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HITECH
Is HITECH Working? #1: Hospitals are grumbling but are playing in the game; success is not guaranteed.
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBAÂ
The rationale for hospitals having to play in the HITECH game is straightforward: the financial carrots through 2015 are helpful, and the financial sticks after 2015 will be very painful.
We’ll discuss:
Financial Impacts on Hospitals
Survey Data Showing Hospitals Will Play
Why Success is Not Guaranteed
Financial Impacts on Hospitals
Even prior to HITECH, most hospital executives already had passed the threshold decision and concluded that they need to implement EHR technology. Thus, the issue for most […]
Is HITECH Working? 7 Observations Mom Could Understand
“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
If you’re like many folks we talk with, you understand the importance of the HITECH Act legislation — yet feel overwhelmed by the complexity and details.
This series of blog posts is for you. We address the question “Is HITECH working?” with seven straightforward observations. We’ve worked hard to boil down the complexity and make it understandable to the casual industry […]
A Compendium of Perspectives on the HITECH Certification NPRM
Just the FactsÂ
Certification Programs NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)
Health IT, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010
Certification NPRM
Facts-At-A-Glance
FAQ
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Bookmarked version of Certification NPRM (much easier to navigate)
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010
HIMSS Commentary: Is HITECH Promoting Innovation?
There’s a great discussion going on on The Healthcare IT Guy’s blog:  Innovation in healthcare IT is dead (hopefully only temporarily). Read BOTH the essay by Shahid Shah and the comments.
Chilmark Needs to Chill Out on CCR/CCD Findings
John Moore of Chilmark Research and I agree on things 90+ percent of the time. He even thanked me personally for our collegial relationship in a Thanksgiving Day essay on his blog.
However…I can’t help but comment on John’s misleading story “CCD Standard Gaining Traction, CCR Fading” in The Health Care Blog. He writes:
In a number of interviews with leading HIE [Health Information Exchange] vendors, it is becoming clear that the clinical standard, Continuity of Care Document (CCD) will be the dominant standard in […]
Appliance or Application? The Choice Finally is Coming to Health Care.
My wife Jill loves her iPhone…she raves about it. Last night she showed me an application she had recently acquired for her iPhone. She was able to explain and demonstrate the app and its functionality to me (yes, to ME!) in about 30 seconds.Â
I’d describe the app as Garmin-like but running on the iPhone. You type in the address at which you’re going to start your drive and then you type in the address of the location where you want to drive […]
A Compendium of Resources on the Federal HIT Meaningful Use NPRM and Standards IFR
* = highly recommended
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Descriptive Summaries and Documents
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 *Dissecting the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule PowerPoint
eHealth Initiative Policy Webinar; January 8, 2010
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*What You Need to Know About the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule, Standards and Implementation Specification, and Interim Final Rule Certification Criteria PowerPoint
Dr. Blumenthal, I Mistakenly Received Your Email Intended for Judy Faulkner, CEO, Epic
David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. National Coordinator for Health Information Technology U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Dear Dr. Blumenthal,
I was honored to receive a personal email from you today. However, after reading it, I conclude that you must have intended to send this email to Judith Faulkner, CEO of Epic Systems.
I really liked what you said about working toward interoperability:
The HITECH Act calls for the “development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and […]
John Halamka’s Stunning 180: “Dogs and Cats Should Live in Harmony”
The King of the Cats has just acknowledged that indeed cats and dogs should co-exist peacefully.
Dr. John Halamka — Vice Chair of the HIT Standards Committee of the ONC and one of the most vocal and influential figures in health IT — writes a blog post this morning entitled “The Genius of AND”. Halamka reasonably summarizes the essence of the debate about standards and interoperability as being between “the healthcare informatics crowd” (cats) and the “Internet crowd” (dogs):
He notes that the debate […]
Senator Grassley: You’re on Track About EMR Problems, But Here Are Some More Questions to Ask
An article in today’s Washington Post links to a letter written by Senator Charles E. Grassley.
The letter is directed at 10 EMR (electronic medical record) vendors, and asks very pointed questions about whether the vendors have been negligent in not addressing patient safety issues in their technologies.
Senator Grassley, you have the scent and you’re on the trail. There are several other questions you should be asking these vendors: