Category Archives: Health Policy and Meaningful Use
Two-year EHR analysis now available
Newly released federal data has allowed analysis of the EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) based on two years of data. First-year users, both from 2011 and 2012, as well as second-year users (who started in 2011) can now be studied. A new comprehensive analysis is now available, and can be downloaded for review. This document …Continue Reading
Healthcare collaboration and PHRs in 2013
With the beginning of 2013, health IT is facing a new set of challenges. Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors are gearing up for Stage 2 Meaningful Use certification, which includes more emphasis on interoperability – the sharing of health data about a patient across different health settings – and on patient engagement. Health care is …Continue Reading
Modern PHRs beyond Meaningful Use
Patient-facing health IT has come a long way, but is also poised to make another significant leap forward. Last week, the final rules for Stage 2 Meaningful Use were released, and even though these rules address what physicians and hospitals must do to receive incentive payments for demonstrating “meaningful use of certified healthcare technology,” some …Continue Reading
The looming policy struggle for Meaningful Use
The federal EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) is based on the presumption that once a medical practitioner has adopted an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, that system will remain in use for subsequent years. More specifically, the presumption is that once a clinician attests to Meaningful Use (the first year of attestation only needs a …Continue Reading
Meaningful Use 2012 mid-year report card
The mid-year data on the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) has been released, allowing further insight into adoption of EHRs. The current year-to-date Meaningful Use attestation figures can be compared to 2011 data, and can illustrate vendor-specific trends in adoption. A few points about Meaningful Use need to be made here. All …Continue Reading
Did Meaningful Use encourage new EHR adoption?
Who has benefitted from the federal EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) so far? Has it been simply a reward to those clinics and medical practices who already had an EHR (as some have argued), or has the system actually encouraged new users who never had an EHR before to adopt? Prior to the beginning of …Continue Reading
EHR Usability as a corporate culture for vendors
EHR Usability is a very important aspect influencing the utility of, and adoption of, Electronic Health Records (EHR). The use of EHR systems is moving out of the “early adopters” phase, and is reaching the tipping point where it is becoming mainstream. More often than not, some form of Health IT is being used in medical offices …Continue Reading
Should EHR usability be regulated?
The question of “usability” of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems continues to be a topic of discussion. A recent report in iHealthBeat gathers comments from a number of influential expert opinions on the topic. There are many aspects to the issue of EHR “usability” – not the least of which is a consensus on what …Continue Reading
What motivates an EHR to change and improve?
A recent article in The Health Care Blog about how some Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems are poorly enough designed to where they present bad information, and thus can lead to potential patient harm, got me to thinking. What motivates an EHR to make changes? Are hospital and ambulatory EHRs to be thought of in …Continue Reading
Meaningful Use data paints a picture of the EHR industry
The finalized numbers for the federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive program (Meaningful Use) allow for some insights into the state of the EHR vendor industry. A table of successful Stage 1 Meaningful Use attesters for 2011, including which EHR was used by each individual attester, is available at data.gov, and can be downloaded here. …Continue Reading
How will PHRs evolve?
Personal Health Records (PHRs) are a patient-facing window of one’s own health record. They are part of modern Electronic Health Records (EHRs), which are physician-facing, and have evolved over time. The scope of the data in one’s PHR, it might be argued, is broad, personal, private and protected (from a HIPAA perspective). This is perhaps …Continue Reading