Government & Policy
How easy or difficult EHRs are to use is suddenly center stage, now that usability testing is part of the EHR certification criteria for meaningful use Stage 2. We spoke with five healthcare IT insiders, who offer a glimpse of key factors they associate with usability.
Roberta Mullin of HITECHAnswers reflects on the 7th annual National Health IT week and many of the related happenings inside the beltway.
At National Health IT Week, HIMSS recognized Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration for bridging the health services divide.
The first woman to become Iowa's House Majority Leader, Representative Linda Upmeyer, has drawn on her continuing experience as a cardiology nurse to propose health IT legislation, involving the local healthcare community, HIMSS Iowa Chapter and the state legislature.
The Medicaid expansion was supposed to be the least controversial part of the health reform lawsuit. But since the Supreme Court essentially made broadening its eligibility voluntary for states, not a day goes by without news reports guessing how Medicaid will fare in the future.
Reavis Eubanks, MD, defies the odds when it comes to giving up his paper charts and adopting an electronic medical record system. First, solo doctors, by many accounts, have a tough time making the transition; there's no IT personnel on staff to guide them and to troubleshoot, and then there's the issue of cos
Noam Arzt delves into the different strategies and tactics that health information exchanges might consider when looking to create system-to-system interoperability.
ONC is on track to stand up NwHIN-Exchange, under a new name, as a non-federal non-profit health information exchange next month. Roberta Mullen explains the transition.
Prior to 2010, Arkansas lagged behind much of the country in healthcare IT. "I knew we were way behind," the state's health IT coordinator, who led the construction of Arkansas' statewide HIE, said. Now, the state's progress has garnered ONC's praise and, mostly, local stakeholder support.
Time is running out for any more health reform benefits to emerge before November -- and the ACA's fate hinges on Election Day's outcome.