The Dept. of Health and Human Services obviously listened to the resounding criticism that the proposed meaningful use criteria were asking for too much, too soon or all or nothing. Read »

The most well-known patient privacy advocate voiced her support for the Dept. of Health and Human Services' new patient privacy policy. Read »

While Congress was in recess, President Obama appointed Donald Berwick, MD, to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has been without an administrator since 2006. Let's forget the usual politics for a moment and focus on the impact this appointment will make on health IT adoption. Read »

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently launched an official web site for its EHR incentive programs. It's a great idea, but it should have been launched soon after the programs were announced. Read »

With the looming deadlines resulting from the HITECH Act, physicians are scrambling to choose and implement technology that will meet meaningful use guidelines certified by the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Read »

They say all healthcare is local. That could also be said about the regional extension centers (RECs) anointed by the Dept. of Health and Human Services and ONC. The existing entities have a history of serving the community and are in the best position to help healthcare providers implement EHRs and EMRs, and qualify for meaningful use of these systems. Read »

The Dept. of Health and Human Services is going to be conducting two surveys on patient perceptions of EHRs. Getting patient buy-in is just as critical as having physicians adopt health IT. It's one thing to get physicians to use the system. It's another thing if patients don't want their physicians to have electronic records on them. Read »

The Dept. of Health and Human Services will soon announce the 15 communities - from a pool of 130 applicants - that will serve as the Beacon Communities. Read »

Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) and Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA) introduced the Health Information Technology Extension for Behavioral Health Services Act of 2010 late last week. Read »

Texas Medical Association (TMA) released the results of its EMR 2009 Report. Reflecting a national trend, the percentage of physicians in the state who report using an EHR has grown from 27 percent in 2005 to 33 percent in 2007 and now 43 percent in 2009. There is a lot of positive data to be mined from TMA's survey, but the most interesting is the data on those physicians who reported that they do not plan on implementing an EHR. Read »