Institute of Medicine

This week's opinion article in the  Wall Street Journal  certainly has sparked some debate. There already are more than 100 comments on the article, which run the gamut, some in favor of electronic health reocrds, and some against. What I'm surprised about, though, is the lack of discussion on how to deal with the information in the article, although the article provides it: EHRs lack standardization.

The Institute of Medicine's new 450 page report, "Better Care at Lower Cost", is an excellent analysis of the problems of our current healthcare system, and the ways to resolve them. But what I find the most surprising about the IOM report is what it didn't do: it didn't create major shockwaves in mainstream media, as some of IOM's previous reports have done.

Better use of technology to capture and share health data is necessary for the healthcare industry to make systematic changes that will lead to better quality care and lower costs, according to a new report published today by the Institute of Medicine.

It's bad enough that EHRs have design flaws such as usability problems, or backfiring features that impede workflow and functionality. But software glitches that lose data, cause the system to go down regularly and create other havoc really are inexcusable. They're also apparently rather common. So what's a hospital or physician to do?

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH) is seeking comments from the public to help it determine whether and how patients' work-related information should be captured in electronic health records.

The Institute of Medicine recently released a discussion paper in which 11 executive leaders from leading hospital and healthcare systems throughout the nation--including the Cleveland Clinic,...