On November 2, 2009, the Texas-based Drummond Group Inc. announced in a Press Release that it will submit to become a certifying body upon the release of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) requirements for certifying bodies for Electronic Health Records (EHR). ONC is currently working on the scope and definition
EHR and PHR
“In The Event That I Can No Longer Make Decisions For Myself, I Wish …” – Storing Advanced Directives on GoogleHealth
Google Health and National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Caring Connections have partnered to allow patients to store and access their advance directives on line. Advance directives are essentially "directions" that a person gives to their medical professionals about what interventions they wish to have provided or withheld under specific circumstances — especially in emergencies and…
Relationship of “Meaningful Use” of EHR, and the Department of Veterans Affairs
[Installment 5 – Governance Considerations from HIT for the Board and Other Hospital Stakeholders]
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts that relate to the governance concerns surrounding developments in HIPAA, HITECH and HIT.
The other week, two separate and apparently unrelated events occurred on consecutive days with respect to electronic health records…
Sharing of Electronic Health Records Among Hospitals
“Incentive Payments”; “Board of Trustees”; “Hospital Board Duties”; “Jim Landers”…
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Will Too Much “Meaning” = Not Enough Use?
When I first reviewed the Matrix and other documents released by the HIT Policy Committee’s “Meaningful Use” Workgroup, my initial reaction was “When did defining ‘Meaningful Use’ of EHR morph into attempting to use EHRs to ‘meaningfully’ reform the entire healthcare delivery system.”? More simply put, the Workgroup’s initial recommendations seemed to me to …
“Meaningful Use” Definition Recommendation Due out June 16th
The HIT Policy Committee is suppose to unveil its recommendations on the definition of "Meaningful Use" of electronic health records (EHRs) on June 16th, reports Health Data Management. Any approved definition of "Meaningful Use" would then be forwarded to the Office of National Coordinator for further consideration.
What will constitute "Meaningful Use" of an EHR has been…
Review Health Information Before You Click “Upload to Google Health”
Using Google Health, a free personal health record tool, requires patients to be proactive both in terms of creating their electronic health record (EHR) and in checking the accuracy of the information loaded into the EHR, particularly when it comes from insurance claims data. An article published in the April 13, 2009 issue of "The …
NYT, NEJM Report Doctors Not “Sold” on EHRs
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has been called the most significant legislation to ever address health information technology, but it is no cure-all, say many physicians. The legislation, which was signed into law as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009, provides…
EHR Demo Applications Due November 26, 2008
Phase I of CMS’s EHR Demonstration project began September 1, 2008. Physicians selected by CMS to participate in this EHR demo project will be eligible to receive incentives totaling up to $58,000 per physician over five years or $290,000 per practice over five years.
CMS’s selected Community Partners are now accepting applications from eligible physicians located in the following…
Best Practices for HealthVault and Google Health
At the end of June, Investor’s Business Daily reported that Google, Microsoft, Aetna, Blue Cross/ and 27 other private organizations "agreed on" ground rules for protecting the privacy of the sensitive information" c
ontained in personal health records (PHRs). Their Report indicated that the group has been working together for the past 18 months, and on Wednesday, June 26th, released the …