For the first time in years, information technology (IT) leaders at healthcare organizations did not identify a lack of financial support for IT as an obstacle to implementation. So what's the problem? According to the 23rd Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey, released on Tuesday, one-quarter of respondents said adequate staffing resources within their ...

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago, and the Drummond Group Inc. (DGI), Austin, TX, were named yesterday by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the first technology review bodies that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record (EHR) ...

To mark the important role health information technology (HIT) plays in improving healthcare delivery in America, more than 170 partner organizations have joined together for National Health Information Technology Week, June 14-18. With the theme: One Voice, One Vision: Transforming Health and Care, the 5th Annual National Health IT Week kicked ...

With patients across the country voicing a growing desire for greater engagement in and control over their medical care, a new study involving patients in Boston, Pennsylvania and Seattle will examine the impact of letting patients see the notes that doctors record during and after their visit. Funded through a $1.4 million grant from the ...

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $83.9 million in grants to help networks of health centers adopt electronic health records (EHR) and other health information technology (HIT) systems. The funds are part of the $2 billion allotted to HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the ...

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) submitted comments this week to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in response to the request for information, ''HIPAA Privacy Rule Accounting of Disclosures Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act; Request for ...

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for issuing periodic guidance on the provisions in the HIPAA Security Rule. It will offer a series of guidance documents to assist organizations in identifying and implementing the most effective and appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, ...

(Editor's note: The following is a message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.)Healthcare professionals appreciate opportunities to learn from innovative colleagues and communities -- to see what really works, to get ''boots-on-the-ground'' perspectives, to learn best practices and to use the ...

Texas Health Resources and Children's Medical Center announced the ability to electronically exchange medical information on a mutually-treated patient. This is now possible through a secure health information exchange product from Epic Systems Corp., and is the first such exchange in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The ability to share such ...

Last week, I mentioned that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had tentatively shut down the Bidirectional Health Information Exchange (BHIE). Doctors identified bugs in the system, which enables the transmission of electronic health records (EHRs) between the VA and Department of Defense (DoD). Officials expected to have the BHIE back up on ...