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meaningful use
“Meaningful Use” Criteria as a Unifying Force
by Vince Kuraitis, Steve Adams, and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
Over the past several years, many diverse initiatives have arisen offering partial solutions to systemic problems in the U.S. health care non-system.Â
We see Meaningful Use Criteria recommended by the HIT Policy Committee as a unifying force for these previously disparate initiatives. These initiatives have included:
Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs)
Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs)/Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
Payer Disease/Care Management Programs
Personal Health Record Platforms — Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, Dossia, health banks, more to come
State/Regional […]
Overcoming The Penguin Problem: Setting Expectations for EHR Adoption
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Economists call it “The Penguin Problem” — No one moves unless everyone moves, so no one moves.Â
The role of user expectations is crucial in getting penguins to move off of ice floes and in the successful adoption of new network technologies. I’ll cover two main points in today’s essay:
How “The Penguin Problem” Helps Explain Low EHR (electronic health record) Adoption To-Date
How Recent Federal Actions Are Setting Higher Expectations for EHR Adoption
The Penguin Problem and Low EHR Adoption To-Date
While not the only factor, […]
RHIOs Emerging From Coma
A subtle but profound shift is occurring in the world of RHIOs/HIEs (Regional Health Information Organizations/Health Information Exchanges).
…and the title of the eHealth Initiative’s Sixth Annual Survey of Health Information Exchange says it all:
Migrating Toward Meaningful Use
What’s happening here?
Geek Wisdom: “Interoperability” Must Include Process Collaboration
I know — you’re thinking that using “geek” and “wisdom” in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Bear with me — I’m trying to make a really important point in today’s posting.
Interoperability has multiple dimensions — and I’d bet that most of us have never thought of interoperabilty as involving “process” — people working together and collaborating; I know I hadn’t.
The Interoperability Work Group of HL7’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) Technical Committee was formed in April 2005 to attempt to define […]
Markle v. HIMSS: Differing Views of “Meaningful Use” and “Certification”
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The forthcoming definition of the “meaningful use” of health information technology will set the direction of the Obama administration’s strategy for health IT adoption, said David Blumenthal, the new national coordinator for health IT. Government HealthIT, April 28, 2009
…but not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the definitions of “meaningful use” and “certification”.  [See the first […]
Stunning Announcement: AMA Goes to the Dogs in Deal With Physician Web Portal Company
What’s stunning about this deal is who its NOT with. The AMA chose NOT to partner with any of the incumbent electronic medical record (EMR) companies, e.g., Allscripts, GE, Epic, NextGen, or many others.
For those of you who have not seen earlier posts in this series, please understand that the reference to “goes to the dogs” is a great compliment.
In a joint press release, the American Medical Association and Covisint unveiled an agreement yesterday:
Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) announced today that its Covisint subsidiary signed […]
EHR 2.0: Thinking Outside the Cat Box
One of the potential dangers of limiting $17 B HITECH federal stimulus funds to electronic health records (EHRs) is the risk of locking-in outdated technologies. Let’s consider what this might mean.
If you think of today’s EHR technology as EHR 1.0, what might EHR 2.0 look like? This post presents a number of innovative ways to conceptualize EHR 2.0:
EHR as Platform + Applications
EHR as Clinical Groupware
EHR Integrated with PHR
EHR as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
EHR as a “Publish-Discover” Search Engine
EHR + Disease Management Services = […]
Wait and See: What’s Unclear or To-Be-Determined (TBD) About HITECH.
Sometimes laws are passed and the statute itself represents 95% of the work — there aren’t many details to figure out or loose ends to tidy up.
That isn’t the case with HITECH. The HITECH statute is just the beginning.
Whether you’re a cat or a dog, you’ll have hopes and fears about aspects of HITECH that are unclear or yet to-be-determined (TBD).
These include:
Dogged Optimism: Five Innovative Aspects of HITECH
If you’re a dog (an innovator), what’s there to smile about over HITECH? Quite a bit.
In the first post of this series, I suggested that HITECH favors cats by about 60/40 and noted that the single most cat-like feature of HITECH is providing incentives for physicians and hospitals to acquire and implement EHRs — but only EHRs. Reader “Mark” commented:
“How does this work out to 60/40? Looks to me like 100% cats.”
Let’s look a bit deeper to see how HITECH […]
HITECH Overlap: Medical Home, Telehealth, Health IT/Exchange
What’s the commonality among Medical Home, Telehealth, and Health IT/Information Exchange initiatives?
They all relate to care coordination. As shown in the diagram below from the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA), there’s a lot of overlap.
A larger copy of the slide is available in this March 2 PowerPoint presentation by Marcia Neilsen , Executive Director, KHPA.
What are some of the implications?