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

Researchers Use Crowdsourcing To Help Advance Brain Studies

A series of papers published in the journal Nature Genetics show how scientists used crowdsourcing to pool brain research data from more than 200 scientists and identify genes that play a role in brain size and memory. Researchers say the findings are significant because they demonstrate the power of using collective data to advance research. New York Times.

Insurer Highmark Teams With Teladoc To Launch Telehealth Pilot Program

Insurer Highmark and telehealth provider Teladoc have launched a telehealth pilot program involving 10,000 Highmark members. The program aims to reduce the number of Highmark members who visit the emergency department for minor illnesses. InformationWeek et al.

Florida Health System Notifies Nearly 9,500 Patients of Data Breach

Florida's Memorial Healthcare System is notifying nearly 9,500 patients that two former MHS employees might have improperly accessed their personal data to file false tax returns. MHS has fired the two employees and is offering no-cost credit-monitoring services. CMIO et al.

KLAS Report Evaluates EHR Vendor Options for Urgent Care Centers

A report by research firm KLAS notes that urgent care centers could use electronic health record systems designed for ambulatory care, emergency departments or urgent care. The report evaluates three vendors that provide best-of-breed urgent care EHR systems. Healthcare IT News.

Californians Struggle To Find Accurate Online Medical Pricing Data

It is difficult for California residents to determine the cost of common medical procedures. Although hospitals are required by law to publish average charges for certain procedures on a state website, the prices often are not what patients actually pay. Los Angeles Times.

Are Federal Training Programs Meeting the Growing Need for a New Health IT Workforce?

Tim Andrews of Booz Allen Hamilton, Helen Figge of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and Norma Morganti of the Midwest Community College Health IT Consortium spoke with iHealthBeat about federal efforts to bolster the health IT workforce.

Running Time: 5:32

DATA POINTS

What Social Media Websites Are Health Care Providers Using for Professional Networking?

Forty-one percent of surveyed health care providers said they are using the social media website Facebook for professional networking purposes, while 29% say they are using YouTube and 23% say they are using LinkedIn, according to a survey by health care staffing and recruitment firm AMN Healthcare.

FEATURES

New Leader, New Plan, New EHR Initiative for Cal eConnect

by David Gorn, iHealthBeat Contributing Reporter

The success of California's health information exchange depends in part on the coordination and guidance of Cal eConnect and its energetic new CEO, Laura Landry. She said California is "on the verge of a breakthrough" in health information exchange.

PERSPECTIVES

Moving Federal Health Care Targets Becoming a Way of Life

by Fred Bazzoli

Last month, CMS pushed back for the second time the enforcement date for the transition to HIPAA 5010 transaction sets. Observers say the delay -- as well the extension for ICD-10 implementation-- raises questions about the validity of future federal deadlines.