April, 2011

Delay of meaningful use stage 2 roll out a possibility

Health care IT stakeholders leading the creation of meaningful use criteria are pondering whether to delay the start of stage 2 as the ramifications of electronic health record (EHR) implementation begin to sink in.

Members of the meaningful use...

On your marks, get set, attest: Medicare EHR incentive program begins

Those who can attest to meeting Stage 1 meaningful use criteria for a 90-day span, congratulations! If you've had your act together since January 1, you could be in the first group to claim money through...

Examining patient portal functionality

Last week I tried to use my primary care physician's patient portal for the first time. The server was down, so I couldn't log in. I was disappointed....

Mostashari replaces Blumenthal as national coordinator

Dr. Farzad Mostashari is the new national coordinator for health information technology, the Department of Health & Human Services has announced. He replaces

Family physicians get their own national clinical data repository

One of the more vexing issues in the national push for electronic health record (EHR) systems is that of getting solo physicians and small group practices to realize the quality gains to be made from analyzing the newly searchable patient data that's been freshly liberated from paper. In large...

Mind the gap: Between meaningful use criteria and accountable care orgs

Last week, the Department of Health & Human Services released its 429-page proposed rule for accountable care organizations (ACOs). The proposed rule includes a number of references to the meaningful use of electronic health...

Trying to take a patient portal for a test drive

The patient portal is one of the cornerstones of 21st-century doctor-patient communication. Plus, with meaningful use requiring health care providers to give patients electronic access...

CMS official explains the EHR attestation process

Providers may begin the attestation process for receiving electronic health record incentive payments April 18, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced.