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 Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) recently signed on seven hospitals, nine medical practices and four community mental health centers to share patient data through its health information exchange platform. Read »

If you build or create something, wouldn't you take into account ease of use? It is unfathomable then that most EHR vendors do not systematically conduct EHR usability testing, according to Jiajie Zhang, who is overseeing a federal research project on the science of EHR usability in the SHARP program. Read »

In the early days of the movement when the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's health IT summit did not include nursing groups, leaders in the profession responded by establishing a coalition and strategic vision around health IT adoption. Read »

I spoke with David Blumenthal, MD, on Wednesday about the current HITECH Act policies and Stage 2 meaningful use criteria, among other things. Dr. Blumenthal was quick to point out that his departure this spring as National Coordinator for Health IT will not create a continuity issue. Why? Read »

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation's (HHC) revelation that electronic protected health information (PHI) of nearly 1.7 million people was stolen brings up a troubling aspect of the privacy and security of EHRs. Your organization can have sophisticated, thorough technology, processes and policies in place, but all it takes is one act of negligence by a business partner and you’re stuck with a big mess to clean up. Read »

The results of a study conducted by a Stanford University Research team may compel you to put a nail in the coffin of EHRs, but hold that hammer. Read »