Today is my last blog for EHRWatch.com. On Monday, I hand off to veteran health IT editor Frank Irving, who will be blogging daily about the dynamic world of EHRs. Frank has more than 20 years of experience and I look forward to his views on the transformation of the healthcare industry as we move from paper to electronic. Please give a warm welcome to Frank. Read »

Cory Franklin wrote an op-ed piece for the Guardian, which included his thoughts that government should not "pay to abandon the horse and buggy" (referring paper records as the horse and buggy). He argues that the markets, thanks to the new generation of technology users - both patients and providers - will drive adoption of health IT. The federal programs are a "classic government overreach," according to Franklin. Read »

Northwestern Medicine researchers were able to mine data from EMRs at five national sites and accurately identify patients with five specific diseases, which greatly speeds the formation of a large pool of patients for genetic studies. Their findings were published in Science Translational Medicine. Read »

Ronald Sroka, MD, has practiced family medicine in Crofton, Md., for 32 years. At 62 years old, he's on the verge of shuttering his solo practice he can't sell or even give away. Higher costs and lower reimbursements have been forcing him in that direction, and now federal mandates in the form of EHR adoption and ACOs will likely accelerate his retirement date, which mirrors a growing trend of older solo physicians exiting medical practice. Read »

Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis reported a box of paper patient records stolen in February. An official of the regionally integrated healthcare network said that they had hoped to find the box, which was being sent to another facility across town, before having to notify patients. Read »

The iPad is a hit with consumers. It's also a hit with physicians, and that may prove to be a boon for the adoption of EHRs. Read »

Business and technology columnist Sydney Hill had an interesting column about relaxing his efforts to keep his personal information private and his overall view of privacy in a digital environment. Read »

Now that Farzad Mostashari, MD, has stepped into his role as the National Coordinator for Health IT, many in the industry who don't know him or his past work very well should take comfort in something he said at his first meeting as ONC head: "I know from personal experience implementing electronic health records in small doctors' offices in some underserved communities in New York and health centers and hospital outpatient partners just how incredibly hard this work." Read »

The National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) has partnered with an e-prescribing solutions vendor to be able to offer its 45,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the country access to DrFirst's technology offerings. Read »

Healthcare providers are reportedly flocking to social media as a marketing channel. If this is a trend, is there any synergy between social media adoption and EHR adoption? Read »