TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT
08/31/10 04:09 pm ET
Spending on health IT systems at the state and local level will surge almost 20 percent over the next five years, a trickle compared to the 20 percent annual growth rate forecast for the healthcare IT market in China. >>
08/30/10 05:29 pm ET
The Health and Human Services Department announced on Monday that it selected the first two organizations that will review whether electronic health record system meet the standards and certification criteria the federal government has set.>>
08/27/10 06:01 pm ET
The Veterans Affairs Department has added its Richard L. Roudebush Medical Center in Indianapolis to a list to test medical data exchange through the Nationwide Health Information Network in partnership with the Indiana Health Information Exchange, the largest health information exchange organization in the United States. >>
08/26/10 10:04 am ET
IT folks, in their perpetual quest to protect computerized data, favor ever-more-complicated user passwords. Doctors are crying, "Enough!">>
08/25/10 10:30 am ET
The best lessons learned are those you don't have to learn yourself. At least, that seems to be the idea behind a free, downloadable guide incorporating the experience of about 170 health IT professionals who have already implemented electronic health records (EHRs) in their organizations.>>
08/24/10 05:58 pm ET
We've all heard of electronic whiteboards used to add a little punch to usually boring presentations, but how about "electronic bed boards" to track the status of hospital beds?>>
08/23/10 03:38 pm ET
The inexorable march toward the future of health care--one that is digitized, codified and interconnected--has passed another milestone.>>
08/20/10 03:30 pm ET
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated the launch this week of an ambitious "telehealth" system that will use a dedicated broadband network to link hospitals and clinics throughout the country's most populous state. >>
08/19/10 05:03 pm ET
More physicians are starting to log on to Twitter to connect with patients, promote their practices and discuss issues like health care reform. Dr. Howard Luks, an orthopedic surgeon who's chief of sports medicine and arthroscopy at University Orthopedics and Westchester Medical Center north of New York City, is one.>>
08/18/10 05:34 pm ET
I'm married with children, so the concept of personal privacy is one that I abandoned years go. >>
08/17/10 04:27 pm ET
The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has identified three characteristics of successful health IT rollouts that will allow providers that attain meaningful use of electronic health records to realize $40 billion in annual savings.>>
08/16/10 05:06 pm ET
The Health and Human Services Department announced $46 million in grants to 45 states and the District of Columbia to apply a check on the increase in health insurance premiums. Part of the money, which came from the 2010 Affordable Care Act, will pay for upgrades to systems or for tools states "need to hold insurance companies accountable and put a halt to unreasonable premium increases," the White House Blog stated.>>
08/13/10 12:14 pm ET
The federal government softened "meaningful use" standards for electronic health records, released last month, in response to criticism that proposed rules released earlier in the year were overly onerous. Critics included the Amerian Hospital Association and the American Medical Association. >>
08/12/10 02:01 pm ET
When it comes to managing patients' electronic medical records, insurance companies would not be an obvious choice for the job. After all, insurers are notorious for using information to deny claims. Can you say "pre-existing condition?" The seemingly inherent conflict of interest is akin to that of having the proverbial fox guard the eternally vulnerable hen house. In health care as in poultry management, the well-being of entities under care is brought into question. >>
08/11/10 11:22 am ET
Adolescents with diabetes are more likely to follow treatment plans and register improved blood-glucose levels when they receive weekly text messages reminders, a new pilot study finds. >>
08/10/10 06:04 pm ET
Arkansas is considering building a vaccine registry for adults so that doctors can quickly check if an Arkansas resident has had a specific shot. From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:>>
08/09/10 05:19 pm ET
Who has a better chance of finding a job after being out of work for, say, six months? A software programmer (particularly in the health field) or a construction worker?>>
08/06/10 09:38 am ET
Two large medical certification boards declared on Thursday their intention to make physicians' use of health information technology a standard by which those boards will assess and certify the competency of doctors. >>
08/05/10 11:58 am ET
Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation that would increase by millions of dollars each the amount of meaningful use incentive funds that multicampus hospitals could receive. >>
08/04/10 10:23 am ET
General Electric and Intel have formed a joint venture to develop health IT products for exploiting the lucrative and fast-growing chronic care market.>>
08/03/10 02:40 pm ET
If you're a software coding guru, the National Library of Medicine -- and breastfeeding mothers everywhere -- need you. >>
08/02/10 12:22 pm ET
Standards that facilitate the sharing of electronic medical records between health care providers still aren't perfect, according to members of the federal advisory Health IT Standards Committee. >>
