Electronic Medical Records news from FierceHealthIT

> The Brooklyn Health Information Exchange has begun developing an enterprise master person index in preparation for beginning operations this summer. Read more...

Providers are already spending big money on clinical technology, and it looks like they're only planning to spend more this year, according to a new study by strategic marketing firm the Gantry Read more...

> AHIMA has launched a new project intended to provide a model for using EMRs and other health IT platforms in nursing homes. Read more...

>  Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center is working with CDW Corp. to build out 370 mobile carts with the capacity to run applications, including EMRs, CPOE and other clinical apps from Read more...

After months of being in a holding pattern, Kaiser Permanente has hired a new, permanent top technology leader to stabilize its troubled IT organization.

Philip Fasano, former CEO of Capital Sourcing Group, is now vice president and chief information officer. He takes over from Bruce Turkstra, who served as interim IT chief after Cliff Dodd resigned in November. Dodd left practically overnight after a …

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Google's announcement that it's developed a healthcare advisory panel has created quite a stir. In recent weeks, the search giant has been pitching its secure Web information security technology, arguing along the way that secure authentication is key to building Web-based EMRs. The announcement has further fueled speculation Google will develop its own Web-based EMR.

The stellar 21-member panel, …

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The American Medical Association has developed some proposed guidelines intended to make sure patient access to EMR systems is secure and appropriate. The guidelines, while not breaking any major ground from an IT perspective, could give practices some much-needed confidence that they're doing the right thing. The AMA's guidelines recommend that:

• Interactions with EMR systems should take place over a secure, encrypted network.
• Physicians should authenticate patient …

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I doubt anyone reading FierceHealthIT objects to the idea of federal subsidies for EMR adoption. After all, if legislators want to see broad EMR use, offering grants, loans or expanded tax advantages for EMR …

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It looks like a recent data breach suffered by the Department of Veterans Affairs could be very pricey. Officials continue to deal with the recent loss of a hard drive, which disappeared from a VA medical center in Birmingham, AL in January of this year. The disk contained confidential data on any U.S. doctor billed Medicaid or Medicare through 2004, as well as more than 500,000 VA patients. To …

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A trio of advocacy groups--including the AARP, the Service Employees International Union and the Business Roundtable--have begun a lobbying effort encouraging Congress to push EMR adoption. In a joint statement, the groups cited a 2005 study by RAND which estimated that the health system would save as much $165 billion if providers adopted health IT more broadly. The groups have asked legislators to pass legislation immediately which would give all Americans access to secure EMRs. The …

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