Category: EHR

I’ve written regularly about the need for secure text messaging in healthcare. I can’t believe that it was two years ago that I wrote that Texting is Not HIPAA Secure. Traditional SMS texting on your cell phone is not HIPAA secure, but there are a whole lot of alternatives. In fact, in January I made…

Although one of the main goals of the Meaningful Use program is to improve the quality of care, there appears to be “no association” between being a “meaningful user” of electronic health records and the quality of care provided to patients, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. read more …read more    

Editor’s Note: The following is an update to a previous EMR and HIPAA blog post titled “EMR Companies Holding Practice Data for “Ransom”.” In this update, James Summerlin (aka “JamesNT”) offers an update on EHR vendors willingness to let providers access their EHR data. Over the years I have been approached with questions by several…

I was asked recently by an EHR vendor about the disconnect between the number of 2011 Certified EHR and the number of 2014 Certified EHR. I haven’t looked through the ONC-CHPL site recently, but you can easily run the number of certified EHR vendors there. Of course, there’s a major difference in the number of…

In one of the LinkedIn threads I was participating, Cameron Collette offered this really interesting insight: Secondly, there is a general unwillingness to change current work flow models in many health care facilities. Daily I hear, “we have never done it that way” or “that’s not the way do things”. So, we have what is…

Top News ONC head Karen DeSalvo proposes dissolving the agency’s workgroups and forming four new ones in order to reduce redundancy and create a “less siloed” approach. The proposed workgroups would focus on (a) health IT strategic planning; (b) advanced health models and Meaningful Use; (c) health IT implementation, usability, and safety; and (d) interoperability…

National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo believes it’s time to shake things up a little at ONC. At the April 8 meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee, DeSalvo talked about ONC’s priorities moving beyond Meaningful Use; in particular, she laid out plans for transitioning the agency’s current workgroups into newer, “less siloed” workgroups.…

We know that electronic health records can cost a lot of money, sometimes millions of dollars. So it would be pretty disconcerting for a provider to learn that it has to pay additional amounts on top of that initial layout. Yet evidently, this is not uncommon, and it’s often because providers make mistakes when entering…

DeSalvo proposes new direction for ONC Speaking at a Health Information Policy Committee on Tuesday, Karen DeSalvo, MD, proposed dismantling the ONC’s existing HIT workgroups and forming new ones that would address: HIT strategic planning; Advanced health models and meaningful use; HIT implementation, usability and safety; and Interoperability and health information exchange. Paul Tang, vice-chair…

The Health IT policy committee this week gave a green light to recommendations from its privacy and security Tiger Team that empower patient personal representatives (proxies) for adults with view/download/transmit (VDT) permissions for protected health information. Such permissions as they pertain to adolescent patients will be discussed at a future meeting. read more …read more