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.

The FDA released its list of guidance priorities for 2015, which includes finalized and draft guidance for several health IT issues, Modern Healthca

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,

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).

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.

A coalition of health care organizations sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell recommending that the agency overhaul the meaningful use program with a focus on interoperability, Healthcare IT News reports.

FDA has released a four-year strategic plan that includes goals for advancing and improving the agency's use of health IT, Health Data Management reports (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 10/3).

The American Medical Association released a framework outlining eight priorities for making electronic health records easier for providers to use, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/16).

Our Chief Experience Officer, Bennett Lauber, has been invited to participate as a member of the Health IT Policy Committee’s Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup.

The draft charge for the workgroup is:

The Health IT Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup will provide input and make recommendations on policy issues and opportunities for improving how health IT is designed, certified, implemented and used to minimize safety risks and leverage data to support improvements in patient care and health outcomes.

Nearly 100 million wearable health monitoring devices are expected to be sold over the next five years, according to a new ABI Research report, FierceMobileHealthcare reports (Mottl

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) invites you to register for the 2014 Annual Consumer Health IT Summit on September 15th in Washington DC. This exciting day-long event highlights public and private sector efforts to advance patient engagement by empowering people with their digital health data and technology. To register and get additional logistical details, visit http://www.capconcorp.com/meeting/2014/Consumer-Health-IT-Summit/default....

Apple is in talks with electronic health record provider Allscripts, as well as several hospitals to determine how hospitals could use its cloud-based health information platform known as "HealthKit," Reuters reports (Farr, Reuters, 8/12).

During a news conference on Sunday August 10th, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) discussed the lack of regulations over data collected by wearable health-monitoring devices, Long Island Newsday reports (Ngo, Long Island Newsday, 8/10).

Medical experts told members of Congress that health IT solutions, such as electronic health records, are falling short in efforts to improve patient safety, Healthcare IT News reports (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 7/18).

The HIMSS EHR Association in a letter urged the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and CMS to quickly issue a final rule regarding 2014 meaningful use reporting requirements and to delay the start of Stage 3 until at least 2018, Healthcare IT News reports (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 7/11).

One of the many Holy Grails in health care -- trailing somewhat behind the perennial pursuit of lower costs -- is the notion of interlinking the sometimes disparate components of medical devices, clinical systems, information systems and communication platforms to streamline care and make the entire delivery universe safer for patients.