Most Clicked Health IT SmartBrief Stories
1. Deadline extension should be used for testing ICD-10, WEDI says
Health IT SmartBrief | May 17, 2012
The proposed one-year delay in the compliance date for ICD-10 would give vendors extra time to develop products needed for compliance initiatives, WEDI said in a response to the CMS. The nonprofit group also said any deadline extension should be used to conduct more robust evaluations and testings of the medical code set. Healthcare Informatics online (05/16)
2. FCC will act on mobile health-monitoring devices
Health IT SmartBrief | May 18, 2012
The Federal Communications Commission has placed on its May 24 agenda a vote on adopting its Medical Body Area Networks plan, designed to provide wireless medical devices with enough spectrum to support remote health-monitoring services. The FCC is expected to create independent spectrum bands to monitor patients in their homes and in hospitals. Reuters (05/17)
3. Analysis parses HIT budget priorities
Health IT SmartBrief | May 22, 2012
At $7.1 billion, President Barack Obama's 2013 health IT budget proposal for HHS is a 3% increase over 2012, although some agencies would see their share decrease. The request covers projects such as the CMS Medicaid Management Information System initiative, Administration for Children and Families IT Grants to States project and the CMS Quality Program. Government Health IT online (05/21)
4. ONC introduces EHR, ocular imaging challenge
Health IT SmartBrief | May 21, 2012
The Ocular Imaging Challenge introduced by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT calls on developers to design applications that will boost the interoperability of EHRs and ophthalmic examination tools. The apps should be able to perform tasks such as storing data from a variety of devices and enabling the manipulation of information and images. A total of $150,000 will be awarded for the three best apps. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (05/18)
5. Private HIEs could eclipse state data exchanges
Health IT SmartBrief | May 18, 2012
Growth in state health information exchanges has been slow, driven in part by the need to be sustainable after federal funds run out, writes Chris Dimick in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association. Additionally, he notes, private HIEs are making headway as large health systems scramble to find ways to share health data, a trend that industry experts say could lessen the survival chances of state HIEs. CMIO.net (05/14)
6. EHRs don't improve diabetes quality care, study finds
Health IT SmartBrief | May 17, 2012
The use of EHR systems did not improve adherence to clinical guidelines for care and recommended treatments for patients with diabetes, researchers reported in the Annals of Family Medicine. The study also found patients in practices with EHRs were less likely to meet outcomes-based health targets than patients in practices with paper-based systems. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (05/14)
7. HL7 starts program to promote EHR standards development
Health IT SmartBrief | May 18, 2012
Health Level Seven International has begun its pilot HL7 Caregiver Membership program, intended to help clinicians ensure standards adopted for health IT are of real and practical value in promoting data exchange between providers. The group also announced the launch of a website to boost the involvement of caregivers in EHR standards development. Healthcare IT News (05/17)
8. Groups join to make EHRs, telemedicine possible in rural Colorado
Health IT SmartBrief | May 21, 2012
The Colorado Regional Health Information Organization and the Colorado Telehealth Network are working together to help rural health providers in the Centennial State with adopting electronic health records and later with telemedicine services. Meanwhile, a VGo telepresence robot is helping a 12-year-old boy with a rare condition, X-linked myotubular myopathy, keep up with his classes at school. PCWorld (05/17) TechTarget.com (05/17)
9. HHS contracts with Delta Solutions for SAMHSA tech support
Health IT SmartBrief | May 23, 2012
HHS has awarded a contract to Delta Solutions and Technologies for supplying training services and technical support to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The deal, which has a limit of $1.5 billion for all recipients, taps the firm to lead a group of 14 partners, including SRI International and Arch Systems. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (05/22)
10. Would You Fire Someone for Taking a Late Lunch?
Health IT SmartBrief | May 22, 2012
OPEN Forum blogs (05/21)
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