The National Institute of Standards and Technology released draft guidance to help health IT professionals bolster the security of smartphones and tablets used by health care providers, IDG News Service/Computer World reports.
Achieving the Promise of Health Information Technology: What Can Providers and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Do To Improve the Electronic Health Record User Experience?
Watch the live stream at http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/achieving-the-promise-of-health-info...
SENATE HEARING LINEUP:
The American Medical Informatics Association released a report with several recommendations to accelerate the development of electronic health records over the next five years and better support patient-centric care, MedCity News reports (Versel, MedCity News, 5/29).
Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill (HR 2247) that would require a transition period following the implementation of new ICD-10 code sets, EHR Intelligence reports.
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The increased adoption of electronic health records and other health IT has improved patient safety, according to an issue brief by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Health IT Analytics reports (Bresnick, Health IT Analytics, 4/28).
While the recent push to adopt health IT systems has helped to improve care and reduce costs, issues with usability and interoperability require further federal attention, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, FierceHealthIT rep
In late February, Thomas Mason took over as CMO at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. In his new role, Mason oversees ONC programs and clinical coordination within the agency.
Click here for Update: The Final Rule for the 2015 edition certification has been released.
On page 191 of the 431 page document from ONC about the proposed changes to the Meaningful Use program for Stage 3, ONC begins to identify several significant changes to the Safety-enhanced Design (a.k.a.usability) testing requirements.
Hospital errors could be better avoided by improving the interoperability of medical devices, according to a survey of 526 registered nurses conducted by Harris Poll, FierceHealthIT reports (Dvorak, FierceHealthIT, 3/12).
On Friday, Feb 6 2014, the FDA issued two final guidance documents that detail the agency's plans to loosen its regulation of medical device data systems and mobile applications, Health Data Management reports.
On April 27, 2004, President George W. Bush proclaimed a bold goal for the nation: "Within the next 10 years, electronic health records will ensure that complete health care information is available for most Americans at the time and place of care, no matter where it originates. ... These electronic health records will be designed to share information privately and securely among and between health care providers when authorized by the patient."
More than 10 years later, most observers within the U.S. health care system and the health IT industry would agree that this goal of interoperability has not yet been achieved, and may not even be within clear sight. Although pockets of interoperability exist, the EHR systems used by inpatient, outpatient and ancillary providers generally cannot exchange patient data electronically, sometimes even among systems developed by the same EHR vendors. Although myriad interoperability standards exist on paper, real world connectivity between individual EHR systems still requires extensive custom interface development, attended by large and often prohibitive costs.
ONC is accepting public comments on Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap Draft Version 1.0 (link is external). The comment period ends at 5 p.m. on April 3, 2015.
The draft Roadmap (link is external) proposes critical actions that need to be taken by both private and public stakeholders to advance the nation towards a more connected, interoperable health IT infrastructure and was drafted by ONC based on input from private and public stakeholders. The draft Roadmap (link is external) outlines the critical actions for different stakeholder groups necessary to help achieve an interoperable health IT ecosystem.
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).
The Federal Trade Commission released a report highlighting the public health benefits of devices that can transmit health data to the Internet, as well as the security and privacy risks that could come along with such technologies and undermine U.S.
HIMSS NCA Lunch and Learn Webinar - "The Importance of User Experience in Health IT"
The first lHIMSS NCA unchtime webinar of the 2015 will take place on Wed, Feb 25, 2015 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST and will focus how to understand what users want and how they want it, and design and build tools and apps that actually get used.
Section 508 Best Practices Webinar: Accessible Electronic Documents - Authoring Guide for Making an Accessible Document in MS Word 2010 (January 27)
The FDA published two draft guidance documents that outline how the agency would classify low-risk general wellness devices and applications and propose risk assessment-based regulation for medical device accessories, Health Data Management reports.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez offered advice about data security to manufacturers of devices that hold personal health information, MedCity News reports (Baum, MedCity News, 1/7).
Health IT interest, adoption and use saw big strides in 2014. But debate surrounding federal health IT initiatives, regulation and the future of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT also grew over the last year.
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