Website launched to provide detailed information about EHR incentive programs June 28, 2010 Image via Wikipedia The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) has launched it’s official website for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.  This official web site provides up-to-date, detailed information about the Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive programs The Medicare and Medicaid [...]

Providers and patients must be confident that the electronic health information technology (health IT) products and systems they use are secure, can maintain data confidentially, can work with other systems to share information, and can perform a set of well-defined functions. To this end, standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for health IT are being [...]

The Director of Electronic Medical Record Systems is accountable for leading the efficient installation and project management of the Network’s Electronic Medical Record. This includes coordinating all tasks, overseeing the testing and install of all systems required to provide input or output to/from the EMR, and enforcing project management, budget and change control. Collaborative, effective interaction with vendors, Department Directors, Physicians, and Executives is essential.

Adapting and using electronic health records in small practices is no easy matter. A variety of public and private organizations have assisted these small practices across the country in accomplishing this, and on a national basis the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has established a program of [...]

Over the past year the House and the Senate have been working on an effort to provide health insurance reform that lowers costs, guarantees choices, and enhances quality health care for all Americans.

* Read the text of the Senate bill and the changes passed by the House.

Some young physicians say they won’t go to a practice without one. Then you put on top of that the stimulus, which effectively, in year one, gives somebody $18,000 for an electronic health record that probably costs just over half of that and you’ve got the seeds for very rapid growth. That is consistent in saying that we are seeing new demand, as well as continued demand from our existing clients to upgrade, to buy more training, to get ready for Meaningful Use.

The Apple iPhone rocked the world. It created a niche market for medical software development and more importantly it was cool to have it. Every doctor wanted one and right now it is estimated that 1 out of 20 physicians carries an iPhone.

Having helped over a hundred physician practice to implement EHR I have seen the benefits of tablet computing for documenting patient encounters in the EMR. I believe that iPad computing will become a big part of the EMR/EHR toolkit in the years to come.

The recently passed health care legislation could create major uptrend in tech spending. A variety of components will lead to increased regulation and Federal dollars for health IT solutions.