U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced this morning an important Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) funding opportunity, which is part of a Department-wide effort to achieve the safe and secure exchange and use of electronic health information to improve health and transform care as outlined in the Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap, Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap Version 1.0.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)  released Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap Version 1.0. The draft Roadmap is a proposal to deliver better care and result in healthier people through the safe and secure exchange and use of electronic health information.

CMS announced plans to issue a rule that would update the meaningful use program to give eligible providers and eligible hospitals more flexibility in meeting program requirements, Healthcare Informatics reports.

Lawmakers in Congress are circulating a revised draft bill intended to develop a regulatory framework for FDA's oversight of health IT, FierceHealthIT reports (Bowman, FierceHealthIT, 1/26).

A coalition of 35 medical societies led by the American Medical Association sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo calling for major changes to the meaningful use electronic health record certification program, The Hill reports.

Meaningful Use Stage 3 Webinar

AHRQ is hosting a webinar January 28 from 12:30 to 2pm (EST) on meeting Stage 3 Meaningful Use Objectives. This presentation will outline findings from research on meaningful use of clinical decision support, care coordination and electronic health records in primary care settings. Determination of continuing medical education credit with the American Academy of Family Physicians is pending.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/751882952
Register now!

While most physicians own a smartphone, few use their personal device to access or communicate through electronic health record systems, according to a new report by Spyglass Consulting, MobiHealthNews reports.

The industry news is full of disparaging talk about the health of the EHR Incentive Programs (i.e., meaningful use), particularly the low number of Stage 2 attestations. While some statistics show that only 35% of the nation's hospitals have met Stage 2 meaningful use requirements, further analysis reveals a different story.

A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an electronic health record vendor's claim that it had broad patent protection over shared health information, Health Data Management reports. (Goth, Health Data Management, 1/9).

The usability of the system is the probably most important factor in making an informed choice of which EHR to use for your practice. Most every bit of software says that it is easy to use, but how can you choose an EHR that is actually usable?

Health consumers and health care providers live in parallel universes when it comes to health IT, a smart CMIO friend of mine recently told me. 2015 will be a year when consumers, patients and caregivers pressure providers to converge toward greater convenience, access, transparency and quality using health IT. This health IT forecast for 2015 focuses on the forces that could advance and slow that convergence.

Physicians prescribed less-costly drugs when their electronic health record systems were set to default to generic medications, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Data Management<

More medical providers are using health IT, but concerns about privacy continue to pose barriers to further adoption of certain technologies,  according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers,

A coalition of health care groups sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to ensure that ICD-10 implementation is not delayed again, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 11/18).

Three health IT groups announced a new strategic partnership designed to streamline the process for health data exchange across state lines, Health Data Management reports (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 11/17).

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT announced a new health IT innovation challenge that will award select health care organizations and innovation companies funding to work together to "bridge technological gaps," Health Data Management reports.

A lack of interoperability among electronic health record systems used by participants in accountable care organizations "inhibit[s] progress" toward a value-based care environment, according to a new report produced for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Health Data Management

As of Sept. 30, CMS had paid out more than $25 billion in incentive payments to eligible hospitals and professionals participating in the meaningful use program, according to the latest CMS data, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 11/4).

The federal government continued to implement the HITECH Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, during the third quarter of 2014. As implementation of HITECH's programs begin to wind down, more than $25 billion in incentive payments have been made to providers to spur electronic health record adoption, and more than 90% of eligible hospitals and 75% eligible professionals have adopted and are using EHRs as a result.

The initial misdiagnosis of the first Ebola-infected patient in the U.S.