Interested in how many Eligible Professionals have attested for Meaningful Use? By state? By Regional Extension Center? Want to see how much money has been spent for HITECH programs (e.g. Beacons, SHARPs…)? Well, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has posted an interactive map that allows the user to examine some interesting statistics. Users…

During the 2012 ACP annual meeting in New Orleans, I had an opportunity to field and respond to member questions on health IT. A selection of most frequently asked questions and answers are provided for your reference below. EHR Selection I have tried to purchase an EHR system but none of the vendors are returning…

Today’s the day… All comments are due to CMS and ONC regarding the NPRMs for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use (MU). Judging from off-the-record conversations with colleagues, CMS and ONC are likely to receive a barrage of comments from many different perspectives. Some of the likely areas of tension will be between and among: Technology advocates…

EHR adoption is climbing as a result of national policies designed to encourage widespread use of Health IT such as the HITECH Act. However, adoption is not consistent across all specialties, geographies, and practice sizes — as was recently pointed out in an April 24, 2012, Health Affairs article published online by Decker, Jamoom and…

One of the areas drawing considerable attention among the clinician community (EPs or Eligible Professionals) is the focus on patient/family engagement. Here are the proposed measures: Greater than 50% of patients provided online access within four business days Greater than 10% of patients view, download, or transmit their record to a third party For EPs,…

As the crocuses, daffodils, and hyacinths begin to bloom here in the Northeast, I like to think about what has contributed to the growth of these beautiful plants. We have had a very mild winter here in New England, including some record-breaking warm weather. Perhaps it was the plant fertilizer I used last fall, giving these…