It’s no secret that an HIT implementation project takes time and energy. Read »

High-acuity patients and surging patient volumes combine to make the emergency department (ED) a care setting with high variability and potential for medical error. Read »

The world healthcare IT market is expected to grow from $99.6 billion in 2010 to $162.2 billion in 2015, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 10 percent, according to business intelligence and market research firm ReportsnReports. 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 Leapfrog Group named 16 Kaiser Permanente hospitals among the total of 65 hospitals nationwide that were recognized as a Top Hospital for meeting strict standards for quality, patient safety and efficiency. Read »

A mid-November survey of 191 members of the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIMES) reveals that hospital CIOs are less confident they will meet Stage 1 meaningful use criteria and therefore not qualify early for EHR federal stimulus funds. Read »

Doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, say computerized physician order entry (CPOE), which is typically one of the first functionalities used in EHRs, has saved lives at their institution. It marks the first time evidence, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, has been presented that links EHRs with a decrease in mortality. Read »

The great thing about the HIMSS10 roundtable that I attended this past Wednesday was that there were great discussions, which means multiple blog entries for me. Read »

A new study from the June issue of the American Journal of Managed Care concludes that EHRs can dramatically reduce costs and save resources compared to managed care programs for high-risk cardiac patients. The study shows that even minimal use of an EHR can help prevent costly medical procedures and increase quality of life in millions of patients at risk for chronic diseases, the number one global killer according to the World Health Organization. Read »

As I read about the myriad challenges of EHR adoption, one aspect in particular strikes home. One thing many CCHIT-Certified EHRs have in common is their perceived complexity; the number of buttons to click, pages to examine, and alerts to read can be overwhelming. In fact, when we spoke with Cathy Bruno at Eastern Maine Medical Center, the Davies Award-winning hospital in Bangor, Maine, she said one of their main challenges was reducing the nearly 10,000 notifications the system would generate down to a handful of truly meaningful alerts. Read »