Latest Commentary

Fixing IT safety issues goes beyond training and board meetings and union action, as providers at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, Calif., are showing.

Over the past three months, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could not have made its intentions regarding the transition to ICD-10 more clear: there will be no second delay. Still, survey after survey indicates that providers are continuing to drag their feet when it comes to beginning the process of implementation.

Why the continued procrastination?

You have to spend money to save money. On the face of it, that statement is counter-intuitive, but it's why the government has pumped millions into programs such as Meaningful Use, interoperability efforts, health data privacy and security and healthcare quality improvement. However, the sequestration cuts about to go into effect for some healthcare agencies and programs will allow the healthcare industry--and the government agencies that regulate and promote it--to test an alternate theory: To save money, you have to spend less money.

The majority of people who attended the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's annual conference last week in New Orleans likely would agree that the formation of the CommonWell Health Alliance--in which five electronic health record vendors, led by Cerner and McKesson, agreed to work together for improved interoperability--was the event's most notable news. But what exactly does it mean for the health IT industry as a whole?