Does the real key to the health IT transition lie in getting patients to take responsibility for their own healthcare? Read »

The Arizona Regional Extension Center (REC) announced on Nov. 8 the launch of its Vendor Alliance Program as part of overall efforts to help eligible healthcare providers achieve meaningful use of certified EHRs. The Arizona REC said the program would offer strategic guidance and recommendations on EHR vendor selection, yet still allows providers flexibility and choice in their decision-making. Read »

A report released Oct. 24 by research firm SK&A finds that the likelihood of EHR adoption at physician offices increases in correlation with rises in the number of doctors practicing, the number of exam rooms and average daily patient volume at each site. Read »

Guest commentary Read »

On Aug. 15, Resurrection Health Care (RHC), a six-hospital, not-for-profit health system in Chicago, announced that it had begun activation of its system-wide EHR in its ambulatory care facilities. According to RHC, more than 20 outpatient care sites activated Epic's software product that provides scheduling, registration, billing and medical information management functions. RHC said the medical record portion of the software will be activated site-by-site over the next 6-8 months. Read »

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host an EHR usability workshop June 7 at the agency’s Gaithersburg, Md., campus. NIST said the free workshop will bring together personnel from industry, government, academia and the healthcare provider sector “to identify models and methods for collaborating to improve the usability of EHR systems.” 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 »

The weather's been horrible across the country but spring is just around the corner. For the health IT industry, that means National Coordinator David Blumenthal’s days are winding down before he leaves office and heads back to Harvard. While no successor has been named yet, the role he or she will have to fill is perhaps even harder than what Blumenthal had to face when he came on board. Read »

The 62 regional extension centers (RECs) provided feedback that enabled the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to announce the rollout of five new initiatives aimed at driving greater EHR adoption. They're great ideas, but shouldn't they have been in place when the RECs were first announced? In other words, shouldn't ONC have anticipated these needs? Read »

Coming off of my Facebook-focused blog from yesterday, I'll turn to the recent leak of State Dept. documents on WikiLeaks. Read »