News 6/12/13

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The HIMSS EHR Association announces the EHR Developer Code of Conduct, which is available for companies that develop complete EHRs. Principles include (a) communicating product information accurately; (b) designing products with patient safety in mind; (c) participating in a Patient Safety Organization for reporting and reviewing patient safety problems; (d) sharing product-related best practices with customers; (e) notifying customers of software bugs that could impact patient safety; (f) excluding contract language that prohibits customers from speaking up about safety concerns; (g) supporting interoperability through use of standards; (h) giving customers their data if they switch vendors; and (i) documenting how the product handles coding and quality measurement. It’s nicely done, and while I’d rather see these items in my contract instead of in a voluntary set of principles issued by a trade association, I like the idea of laying them out publicly.

Reader Comments

From Nick Carraway: “Re: TeraRecon changes. Longtime president Robert Taylor is gone. CFO Lakshmi Lakshminarayan is serving as interim CEO.” We requested confirmation from TeraRecon and haven’t heard back. Lakshminarayan is listed as interim CEO on the company’s Website.

From Georgia Peach: “Marketing gimmick. I got a HFMA ANI postcard from an exhibitor in the mail that made me laugh out loud, especially because I’m a parent.” Now that’s a genius marketing promotion. Any parent who has felt the pressure to return from a trip with goodies for the kids will appreciate this giveaway, which includes two iPad minis so the winner can keep one for himself and give the other to a spouse or “favorite child.”

From Becky Badger: “In case it’s not on your radar, the Digital Health Conference is here in Madison this week and Judy Faulkner is a speaker this year. That’s notable because she rarely strays from the standard circuit.” Judy will participate in a panel discussion Wednesday morning on interoperability and information exchange. The other panelists are both Epic customers (Kaiser and St. Mary’s Hospital), so don’t be surprised if third-party EHRs fail to get much airtime in the interoperability discussion. Epic is also sponsoring the event.

From SNOMED Junkie: “Re: resignations. Both the CEO and chief technical architect of IHTSDO resigned today. That’s the non-profit that manages SNOMED content and distribution.” The announcements suggest that the Denmark-based organization made the change as part of a review of its long-term direction. …read more

Source: News 6/12/13