ARRA News

HIT panel pitches one vocabulary standard for all EHR domains

The HIT Standards Committee has unveiled one set of vocabulary standards and implementation guides for all EHR quality reporting domains, a feat deemed "momentous" by panel co-chairman Dr. John Halamka. The panel plans to ask the ONC to integrate the standards, which have been in the works for 10 years, into the second stage of meaningful use criteria for EHRs.

Read more here.

ONC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Metadata Standards

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is requesting public comment on a newly released advance notice of proposed rulemaking about the use of metadata standards to support health data exchange. The notice outlines a scenario in which metadata standards could be attached to a patient's summary of care record. The comment period ends Sept. 23.

Learn more here.

HITECH Act blocking smaller IT firms

Many small and midsize IT firms are sitting on the sidelines of the nation’s health IT transformation due to barriers caused mostly by government policies as they relate to education, security and privacy, and technical assistance, said authors of the CompTIA report, Health IT: The Essential Role of Small IT Solution Providers. The report contends that “several minor changes to existing policy” would help enable small IT products and services providers to play a bigger role in helping the nations tens of thousands of healthcare providers–especially smaller medical providers–transition to digitized patient records and other health IT enabled processes.

Read more from InformationWeek here.

CMS announces provider call on EHR meaningful use

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host an Aug. 18 teleconference on the meaningful use requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record incentive programs for hospitals and eligible providers. For details and to register for the call, click here.

[ via AHA News Now ]

HIE organizations identify factors that aid, impede success

A new report from the National eHealth Collaborative looks at the strategies and business models that can support or impede the success of regional health information exchange organizations by profiling 12 fully operational HIEs. "While every HIE project is unique, they all share the same problems of participation, value, security, growth and especially sustainability," said Mark Jones, chief operating officer for the Secure Medical Records Transfer Network (SMRTNET), an Oklahoma organization profiled in the report.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Free iPad-based EHR platform earns MU certification

An electronic health record application designed for the iPad has been certified as meeting meaningful use requirements by InfoGard, an ONC-authorized EHR accreditation body. Called drchrono, the free application could help providers demonstrate meaningful use and qualify for a maximum of $44,000 in federal incentives.

Read more here.