HIMemo

Top officers at ONC to lead virtual classes

The National eHealth Collaborative is partnering with the ONC to offer virtual classes to providers and other industry stakeholders about the state of the HIT landscape. The classes will be led by top-level ONC officials, including Dr. Doug Fridsma, the director of the agency's office of interoperability and standards. One class has been described as a forum for direct dialogue with the ONC.

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ONC Releases First Examinations To Assess Health IT Professionals

On May 20, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the first set of examinations to help stakeholders measure skill levels for certain health IT competencies that have been identified as essential. More than 27,000 health IT students and workers will be eligible for vouchers to take an exam at no cost.

Learn more here.

Hospitals with advanced IT are more profitable

Not-for-profit hospitals that have advanced IT systems--and/or have received quality awards--tend to be more profitable than other hospitals, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

In its review, Fitch looked at 291 hospitals that were part of the company's rated portfolio in 2009. Of the total portfolio hospitals, 24 (8 percent) were categorized as HIMSS stage 6 or stage 7 hospitals for their high rates of adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and other advanced IT systems. In addition, 75 of the hospitals received some form of recognition for high quality of care.

Just over 80 percent of hospitals with a quality award or advanced IT recognition received at least an "A-" credit rating - compared with 67 percent of overall hospitals studied.