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 ...

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 ...

(Editor's note: The following is a message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, posted on May 14, 2010.) Private and secure health information exchange enables information to follow the patient when and where it is needed for better care. The Federal government is working to enable a wide range ...

In another HITECH milestone, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has posted a list of covered entities (CEs) that reported breaches affecting 500 or more individuals. The list, available to the public via OCR's Web site, fulfills an obligation outlined in last year's HITECH Act. CEs have been required to report such breaches since last ...

It's Friday--time to catch up on the news. I was hoping to share a delightful health-related story with you, but there were too many good ones, and who am I to single out? So, on to a list we go; I'll leave it up to you to pick and prune according to your preferences. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explores record access issues ...

I'm what you might call ''doctor phobic.'' I haven't had a check up since 2001, and that was required to get into college. After high school, I moved to the Philadelphia suburbs from quiet nook upstate in a rural area lovingly referred to as the ''Polish Poconos.'' Where I grew up, you knew your doctors. We had one doctor who took care of my mom's ...