While President Barack Obama did take a little bit of time in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to talk about healthcare, predictably focusing on the Affordable Care Act, he only briefly alluded to the other reform going on healthcare--that of health IT. Those brief moments, though, drove quite a bit of commentary among healthcare journalists.

For example, Obama mentioned electronic medical records, specifically with regard to veteran's access, saying that the U.S. has "made great strides over the last two years in using technology and getting rid of waste." Forbes healthcare blogger Zina Moukheiber, however, sees the push for Meaningful Use (which, as we all know is not part of healthcare reform, but rather the stimulus package passed a year earlier) as a waste for a different reason--incompatibility.

"[V]eterans use VistA [the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture]," Moukheiber writes, which, she explains is ahead of the curve in terms of implementing EMRs. "Now the government is shelling out some $20 billion in subsidies to encourage hospitals and doctors to purchase pricey EMRs that are incompatible with each other. A boon for the Cerners and Allscripts, but not for patients who won't be able to access their medical records from anywhere anytime soon."

Moukheiber adds that the general public might have been better served had VistA been "co-opted by the private sector."

Meanwhile, MobiHealthNews' Brian Dolan focuses on the implications of the President's mention of face-to-face video chats between doctors and patients, pointing out a number of efforts already underway to implement such technology.

"Health plans and insurance providers [have been] among the first groups to embrace face-to-face video chats between patients and care providers," Dolan writes. "Last year a report claimed that both Humana and WellPoint were working to include more wireless video chat services for their members to better connect them to nurses."

He adds that mobile video calling appears to be growing as a trend in mobile healthcare. "Apple launched FaceTime for the iPhone 4 and a number of other video startups and incumbents have moved into the space in recent years," he writes.

Healthcare IT News quoted HIMSS EHR Association chairman emeritus Justin Barnes about Obama's brief references, as well.

"[I]t was very encouraging to hear the increased vigor supporting additional investments in innovation around biomedical research and information technology," Barnes told the publication. "I believe we all have the common goal, though, to create a smarter, more sustainable healthcare system in America."

To learn more:
- read the full speech
- here's Moukheiber's commentary
- here's Dolan's post
- check out the Healthcare IT News article