EVENTS

MAY

Summit About Wireless Health Convergence

San Diego

MAY

Webinar About Health IT Privacy, Security Risks

Online

JUN

'Datapalooza' Conference on Health Data Tools

Washington, D.C.

View All Events

FROM THE FOUNDATION

All Over the Map

A newly updated interactive map unleashes data to highlight medical treatment variation across California. Now with breast cancer, prostate cancer, and spine procedures, this CHCF-sponsored research shows that practice patterns vary dramatically from place to place.

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Friday

Dept. of Veterans Affairs Makes Progress on Genetic Database

The Department of Veterans Affairs is working to collect genetic information and electronic health records from one million veterans for a database aimed at identifying new ways to predict, prevent and treat illness. So far, about 23,000 veterans' data have been processed, and another 30,000 have agreed to participate. McClatchy/Sacramento Bee.

Waiting on Vendor Upgrades Top Barrier to Meeting Meaningful Use

Preliminary reports from regional extension centers show that waiting for vendor technology upgrades and certification are among the biggest obstacles to meeting meaningful use. According to an analysis, vendor selection accounted for 34% of all reported meaningful use barriers. Government Health IT.

N.Y. AG Offers Proposal for Creating Real-Time Rx Monitoring Database

A new plan by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman would enhance the state's prescription drug monitoring system by launching a real-time database for reporting prescriptions when they are issued and filled. Ithaca Journal, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Massachusetts, New Jersey Dole Out Medicaid EHR Incentive Payments

Massachusetts has distributed $14.6 million in Medicaid meaningful use incentive payments to 15 hospitals and 12 health professionals, while New Jersey has distributed $40 million in Medicaid incentive payments to 30 hospitals and 40 physician practices. Becker's Hospital Review et al.

Opinion: Health IT Can Help Streamline Health Plan Prior Authorization

Gene Ransom -- CEO of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society -- argues that advances in health IT can be used to streamline the insurance prior authorization process, which would "make health care in Maryland more efficient, more effective and more affordable." Baltimore Sun.

Center for Democracy & Technology's McGraw Discusses Health Data Privacy Challenges

Deven McGraw, director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, spoke with iHealthBeat about the challenges of protecting health data privacy.

Running Time: 5:18

DATA POINTS

What Do Surveyed U.S. Physicians Report as Being Benefits of Using Health IT Systems?

Nearly 58% of surveyed U.S. physicians believe health IT has helped improve care coordination across different settings and service boundaries, more than 57% believe it has improved access to quality clinical research data and more than 56% say it has improved cross-organizational working processes, according to an Accenture survey.

FEATURES

EHR Data Not Ready for Prime Time, Studies Show

by Ken Terry, iHealthBeat Contributing Reporter

Several federal health care programs rely on electronic health record data for publicly reported quality measurement and performance-based payments, but findings from recent studies may cast doubt on the reliability of that data.

COMMENTS (3)

"It is not that EHR data is not ready for Prime Time, but rather certain vendors are not ready. Many mainstream, large vendors do not fully understand medical informatics and these same vendors still rely on Claims data (like ICD-9 or ICD-10) for the..."

- David Winn

PERSPECTIVES

Meaningful Use in Year Two and Beyond: Informing the Efforts of RECs

by Christopher Harle and Nir Menachemi

Given the many known obstacles, it's not surprising that participation in the first year of the meaningful use incentive program was relatively low. Regional extension centers must work to better disseminate information aimed at reducing physicians' uncertainty about electronic health record adoption.

COMMENTS (6)

"So only 173,000 out of a total of 800,000 doctors register and less than 87,000 apply for MU payment. That makes about 11% benefiting from MU. Since before MU more than than were claimed to be using an EMR, that means even those with a certified EMR ..."

- Michael Milne