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AHA comments on IFR for standards and certification
by Patty Enrado

The American Hospital Association (AHA) submitted to ONC its recommendations for changes to the Interim Final Rule on Monday, March 15. All the comments are in. Since the IFRs were released, we've been mucking around in the details (along with the devil, so to speak). As we wait for ONC to sift through the recommendations and figure out which to incorporate, we as an industry need to ask ourselves: What's the end goal? I believe the consensus is that we want health IT to enable providers to deliver high-quality care, reduce medical errors and lower the cost of care through efficient processes.

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Recent Comments

CCHIT says IFR on standards and certification may slow adoption rate

CCHIT took a very authoritarian and micro-managed approach to EHR/EMR certification. They certified the major vendors in "interoperability" but did not require them to interoperate with other vendors, especially highly developed niche application vendors. Just because CCHIT chose the methods it chose for certification, does not mean that IFR is not a better way to go. CCHIT and its certification scheme are really a products of the major vendors and their attempt to keep a stranglehold on the enterprise healthcare IT market. It really had nothing to do with expanding the use and fostering creativity in the market.


HIMSS10 Roundtable Part I: Should EMRs and EHRs get all the attention?

Undoubtedly, EMR/EHR is one of the foundations of a sound health IT strategy - but it's not the only leg. For example, we've been able to demonstrate to long-term care providers, such as nursing care and residential care providers, that there's opportunity to enhance service quality and control costs with other, proven enterprise systems (http://www.augurynet.com/why-hit-means-more). An integrated, multi-focal IT environment is lacking in many healthcare providers.


Google CEO eyes national EHR database

i totally disagree with the government backing out with it's health insurance responsibilities, now that the recession is here. the gov't should act on it's own to catch every person dying or falling from high paid bills. it should be covered and given as a provision for every american!


It'll take more than money to spur EHR adoption

Good point. I believe, however, EHR vendors understand that their products need to be able to talk with other systems. The market won't support them; they're more knowledgeable now. That said, there are interface vendors whose products will connect disparate systems. They're doing it now. You'll be seeing it at the HIMSS10 Interoperability Showcase in Atlanta in a few weeks.


It'll take more than money to spur EHR adoption

What will really boost EHR adoption is those records being easily interchangeable. EHR is a valuable resource, and should be faced as such. Many "wanna be" EHR applications using proprietary formats will simply put physicians in a positions similar to that of a fully equipped Zulu warrior left alone in the middle of Ukraine: he has its resources, Ukrainians have theirs, but they cannot cooperate at all, once nobody knows each other's language. Interchangeability will not be naturally born from competition, and I'm afraid the gold rush for the US government's money might promote the appearance of many information islands in ...