One of the ongoing challenges for healthcare providers is ensuring continuity of care as patients transition from in-house healthcare settings to home. Read »

As part of ONC’s Beacon Communities program, several San Diego healthcare providers are getting set to launch a health information exchange (HIE) that will link area hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and other health care facilities electronically. Read »

ONC directors past and present will be leading off at the 2011 ONC Annual Meeting, which will be held tomorrow, November 17, in Washington, D.C. Read »

Morton County Health System, located in Elkhart, Kansas, became the first hospital in the state to receive stimulus funds under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. The hospital recently received more than $1.4 million under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services program, which provides incentive payments to eligible professionals/hospitals and critical-access facilities that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Read »

In interview excerpts published June 2, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, told Barda Vaida of Kaiser Health News that the cost of EHRs has come down. Read »

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 »

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 »

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has named Farzad Mostashari, MD, the new national coordinator. As most in the industry know, Mostashari was the deputy under former ONC head David Blumenthal, MD, when Blumenthal took over in the summer of 2009. Read »