By Karen DeSalvo MD & Lisa Lewis – We have witnessed dramatic changes in the adoption and use of health IT over the past decade. The nation has transformed from paper-based record keeping into an environment where nearly all of the nation’s hospitals and three-quarters of the nation’s eligible providers are using certified health IT.
Read More
By John Halamka MD – On May 19th, I spent the day in Washington with a group of government, provider, and developer stakeholders convened by the IHI. We operated under Chatham House Rules, so I can summarize the discussion but not identify any of the participants or their specific statements. Here are three questions we discussed and the observations we made.
By Brian Mack – A colleague’s family member was recently admitted to the hospital after experiencing dizziness and disorientation. The person was transported by ambulance to the nearest emergency room, which was unfortunately not affiliated with their regular health system. At first, this was disconcerting for my colleague.
By Susannah Fox – Every spring, our team in the HHS IDEA Lab gears up for our biggest event of the year: the Health Datapalooza. It’s an annual celebration of the power of data that was started by my predecessor, Todd Park, in 2010. This year, we were honored to hear from an extraordinary lineup of leaders from private industry, academia and the federal government, including Vice President Biden.
By Keith Boone – This is definitely one of those cases that most people will likely miss unless it is explicitly called out, so here I go. Within the recently released MIPS/MACRA proposed regulations (which I call NuMu for reasons that should be readily apparent), CMS indicates that the legislation (law not regulation!) says:
By Stacy State – Others have written about what healthcare can learn from online retailer Zappos—but it’s worth taking another look at how Zappos’ core values can be applied to any organization, whether a small family practice or a multi-billion-dollar health system. Even billing services and other medical-service organizations can apply the customer- and culture-focused lessons that are at the core of Zappos’ growth and success.
By Chris Dymek EdD – Last week I attended Health Datapalooza VII, an annual conference where over 1,400 experts gathered to discuss how to bring data to life in ways that matter in health and health care. I wanted to share a few post-conference reflections on how AHRQ can address some of the important issues raised.
Bennett Lauber – The efficient and effective use of Electronic Health Records are essential, as these systems are increasingly becoming a central tool for patient care. The HITECH Act provided providers with a significant financial incentive to increase the adoption and use of EHRs.
By William Hyman – One use of a Clinical Decision Support system (CDS) is to remind doctors of what the “established” standardized methodology is. One key issue here is established by whom? Another is, depending on complexity, why the clinical staff doesn’t follow the established procedure whether or not it is supported by a CDS.