing up for reimbursements for meaningful use of healthcare data under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), but many argue that healthcare IT adoption may not be worth the effort.
The American Hospital Association would like to see some changes in the proposed federal rule for patient medical information breaches.
In a letter sent Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, AHA officials said thay are endorsing the rule, but calling for "further improvements" to make it better.
The government's piece of the stimulus package aimed at boosting the adoption and use of healthcare information technology is expected to create 50,000 new jobs – maybe more.
A panel of healthcare IT experts who spoke Thursday at the 6th annual Connected Health Symposium in Boston agreed that 50,000 seems right.
The HIT Policy Advisory Committee's information exchange workgroup learned Tuesday just how difficult it's going to be for doctors to exchange electronic lab results to qualify for federal "meaningful use" bonuses.
Physicians can earn a potential $44,000 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), beginning Oct. 1, 2011, but they will have to show meaningful use of data, including the use of electronic laboratory results.
Surescripts will adopt a new version of a technical standard that's recommended by federal regulators as part of a $19 billion incentive program to encourage greater use of electronic health records.
The standard – referred to by industry participants as "NCPDP SCRIPT 10.6" – allows physicians using electronic health record software to electronically access prescription information from pharmacies and health plans while also making use of electronic prescriptions.
National Health IT Coordinator David Blumenthal, MD, emphasized Thursday that quality measures are at the heart of his office's strategy for using IT to transform the U.S. healthcare system.
Standards development is at the heart of healthcare reform, according to David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
"Congress may not know it or realize it, but you all are very much at the center" of making health reform happen, he told members of the HIT Standards Committee during a Wednesday workshop. "Health infrastructure is assumed will be present and functioning when needed. That is a very, very tall order and one we are committed to doing our best to put into place."
The Medical Group Management Association's point man in Washington, D.C., says most of the groups the MGMA represents would not be eligible for government incentives for adopting and using an electronic health record by 2011.
There are too many issues to resolve in too short a time, said Robert Tennant, the association's senior policy adviser, who is attending the MGMA's annual conference in Denver this week. Tennant focuses on federal legislative and regulatory health information technology issues.
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology on Tuesday launched a new modular certification program called Preliminary ARRA 2011, which will focus solely on 'meaningful use' objectives and accompanying standards needed to qualify for federal stimulus funding.
The modular certification process was released along with the CCHIT's updated certification program, called CCHIT Certified 2011.
At least 50,000 new health information management jobs will be needed as the nation moves from a paper to a digital healthcare system, the nation's healthcare IT chief said Tuesday.
David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for health information technology, spoke about the government's plans for transforming healthcare into an industry of "meaningful users" of healthcare IT at the 81st annual American Health Information Management Association convention in Grapevine, Texas,
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology is set to launch its 2011 certification program, designed to help hospitals and physician practices show the meaningful use of IT that is required to qualify for federal incentives.
"We're moving forward, skating toward the puck rather than waiting for it to move," CCHIT Chairman Mark Leavitt, MD, told an audience of healthcare information management professionals Monday at the annual American Health Information Management Association convention in Grapevine, Texas.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will headline Cerner's annual user conference Tuesday in Kansas City with a speech on healthcare reform, IT and meaningful use.
Cerner officials say more than 6,000 healthcare professionals are expected to gather at the Kansas City Convention Center for the 24th annual Cerner Health Conference, which also marks the healthcare IT company’s 30th anniversary. Attendees from six continents, representing nearly 20 countries, have registered for the event, which runs Oct. 4-7.
In an open letter e-mailed Thursday, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal discusses what the government means when it refers to the "meaningful use of electronic health records."
The term "meaningful use" has been the subject of much discussion since the federal government tied it into eligibility for incentive payments aimed at promoting the uptake of healthcare information technology.