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FISMA—a roadblock for EHRs?

FISMA is becoming a roadblock for electronic health record implementation, Government Health IT magazine reported this week. The Federal Information and Security Management Act (FISMA), passed by Congress in 2002 to better protect the federal government against cyber attacks, mandates information security standards for all federal agencies. This includes the flow of data between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and their contractors—over 200 hundred of them, processing billions [...]

 

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States take bigger role in promoting EHR adoption

Maryland further strengthened the goals of the stimulus package or the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) this past week by passing legislation that required insurers to provide “monetary” incentives for physicians to adopt electronic health records (EHR). The bill, signed by Governor Martin O’Malley, is one of the first of its kind to give sharper teeth to the EHR movement. Insurers may choose from a variety of fiscal incentives [...]

 

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Patients cheer on EHR technology, not afraid of privacy risks

Show me the technology! That is the conclusion of a study from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to be released in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) in June. The study reveals that consumers who are defined as “internet-savvy” are ready to take a chance on electronic health records (EHR) despite warnings of potential privacy risks. The study, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), investigated [...]

 

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AHA: Stretch Meaningful Use Timeline

HDM Breaking News, The federal government should extend the transition to a fully functional electronic health records system beyond 2015, according to the American Hospital Association. The AHA has sent a comment letter on the initial proposal of a workgroup of the HIT Policy Committee to define meaningful use of electronic health records to David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology. “Our members believe that the functional abilities of [...]

 

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AHA: Stretch Meaningful Use Timeline

HDM Breaking News, The federal government should extend the transition to a fully functional electronic health records system beyond 2015, according to the American Hospital Association. The AHA has sent a comment letter on the initial proposal of a workgroup of the HIT Policy Committee to define meaningful use of electronic health records to David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology. “Our members believe that the functional abilities of [...]

 

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Medicare to Pay Bonuses for 'E-Prescribing'

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter (HealthDay News) — Starting next year, doctors can earn additional money from Medicare if they use electronic prescribing systems, U.S. health officials said Monday. The bonus program, which will continue for four years, is designed to streamline the prescription process and cut down on errors. In 2009 and 2010, Medicare will give doctors an additional 2 percent bonus on top of their fee for “e-prescribing.” [...]

 

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AMA approves policies on security breaches, EHRs

By Andis Robeznieks / HITS staff writer Policies on security breaches, open source code, and government subsidies of electronic health-record systems have been adopted by the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates. The policies concern physicians’ responsibilities in case of computer security breaches and support of electronic health-record systems based on open-source code. Another policy calls for the removal of penalties that are scheduled to affect physicians who are not [...]

 

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Special Health IT Report: Electronic Prescribing Increasing Despite Glitches

By Ann Carrns Second of an occasional series on health information technology. Fayetteville, Ark. – Dr. Marek Durakiewicz initially welcomed the opportunity to send prescriptions to drugstores electronically, using free computer equipment provided by a state pilot program. The chief of staff at Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville, Tenn., Durakiewicz recognized the potential benefits of “e-prescribing.” Special software allows doctors to see instantly if the drug they are ordering is [...]

 

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Governors Announce State Rankings for E-Prescribing

Share your reviews with OmniMD, an E-Prescription solutions provider.

 

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E-Health Records Planned Despite Stimulus Uncertainty

More than 50% of healthcare providers surveyed by IVANS do not believe the federal stimulus package will successfully encourage health IT adoption. By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee InformationWeek Although a majority of healthcare providers remain skeptical about how they’ll benefit by the federal government’s $20 billion stimulus program, many plan to forge ahead anyway, according to a report released this week. About seven in 10 healthcare providers believe electronic medical records [...]

 

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Stimulus money boosts health clinics serving poor

By KRISTEN WYATT ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Homeless teenagers at a central Colorado shelter are feeling the effect of the government’s economic stimulus package. It’s the feeling of a dentist’s drill. The 20 runaway youths living at the Urban Peak shelter had no regular dental care until this spring, when a $1.3 million stimulus grant to a community health center paid for a mobile dental and medical [...]

 

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Reports: Hospital Health IT Spending, EHR Market To Grow

A new report from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s research arm predicts that U.S. hospitals will spend about $4.7 billion on health IT this year and about $6.8 billion by 2014, Health Data Management reports. For the report, titled “Essentials of the U.S. Hospital Market, 4th Edition,” HIMSS Analytics surveyed 5,100 hospitals. The researchers projected that health IT would account for about 43% to 48% of total hospital [...]

 

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Electronic Prescribing Sees Significant Growth, Surescripts' Report Finds

Adoption of electronic prescribing has increased significantly since 2006, but further action must be taken to continue its growth, according to e-prescribing network Surescripts’ annual National Progress Report on E-Prescribing, Healthcare IT News reports. Report Details, Findings The report details the status of e-prescribing adoption and use in the U.S. from 2006 through 2008. According to the report, more than 100,000 prescribers now are transmitting e-prescriptions (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, [...]

 

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Obama budget reflects IT promise

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s expanded fiscal year 2010 budget signals continued commitment to advancing healthcare IT as a way to cut healthcare costs and save lives. Obama’s $3.4 trillion federal budget, released May 8, expanded the outline he presented to Congress at the end of February. It includes $879 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated $63 billion increase over fiscal year 2009. The Agency [...]