June 18, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
The Wyoming Department of Health is using its no-cost electronic health record (EHR) program as a platform to build a sophisticated central database to manage the health of its Medicaid population effectively and use the information to effect policy changes. Earlier this month, The Wyoming Department of Health announced that it is the first state to offer a free, fully certified EHR to Medicaid providers in the state.
June 5, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Despite two failed attempts to set up a health information exchange, the San Diego Beacon eHealth Community is powering forward to develop value for its stakeholders by electronically transferring electrocardiograms from ambulances to hospitals and providing patient event notifications and order authorizations to payers. The San Diego Beacon's goals focus on improving patient outcomes for acute myocardial infarctions; reducing ED visits, 30-day readmission rates, and repeat imaging tests; as well as enhancing immunization rates and syndromic surveillance.
March 29, 2012 David Raths
blog
While most health information exchanges have yet to achieve reaching financial sustainability, HIEs in Rhode Island and Indiana are beginning to demonstrate the considerable value of statewide data exchange.
March 15, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
Hospitals and health systems are fueling the growth of private health information exchanges (HIEs) to strengthen care coordination among their employed and affiliated physicians. One example of this surge in private activity is a grassroots, community-wide HIE cultivated by Huntington Hospital, a 626-bed regional medical center located in Pasadena, Calif. Huntington has used its mantra “Right Care, Right Place, Right Time,” to facilitate coordination across the care continuum and link its large population of 3,200 community physicians (2,300 physicians of whom are not on the medical staff).
March 15, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
After a stop and start, Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect (MTeHC) is in the process of connecting its community hospitals, with the eventual goal of linking up with the Health Information Partnership for Tennessee (HIP TN) and the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). Tennessee, like other states including Texas and Oklahoma, is planning for a network of networks approach, with the Franklin-based HIP TN as the statewide convener of other active HIEs like MidSouth eHealth Alliance in Memphis.
February 29, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
After a period of wait-and-see in the health information exchange (HIE) market when the American Reinvestment and Recovery/Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (ARRA-HITECH) Act initially passed in 2009, meaningful use has since been pushing providers to adopt the EHR technology necessary to move forward to launch HIEs. Hospitals and health systems, as well as payers, are fueling HIE growth, building information backbones necessary to support care coordination and accountable care organization (ACO) development.
February 27, 2012
news
The Washington, D.C.-based National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) released the results of the 2012 NeHC Stakeholder Survey, featuring responses related to health information exchange (HIE), consumer engagement, and other NeHC programs.
February 23, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
At the Beacon Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at HIMSS12 in Las Vegas, federal representatives, as well as four Beacon Communities leaders shared the innovations that have been created in their communities as the result of Beacon Community Program. Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the ONC, said that Beacon Communities made it as clear as possible what healthcare IT is all about and provided valuable lessons about how to accomplish change.
February 21, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
CIOs at a HIMSS12 breakfast, sponsored by Siemens Healthcare (Malvern, Pa.) on Tuesday Feb. 21 spoke about how their organizations were developing private health information exchanges (HIEs) to link their physician practices and ultimately drive sustainability and competitive advantage. John Glaser, Ph.D., CEO, Siemens Healthcare noted there were two models, ownership versus contractual, for healthcare integration among hospitals and community physicians.
February 10, 2012
news
The Washington, D.C.-based National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) recently released the results of a survey to the attendees of its NeHC University recent program on health information exchanges (HIEs), called, "Introduction to the HIE Landscape." NeHC says the results of the survey will determine the development of future NeHC University programs and provide valuable insight into key issues and challenges facing the world of HIE.
February 3, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
I find it fascinating how typically members of the two parties in congress find themselves poles apart on most policy issues – especially in a politically charged election year – and yet they’ve found they common ground on health IT. Recently, the Washington D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a report stating there are numerous obstacles in the way of an effective deployment of health IT. The report came with multiple recommendations on how the government can do better.
January 17, 2012
news
The New York eHealth Collaborative has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Informatics Corporation of American (Nashville, Tenn.) to join the public-private multi-state working group comprised of Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors, Health Information Exchange (HIE) vendors and states. The group is looking to create common standards, and is committed to develop the technical specifications to enable “plug and play” connectivity between EHRs and HIEs.
