March 2010 Archives
By Allan Holmes
03/31/10 11:00 am ET
It didn't take long for controversy to swirl around a $26 million contract the Health and Human Services Department recently awarded to a major public relations firm to sooth the public's fear that their privacy may be compromised as the medical industry moves to electronic health records. (Nearly 60 percent of Americans surveyed last year said they were not confident that their medical information would be properly protected in an EHR, according to a poll conducted by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University's School of Public Health.)>>
By John Pulley
03/30/10 03:27 pm ET
The Health & Human Services Department has enlisted a private public relations firm to persuade Americans that health information technology systems will protect their personal health information. The contract will pay Ketchum $26 million to devise the public education campaign, reports Government Health IT. >>
By Allan Holmes
03/29/10 05:42 pm ET
Just how effective are government incentive payments to physicians to encourage them to adopt electronic health records? So, so, according to a survey conducted by a data interchange company in Massachusetts.>>
By John Pulley
03/26/10 05:45 pm ET
The use of scare tactics to undermine health reform continues. Fox News suggested this week that efforts to expand the use of electronic medical records raise concerns "about government access to Americans' medical history ... and what the government will do once it has access to Americans' medical history.">>
By John Pulley
03/24/10 07:05 pm ET
Making law is often compared to making sausage, but the crafting of health care reform that unfolded over the past year more resembled the intractable twisting and turning of a taffy puller. If nothing else, the epic process provided a ready-made excuse for reluctant readers: Why peruse today a bill that will change again tomorrow? >>
By John Pulley
03/24/10 02:23 pm ET
Seeking to ensure that the nation's burgeoning health IT infrastructure lives up to expectations, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has released the first phase of "a new health IT test method and related software." Three additional installments are to follow. >>
By Allan Holmes
03/23/10 04:44 pm ET
One of the least covered areas in the health care debate was the amount of technology that underlies the reforms, at least not in the mainstream media. But for the reforms to bring down costs as the Obama administration envisions, it's going to take a lot of applied technology. >>
By Allan Holmes
03/22/10 04:57 pm ET
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is getting a new deputy director. His name is Craig Brammer and he's (now) the former project director of Aligning Forces for Quality in Cincinnati. >>
By John Pulley
03/19/10 09:06 am ET
At a time when the national unemployment rate hovers above 10 percent, the health IT sector has more shovel-ready jobs in the pipe than there are qualified hi-tech shovelers. >>
By John Pulley
03/18/10 03:05 pm ET
As of this week, HHS has awarded funds for building health information exchanges, the nervous system of an advanced health IT system, to every state and eligible territory. Dr. David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology, said the occasion marked a "significant milestone" in attaining the seamless exchange of health information that is needed to improve patient care. >>
By Allan Holmes
03/16/10 06:33 pm ET
Wired Executive Editor Thomas Goetz, writing for The Huffington Post on Tuesday, explained why health technology, unlike, say, advancing computer technology, doesn't bring health costs down, but actually causes them to increase - a lot. Here's his reasoning:
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By John Pulley
03/15/10 05:01 pm ET
Yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre is one way to start a riot. Yelling "free candy" at the concession stand is another. The chaos is just as disruptive. Hence the potential for the mother of all chocolate messes as health care providers stampede to gobble up billions of dollars in federal sweeteners cooked up to promote greater use of health IT.>>
By Allan Holmes
03/12/10 03:00 pm ET
In light of a system at the Veterans Affairs Department mixing up patient data, it may be a good idea that a panel advising the Health and Human Services Department on electronic health records proposed on Friday a system into which clinicians could "report instances - noticeably inaccurate patient data or an EHR technical glitch, for instance - that they believed might compromise patient safety," Government Health IT reported on Friday.>>
By John Pulley
03/11/10 06:05 pm ET
The coiners of maxims about relative strength -- the pen is mightier than the sword. Superman's more powerful than a locomotive. Love conquers all -- have long overlooked the humble carrot.>>
By John Pulley
03/10/10 05:57 pm ET
Dr. David Blumenthal, chief evangelist in the crusade to move American healthcare into the electronic age, is a recovering Luddite.>>
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