June 2009 - EMR and HIPAA

EMR Use and Malpractice Liability

Someone sent me this article (you’ll have to subscribe to see the full article) on EMR use and the liability that comes with using an EMR. I must admit that having covered EMR for a number of years, I’m surprised that the malpractice side...

Published Tue, Jun 30 2009 11:40 AM by EMR and HIPAA

EMR Vendor Advertising

A couple weeks ago I attended the HIMSS virtual conference. I must admit that I mostly wanted to attend to interact with people. One of the more interesting things I found while interacting with some of the vendors was the price that the various vendors...

Published Mon, Jun 29 2009 12:08 PM by EMR and HIPAA

Availabilty of HIT Help for EMR Implementations

One of my regular readers, sent me the following email about the availability of IT help for those implementing an electronic medical record (EMR). If my conjecture about the mad rush for good quality IT help is correct, then I wonder if physicians will...

Published Sat, Jun 27 2009 12:39 PM by EMR and HIPAA

90% of Doctors Concerned about Usability of EHR

Today’s the final day for providing feedback on meaningful use to ONC. I find it a little bit ironic that as ONC and healthcare IT in general is stirring about the words “meaningful use” I find a survey by Nuance that shows that 90%...

Published Fri, Jun 26 2009 12:14 PM by EMR and HIPAA

Providing Feedback on Meaningful Use Matrix

I’d been meaning to post this when the meaningful use document came out, but didn’t get around to it until now. ONC has asked for public comment on the preliminary definition of “meaningful use” as presented by the HIT policy Committee...

Published Thu, Jun 25 2009 1:52 PM by EMR and HIPAA

ONC to Meet with Potential CCHIT Alternatives

There’s been a lot of talk around the blogosphere about the new EHR certification pathways proposed by CCHIT. However, Neil Versel is reporting on his blog that there’s a rumor that ONC is planning a July meeting with several people that are...

Published Wed, Jun 24 2009 2:22 PM by EMR and EHR

Meaningful Use Matrix from HIT Policy Committee

As I first looked over the meaningful use matrix (PDF) that was created by the HIT policy committee I thought that the requirements listed were reasonable and doable. Then, I realized that I was only looking at the first page of a seven page document...

Published Wed, Jun 24 2009 1:07 PM by EMR and HIPAA

Meaningful Use Sent Back by ONC Head David Blumenthal

Everyone in the healthcare IT world is sitting and waiting to know the fate of the words “certified EHR” and “meaningful use.” Yes, only a few billion dollars of EHR stimulus money are riding on those 2 terms. Well, after the Health...

Published Wed, Jun 24 2009 8:12 AM by EMR and EHR

Easy to Justify EHR Implementation at Hospitals

Many people have been arguing that it’s an easier process for hospitals to be able to justify the implementation of an EHR thanks to the new EHR stimulus money. Even more important might be the 5% penalty for not implementing an EHR. There’s...

Published Tue, Jun 23 2009 11:07 AM by EMR and HIPAA

Declaration of Health Data Rights

Today I came across an interesting site which is calling for people to support a “Declaration of Health Data Rights.” Here’s the basic declaration they’d like people to support: In an era when technology allows personal health...

Published Tue, Jun 23 2009 1:42 AM by EMR and EHR

Larger Meaningful Use Requirements, but Less reward

To start off my discussion of meaningful use, I have to hit on something that just feels wrong. It’s a concept that’s been going around for quite a while. It makes sense from one perspective, but feels really odd from another. The concept...

Published Mon, Jun 22 2009 1:16 PM by EMR and HIPAA

Lost Laptop with Patient Names, Treatment Summaries and Other PHI

This story coming out of Oregon came across my feeds today which tells of the Oregon Health and Science University contacting 1,000 patients after a physician’s laptop was stolen from a car parked at the doctor’s home. This story made me think...

Published Sun, Jun 21 2009 12:05 PM by EMR and HIPAA

$100 Million in Interest Free EHR Loans from GE

Today I came across this coverage of an announcement that GE Capital will be providing $100 million of loans to “accelerate adoption of electronic health records (EHR).” The loans from GE will carry no interest until the institutions obtaining...

Published Sat, Jun 20 2009 11:38 AM by EMR and HIPAA

Real Purpose of EHR Certification

I figured I’d round out my recent posts about the new CCHIT EHR certifications before moving on to meaningful use. There’s just so much to say about both issues. Taking a step back for a moment, I tried to remember why it was that we wanted...

Published Fri, Jun 19 2009 11:15 AM by EMR and HIPAA

Certified EHR and Meaningful Use

After I wrote about the pros and cons of EHR-C, EHR-M and EHR-S certification I couldn’t help but ask why we even need EHR certification and meaningful use. First, it’s important to remember that the new EHR-C, EHR-M, and EHR-S certification...

Published Thu, Jun 18 2009 7:01 PM by EMR and HIPAA