Allscripts' Tullman: We'll do better
It's been a month of upheaval at electronic health record giant Allscripts, but CEO Glen Tullman told Healthcare IT News in an interview that he's working hard to right the ship.
California replaces Cal eConnect for HIE implementation
FDA negotiates details of tracking system to prevent counterfeit pills
In an effort to combat counterfeit drugs, the Food and Drug Administration trying to work out the details of a prescription medication tracking system in order to insert the proposal into the FDA user fee bill now being debated in Congress. An industry group wants to require pharmaceutical companies to include a serial number on each lot of drugs. Those handling the drugs throughout the distribution chain could check them against an electronic database to ensure their authenticity.
IT will be key for operation of insurance exchanges
Information technology is poised to play a big role in the health insurance exchange process, according to new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services last Wednesday.
Cell phone pics in the doc's office: To ban or not to ban?
Ten years ago, most patients wouldn't have even considered bringing a camera into their doctor's office. The advent of smartphones, however, has changed that. So much so, in fact, that an article published this week in American Medical News asks if doctors should ban patients from taking cellphone pictures in their offices.
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Rise in physician tablet use means less than meets the eye
Genetic tests don't drive demand for follow-up care
New research published this week in the journal Genetics in Medicine suggests that patients who do undergo genetic testing aren't likely to demand abnormal levels of follow-up tests or other care.
MGMA wants 'staggered' ICD-10 implementation
In a letter sent this week to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Medical Group Management Association President Susan Turney reiterates the organization's position from March that the ICD-10 process, as currently outlined, lacks several steps.
Should hospitals risk going broke for Meaningful Use?
Should officials at cash-strapped hospitals go all-in on electronic health record systems in hopes of receiving a big return via incentive dollars, even if it means spending beyond their means?
HL7 wants more doc participation in EHR standards creation
Experts get creative in protecting patient IDs in audit trails
A body that advises the state of Massachusetts about health information exchanges has devised an unusual approach to maintaining the privacy of patient information while allowing the use of audit trails.
FCC approves new wireless medical device channel
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to open two segments of the wireless spectrum for medical patient monitoring, chairman Julius Genachowski said in a press conference in Washington, D.C. this morning.
Radiology practice varies too widely, former teleradiologist says
The radiology industry has a unique opportunity to "biopsy" current practice to reduce variability in the practice--including image quality and how practitioners use imaging data, writes teleradiologist Richard Abramson in the May issue of Radiology.
Google ranks high for health research, but all search engines lacking
The top four search engines--Google, Bing, Ask.com and Yahoo!--provide rich health and medical information, but none of them stand out as the best, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Hospitals enlist vendors for data analytics help
Providers are increasingly turning to big tech companies to help their data mining efforts, with vendors such as Microsoft, SAS, IBM and Oracle giving mounds of data the once-over in an analytics industry that generated more than $30 billion last year. Data-mining, however helpful, continues to raise concerns, however.
ONC expansion adds Chief Medical Officer, Office of Consumer eHealth
Clinical initiatives and consumer engagement are at the forefront of the latest expansion within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
MGMA to CMS: Extend e-prescribing deadline to December
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to delay the reporting and hardship exemption deadline in CMS' e-prescribing program from June 30 to Dec. 31, 2012.
Kinect works toward degree in early autism diagnosis
Researchers at several universities--including the University of Minnesota, the California Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina--are playing around with Microsoft's Kinect sensors as part of some important work: finding ways to diagnose autism earlier.
Mostashari: Government should play booster role in health IT innovation
The government is no longer the main source of health IT innovation, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the national coordinator for health information technology, told the Boston Globe earlier this week. But he outlined several ways it can--and should--encourage it.
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