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Getting DIRECTly to the Point: The Role of the Direct Project in Fast-Tracking Health IT Interoperability
By Rich Elmore and Arien Malec. Rich Elmore is the Direct Project Communication Workgroup leader and Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at Allscripts. Arien Malec is ONC’s Coordinator, Direct Project and Coordinator, S&I Framework.
A patient’s health records are no longer confined to a doctor’s office, shelved inside a dusty file cabinet. With the advent of the Nationwide Health Information Network, a framework of standards, services and policies that allow health practitioners to securely exchange health data, medical records digitized to be easily […]
HSR Study: Focus on High-Cost Medicare Beneficiaries
Following the Money: Factors Associated with the Cost of Treating High-Cost Medicare Beneficiaries. Health Services Research; February 9, 2011
Access to the full online article is currently available for free on the Center for Studying Health System Change website.
Key excerpts:
Conclusions. Health reform policies currently envisioned to improve care and lower costs may have small effects on high-cost patients who consume most resources. Instead, developing interventions tailored to improve care and lowering cost for specific types of complex and costly patients may hold […]
10 Reasons Why an Open IT Platform Strategy is the Right Long-Term Choice for an ACO
Many Physicians and Clinical Service Providers Will Not Be In Your ACO Contracting Network.
Expect Significant Patient Leakage (Migration) Out of Your ACO Network
Expect Patient Demands for Sharing Records.
Minimize Anti-Trust Concerns.
Expect Continuing Government Pressure for Broad Data Exchange.
Complimentary Issue of Accountable Care News
Click here for a complimentary copy of of the February 2011 issue of Accountable Care News.
Click here for more information about subscribing to Accountable Care News.
Complimentary Webinar — An Impending Marriage: Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Care Management Software
Webinar Title: An Impending Marriage: Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Care Management Software
The presentation will be geared at practicing clinical case managers in health plans, hospitals, disease management companies, and similar organizations:
Describe market forces driving integration of EHRs and care management software.Â
Review care management software survey data and stimulus funding for EHR adoption.Â
Describe a 3 stage framework for the evolution of EHRs and care management software.Â
Characterize benefits to patients and impacts on care manager responsibilities.
The event is sponsored by HealthSciences Institute […]
Crowdsourcing the Future: Health 2.0 and HIPAA
Deven McGraw is the Director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology.Â
The Health 2.0 movement has seen incredible growth recently, with new tools and services continuously being released. Of course, Health 2.0 developers face a number of challenges when it comes to getting providers and patients to adopt new tools, including integrating into a health system that is still mostly paper-based. Another serious obstacle facing developers is how to interpret and, where appropriate, comply with […]
Comments to ONC: PCAST HIT Report Becomes a Political Piñata
The PCAST Report on Health IT has become a political piñata.Â
Early Feedback on PCASTÂ
Like many of my colleagues, I was taken aback by the release of the Report in early December 2010 — I didn’t know quite what to make of it. Response in the first week of release was:Â
Limited. The first commentaries were primarily by technical and/or clinical bloggers. The mainstream HIT world had remarkably little initial reaction to the Report.Â
Respectful of the imprimatur of “The President’s” Report and noting some of the big names associated with the […]
Updates on Proposed Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use Criteria
The Health IT Policy Committee has published proposed Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use Recommendations and they’re open for public comment until February 25.
I’ll share a couple of particularly useful and well written analyses and commentaries by colleagues.
Health IT guru and thought leader Dr. John Halamka writes about The Proposed Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use Recommendations in his blog.
This is a great article to get a thumbnail overview of all the proposed recommendations. John lists 38 criteria and provides a quick […]
Will ACO IT Models Be Walled Gardens or Open Platforms?
Will ACO (accountable care organization) IT models be walled gardens or open platforms? i.e., will ACO IT platforms focus on exchanging information within the provider network of the ACO, or will they also be able to exchange information with providers outside the ACO network? (If the question still isn’t clear, click here for a further explanation.).
HITPC Meaningful Use Workgroup Offers First Draft of HITECH Stage 2 & 3 Objectives
At the December 13 meeting of the HITPC (Health IT Policy Committee), the MU (Meaningful Use) Workgroup proposed a first draft of HITECH Stage 2 and 3 objectives.
A full list of objectives for Stages 1, 2 & 3 is available in the PowerPoint presented to HITPC.
The proposed objectives contain a mix of items that are:
Unchanged from Stage 1
Similar MU criteria with higher implementation goals, e.g.,
Stage 1: CPOE for Rx orders 30%
Stage 2: CPOE for 60% of Rx, lab and radiology […]