Will MU stage 3 rules be delayed? On Thursday, July 23, 2015 Senate HELP committee held a hearing on “Achieving the Promise of Health Information Technology: Information Blocking and Potential Solutions.” The committee continues with the fourth hearing on the subject to probe for answers on details and the scope of this problem.
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This week’s rundown includes: Quality Health Network & eHealth Technologies joining forces, highlights from the Digital Health Summer Summit, Orion Health named a leader in IDC HIE, & NextGen Healthcare successfully connects to Mass HIway.
By Andrew Gettinger MD – As we focus on making our health care ecosystem interoperable and building a continually improving learning health system, we need to ensure health IT enables safe, high quality care. We also know that doctors, nurses, and other clinicians that are all part of the care team are frustrated by health IT systems that are not coordinated or optimized to their workflow.
By William Hersh MD – I am increasingly asked to describe the difference between data science and biomedical informatics. Distinguishing these disciplines takes on added importance with the recent publication of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director, National Library of Medicine (NLM) Working Group, report on the future of the NLM, which calls for NLM to become a leader in data science at NIH.
As part of its goal to ensure that everyone can get quality healthcare regardless of where they live, the GE Foundation announced a three-year, $14 million grant to support Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), and its game-changing care delivery model that exponentially increases treatment capacity for common, complex conditions in medically underserved areas.
By Matt Fisher – A recent settlement announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) highlights the need to evaluate web-based applications and storage solutions. Web-based or cloud solutions are viable options and tools for healthcare entities to utilize, but those tools need to evaluated for compliance with HIPAA security requirements.
By CAPT Alicia Morton & Tricia Lee Wilkins – Improving and streamlining the testing and certification of health IT has long been a goal of ONC. To that end, on June 9th we published a notice in the Federal Register that reintroduced a flexibility included in the ONC Health IT Certification Program that allows the National Coordinator to consider test procedures, test tools, and test data developed by any person or entity for approved use.
By Rena Hrivnak – Implementation isn’t just about the new system, there’s also the process of taking the necessary steps to decommission legacy applications. The health system is in agreement that the application needs to be retired, but is unsure as to when and how the retirement process should begin.
By Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH – In many ways healthcare is like Mikko’s ballet company. Although information technology can enhance care planning, assist in medication administration and reduce duplicative testing, it cannot replace the people required to deliver care services to patients. Nurses are needed to administer medications, therapists are needed to provide treatments, and physicians are needed to diagnose illnesses and provide treatment plans.