The resignation of David Blumenthal, MD, last week as national coordinator for heath IT provides an important opportunity to right a meaningful use (MU) ship out of control. As I wrote in The Most Powerful Person in Healthcare IT, I believe that ship is out of control because the crafting of MU has been taken […]
The Most Powerful Person in Healthcare IT
It was not immediately clear, at least to me, that HITECH would have the effect it has. By that I mean it would utterly and completely transform the healthcare IT industry. It took me some time to realize that, through Meaningful Use, the government’s stipulations of what it would take to earn the incentive funds […]
The Next National Coordinator Must Get Real
It appears everyone was surprised by the announcement from ONC HIT Coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal that he will be departing his government post to return to academic life. By all accounts he is a great guy and I wish him all the best. I would suggest that when Dr. Blumenthal is replaced, the administration should appoint someone that has a more intimate knowledge of the reality of health care IT operations and what it really takes to achieve healthcare IT objectives.
HIT Pol Workgroup Reports on MU Challenges
To better inform the HIT Policy Committee and Meaningful Use workgroup about the real-world challenges faced by organizations working to comply with their requirements, the Adoption and Certification Workgroup presented findings it obtained during two days of recent hearings. After stating that the hearings showed “good appreciation” for the work being done by those committees […]
HITECH in the Cross-Hairs
Two of last week’s headlines provided a vivid contrast in how Republicans and Democrats each view the fiscal condition of the nation, along with their feelings about the HITECH Act. On the one hand, we have the Republicans, now gunning to reduce discretionary spending. Plain in their sites — in what amounts to a big, […]
The Meaningful Use Bait and Switch
Anyone who has gone through the rigors of college and advanced graduate studies can appreciate the value of cramming. Actually, this value is largely understood to be short-lived, with the crammer retaining the information — which has been so superficially absorbed — only until “pencils down” is called. While cramming may have its shortcomings, people […]
Stage 2 Sausage Enters Rulemaking Grinder
HITECH’s Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements started their year-plus journey through federal advisory committees, regulation writers, public comment and countless revisions after a draft set of recommendations were floated for discussion at this month’s HIT Policy Committee meeting. Outlined by Paul Tang, M.D., vice chair of the committee and chair of its Meaningful Use Workgroup, the measures generally seek to increase thresholds established in Stage 1 as they climb to a Stage 3 apex.
Policy Committee Balks at NHIN Proposal
Despite eagerness to have formal recommendations in place, the full HIT Policy Committee this week balked at a proposal for the National Health Information Network’s governance structure and instead asked workgroup chair John Lumpkin, M.D, to flesh out some thorny details before it could formally vote on the issue. Those thorny details revolved around a portion of the program which called for the creation of a non-government organization (NGO) that would disseminate best practices and resolve problems faster than a formal government body could.
Workgroup Draws up HIT Exchange Scenarios
Healthcare provider directories that could facilitate the exchange of patient data were discussed at this week’s HIT Policy Committee Information Exchange Workgroup meeting. To better envision exactly what the directories should look like, along with which organizations would be allowed in, who would do the admitting and what some business models could look like, workgroup member Walter Suarez, M.D., MPH., described a number of possible use cases. Two of those specifically related to hospitals.
Blumenthal Suggests Different Paths to MU
Rather than requiring all eligible providers and hospitals fill out what is generally the same checklist for Meaningful Use, organizations which prove they are achieving outcomes far beyond the norm could qualify right off the bat, suggested National Coordinator for Healthcare IT David Blumenthal, M.D., at the October HIT Policy Committee meeting. While the former […]