Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health IT, gave an update on the Obama Administration's efforts to define "meaningful use" and to further adoption of EHRs nationwide. Blumenthal did not reveal any new details regarding the upcoming regulations on meaningful use, reminding his audience of the upcoming "notice of proposed rulemaking in late 2009 with a public comment period in early 2010."
Meanwhile, according to Government HealthIT, the next meeting of the HIT Policy Committee, which will meet on October 27 and 28, will focus on how to map meaningful use objectives to medical specialties as well as small practices and hospitals.
Speaking at the 81st annual American Health Information Management Association convention in Grapevine, Texas, Dr. Blumenthal stated that he expects 50,000 health information management (HIM) jobs to be created as the U.S. moves from the paper-based to the digital system of healthcare. AHIMA's CEO, Linda Kloss, noted that the interest in HIM careers has "exploded" during the last year.
Much more news after the jump.
- American Medical News reported on the staffing changes for healthcare organizations necessitated by the nationwide switch to electronic health records. According to the article:
There are some assumptions about staff changes that are easy to make, experts say. Any job that was strictly paper-based prior to implementation, for example, will need to be overhauled or eliminated.
Other changes are not so easy to predict, and could depend on how willing your employees are to adapt and learn new skills.
- According to Crain's Detroit Business, urban hospitals lag behind rural hospitals and physicians' practices in joining health information exchanges (HIE's) because such HIE's pose a combination of monetary, strategic, and technological challenges.
- Washington Post reported on a pilot project in Ohio aimed at streamlining the cost of healthcare administration. The state's eight major health insurers - representing 91% of the patients - have signed on to participate in this initiative. The Post described the program as:
a single Web portal [that the participants] believe will reduce duplication, miscommunication, and confusion between doctors and insurance companies. That will mean quicker office and hospital service, more time for patient care, and, ultimately, cost savings, participants said.
- Healthcare IT News reported that -- according to e-prescribing company Surescripts -- "the number of physicians using electronic prescribing will have more than doubled in 2009 and that "more than 140,000 – 23 percent of all office-based physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the United States – are e-prescribing today."
- USA Today reported on the various hardships and setbacks to widespread implementation of EHRs. The article ended on a somewhat hopeful note, with a great quote by Stephanie Reel, the CIO of Johns Hopkins University:
We've been saying that we're five years away from electronic medical records for the past 40 years ... Now maybe we really are only five years away.
"Meaningful" Progress Toward Electronic Health Information Exchange, David Blumenthal, MD (October 1, 2009).
"Specialists, primary care providers differ in meaningful use," Government HealthIT (October 6, 2009).
"Health IT effort to create thousands of new jobs, says Blumenthal," Healthcare IT News (October 6, 2009).
"How electronic medical records affect staffing," Amednews.com (October 5, 2009).
"Slow with the flow: Hospitals lag in joining health info exchanges," Crain's Detroit Business (October 4, 2009).
"Paperwork angst drives Ohio doctor, insurer effort," The Washington Post (October 5, 2009).
"More than 140,000 physicians on growing list of e-prescribers," Healthcare IT News (October 5, 2009).
"High-tech 'scribes' help transfer medical records into electronic form, " USA Today (October 7, 2009).
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report on integrated delivery systems (IDSs) in healthcare. The report found that electronic health record systems (EHRs) are able to improve patient care among such IDSs.
On March 24, 2010, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released its 