Technology

The technological underpinnings for an accountable care organization (ACO) include all the basic healthcare IT you have heard so much about, including electronic health records (EHRs), electronic medical records (EMRs), and health information exchange (HIE) for transmitting patient data between participating organizations that are not necessarily all on the same EHR.

The CMS is extending the deadline for physicians and other eligible professionals to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare EHR incentive program for the 2013 reporting year and is offering some hospitals a second chance at receiving payment-as well as possible relief from the program's 2015 penalties for failing to comply in 2013.

If a recent Black Book survey of payers, hospitals, and physicians turns out to be true, then the number of public health information exchanges (HIEs) is likely to dwindle in the years ahead.

Chris Belmont, vice president and chief information officer, MD Anderson Cancer Center, says the right timing and the right context are essential to effective health data management.

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology is getting out of the business of testing and certifying electronic health-record systems after nearly a decade as the first and still most-commonly used provider of those services in the U.S.

Office visits are likely to decrease as both physician and patient rely more on digital tools, study concludes.

Physicians' effective use of electronic health records will play a critical role in the development of payment and delivery reforms, the country's new health information technology (IT) czar said in her first public comments.

While some health systems, hospitals, and physician practices will choose to avoid forming an accountable care organization or adopting any other ACO-like model, they are still likely to face challenges around care coordination and collaboration as a result of consolidation in the healthcare industry.

We continue to see progress in improving the nation's healthcare system, and a key tool to helping achieve that goal is the increased use of electronic health records by the nation's doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.

Jodi Daniel, director of ONC's Office of Policy and Planning, wrote that ONC will "develop a policy framework for putting the person more at the center of their own health and health care, enabled by health IT."

Maryland's health exchange Web site is still riddled with glitches and might need to be completely overhauled - or even abandoned - once the first round of enrollment ends March 31, a member of Gov. Martin O'Malley's Cabinet told lawmakers Tuesday.

The combination of electronic medical record data and administrative data provides the fullest picture of patient health histories.

Dennis Scanlon, PhD, professor of health policy and administration at Penn State University, says there are a number of ways professionals continue to use data to improve delivery outcomes.

Significant additional outreach and engagement strategies and incentives are likely required to increase adoption and ongoing use of health risk assessment tools among target populations.

2014 has been identified as the make-or-break year for electronic health records (EHRs). Despite a more than $22 billion federal investment to reward meaningful use of EHR technology, new report findings suggest that the government has failed to put protections in place that would prevent the technology from increasing costs, including through overbilling.

The health IT market is poised for strong growth.

Over two million people have enrolled in health insurance plans through the federally run HealthCare.gov and state healthcare enrollment websites, a US administration official said on Tuesday. HealthCare.gov covers 36 states, and another 14 states have their own websites.

A look back at some of the InFocus blog highlights of 2013.

The Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC) adopted recommendations from its Consumer Empowerment Workgroup on patient-generated health data (PGHD) at its December meeting and is expected to finalize its complete Stage 3 recommendations in February.

The business of treating patients via telehealth in the U.S. will dramatically increase to nearly $2 billion in revenue within five years due to a confluence of events in the health care industry from doctor shortages to provider payment changes under the Affordable Care Act.

Both potential benefits and unexpected consequences were found as a result of the rollout of electronic prescribing.

Millions of people facing the cancellation of health insurance policies will be allowed to buy catastrophic coverage and will be exempt from penalties if they go without insurance next year, the White House said Thursday night.

City of New Orleans Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo has been named as HHS' new national coordinator for health information technology. She starts Jan. 13.

PLAINSBORO, N.J. From leveraging their joint buying power to better deployment of a hard-to-find pediatric liver transplant surgeon, two large healthcare systems in Florida are seeing the benefits of sharing resources on a bigger scale, according to Kavita Patel, MD, of the Brookings Institution, and her co-authors who write in the inaugural issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care.

When you are waiting for results from a medical test like a cancer biopsy, that call from your doctor can't come fast enough. As a doctor, I am sometimes so buried in an avalanche of medical records that it can delay decisions about what to do next.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that Stage 2 of the EHR Meaningful Use program would be extended through 2016, especially as many healthcare CIOs continue to struggle with health IT tool vendors. This also means that Stage 3 will be delayed until 2017.

Chris Belmont, vice president and chief information officer, MD Anderson Cancer Center, says that health systems like Ochsner are using data to validate what they already know about certain patient cases.

Hackensack Alliance ACO integrates pharmacists and adopts new technology as it joins in the bold experiment to lower costs and improve quality under health reform.

Almost half of 206 hospital executives polled in a recent survey said they do not intend to use an accountable care organization (ACO)-like model in their health systems. Only 20% of those polled currently participate in an ACO.