Health Care It Scope

For health insurers, the soaring popularity of mobile smartphones and tablet devices has created a new platform to connect with members, physicians and brokers. But while the technology offers almost limitless potential, health insurers are in the early...

In the course of meeting Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria, Beaufort Memorial Hospital in Beaufort, S.C., will have the basic infrastructure in place for health information exchange, which by design will enable meeting the more complex HIE requirements...

[keyword id='Healthcare'] One of the biggest current obstacles to health information exchanges (HIEs) is the rather thorny matter of consent to data sharing. Patients are not the only wary ones, either. Providers often see patient protected health...

Summer of 2012 will be an interesting time in healthcare, as Stage 2 requirements of meaningful use will finally come to light. In the meantime, doubts remain regarding the successful adoption of Stage 2 – and whether it’s even possible. As of now,...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Laura Kolkman, founder and president, Mosaica Partners"][/caption] Regional Extension Centers (RECs) and health information exchange (HIE) initiatives share a common purpose: enabling the exchange...

HealthAmerica and Preferred Primary Care Physicians have launched a new pilot program aimed at providing more coordinated and patient-centered primary care and improved communications among patients, physicians and care teams. Preferred consists of 32...

This week, a loose federation of left-leaning groups is convening nearly 200 gatherings to peddle the virtues of health-care reform. A women’s speak-out in Philadelphia. A small-business round-table discussion in Albuquerque. A fish fry for seniors...

Despite a shortened selling season, looming reimbursement cuts and fewer health plan operators in the marketplace, industry observers predict overall enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will tick upward a bit next year. And 2011 could be a huge...

HHS awarded more than $14 million in grants to support programs that the agency said will promote more informed health decisions and options that are best suited to an individual patient's needs and preferences. The funding is part of investments made...

The American healthcare industry is in the early stages of a transition that will change the way healthcare is researched, delivered, paid for, marketed, prescribed, tracked and consumed. And it's long overdue. Among the trends accelerating this sea...

In a bid to develop the Nationwide Health Information Network and ensure that hospitals utilize IT systems to the best of their ability, a new bill will give incentive payments to centers that implement them. The bipartisan bill, put together...

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has released its long awaited interim final rule for electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The new rule became effective on June 1, 2010, and could be revised later on the basis of public comment. The...

PORTLAND, ME – Like other healthcare leaders in Maine, David Howes does not expect to hear anything new on healthcare reform when President Barack Obama makes a stop here Thursday, but Howes, a physician and CEO of Portland, Maine-based Martin’s Point...

By Mary Mosquera The National Quality Forum has published a standard set of clinical data elements to measure quality performance that electronic health records should be able to capture across all care settings. It will make it easier to compare...

By Neil Versel Dr. David Blumenthal has been national coordinator for health information technology for a little more than six months now, and for all the health IT meetings I go to, teleconferences I listen in on and webinars I participate in, Wednesday...