Interoperability
The business value for providers and patients is what will drive health information exchange forward, even though most discussions typically center on the technology involved. And different uses for exchange will require different technologies.
Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth, a provider of cloud-based EMRs, announced recently it would acquire San Mateo, Calif.-based Epocrates, a mobile health company known for its point-of-care medical apps. athenahealth will pay about $293 million in cash. It's a match hailed by the executives of both companies, and also by industry analysts, as a smart move for athenahealth.
Healthcare data breach numbers not only continue to trend upwards but they are also costing the industry a pretty penny, according to a recent report conducted by privacy research firm Ponemon Institute.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has begun listening sessions to identify and understand the experience and barriers of organizations as they prepare to scale up health information exchange.
The most eagerly awaited -- if not anxiety-laden -- set of regulations in the healthcare spectrum arrived January 17: HHS issued modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement and Breach Notification Rules. The man charged with enforcing the rules said they represent "sweeping changes."
Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth announced Jan. 7 that it would acquire San Mateo, Calif.-based Epocrates. It's a match hailed by the executives of both companies, and also by industry analysts, as a smart move. Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush explains his vision for athenahealth and for a connected healthcare system.
The year 2012 was the year when data showed its muscle, whether in the presidential elections or in demonstrating how deeply entrenched the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records had become.
ACOs are an idea whose time has come, according to Gene Lindsey, MD, president and CEO of Newton, Mass.-based Atrius Health.
Free the data! Empower the patient! Break down those walls! Collaborate! Innovate!
Hospitals can have hundreds of IT systems. Vendors have built proprietary databases. Not everyone follows the same standards. Health systems fear sharing data with competitors. Policymakers have not focused on health information exchange or EHR usability.