EHR

AHRQ on Alert Fatigue

By William Hyman – Alert fatigue as it is now described arises from the excessive or otherwise ineffectual presentations of advisories while using an EHR. Alert fatigue parallels another common problem which is audible alarm fatigue from medical devices. In both of these more is not necessarily better, and might be worse.



$28 Billion Gone Out the HITECH Window

By Donna Cusano – In 2009, the US Congress enacted the HITECH Act, as part of a much broader recovery measure (ARRA or ‘the stimulus’), authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to spend up to $35 billion to expand health IT and create a network of interoperable EHRs.


Technology Standards and Considering the User

By Matt Gretczko. Meaningful use – it’s a huge buzz word, and rightfully so. Whether you agree or disagree with the manner in which it has been “implemented” (and the intricacies of the guidelines), it has been a driving factor in pushing healthcare organizations towards greater technology adoption. Money, especially in Healthcare, remains a rather significant momentum driver for many organizations.


Preparing for Integrating Patient-Generated Data into an EHR

By William van Doornik – Patient portals, mobile apps, secure text messaging, and email are increasing collaboration between providers and patients in new ways. Meaningful Use Stage 3 proposed requirements will likely be a driving force in determining how patient generated data (PGD) will be interpreted, used, and integrated into electronic health records (EHRs).



JASON and the EHRnauts

To the extent that query capabilities are included in MU Stage 3, we are at an awkward moment in standards development: Older standards such as XDS/XCA are mature but inherently limited, whereas newer API-based standards are not yet ready for large-scale adoption.