Blumenthal: "It's just the beginning of the beginning"
Date: Sep 03, 2010
I don't normally blog on Fridays, but after speaking with Dr. David Blumenthal, head of ONC, yesterday after the announcement of the final two Beacon communities, I didn't want to wait to post until Tuesday.   Read »

EHR market’s exponential growth
Date: Sep 02, 2010
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan pegs the EHR market to double in growth in three years, from $1.3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2012. The research firm noted that the HITECH Act's federal incentive programs and healthcare reform are two of the drivers for the uptick.   Read »

Detroit Medical Center posts ROI from EMR deployment
Date: Sep 01, 2010
The recent announcement by Detroit Medical Center officials that the deployment of their EMR has reaped five million dollars in savings and improved patient safety is tempered by the fact that the hospital's journey began in 1998. Furthermore, DMC pumped $50 million through the years to get its system up and running. This should not discourage hospitals that are just now implementing EMRs.   Read »

It's official: CCHIT and the Drummond Group can certify EHR products
Date: Aug 31, 2010
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT announced that it has authorized the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology and the Drummond Group to certify EHR products to qualify for the federal incentives for meaningful use of EHRs.   Read »

Hospital use of EHRs: Not much progress
Date: Aug 30, 2010
A recent report shows that despite the big push for health IT adoption, only 2 percent of hospitals in the U.S. can meet the federal government's criteria for meaningful use of EHRs. Are you surprised?   Read »

Using smartphones to drive EHR adoption
Date: Aug 26, 2010
Several studies point to a higher adoption rate of smartphones by physicians than the general public. Given the historical low rates of technology adoption within the healthcare industry, this news may come as a surprise.   Read »

The Mad dash to health IT adoption
Date: Aug 25, 2010
Despite the relaxation of the proposed meaningful use criteria for the adoption of EHRs and EMRs, critics claim that the final rule is still too stringent and the rushed timeline will doom the whole transformation to a fully electronic healthcare delivery system. Politics aside, the critiques are actually a good thing.   Read »

Hospitals and physician offices should collaborate over EHRs
Date: Aug 24, 2010
Everyone in the industry is painfully aware of the state of hospitals today, even before the economic recession sent healthcare providers down a darker, deeper spiral. Add healthcare reform and the federal incentives for the meaningful use of health IT to the mix, and you’ve got major changes that would make mere survival monumental.   Read »

Higher efficiency gleaned from EHRs
Date: Aug 23, 2010
Emergency rooms fully equipped with EHRs have been credited with treating patients who eventually have shorter hospital stays than hospitals that have paper or basic EHRs, according to a new study.   Read »

Tough, but not unreachable road to meaningful use
Date: Aug 19, 2010
An editorial in the American Medical Association's American Medical News applauded the relaxation of the proposed meaningful use criteria when HHS came out with the final rule in July. Still, the editorial says that the road to meaningful use will be "tough."   Read »