The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) used its standard competitive review processes and criteria to select the recipients of comparative effectiveness research (CER) grants and contracts using American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (Recovery Act) funds, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published in February.
Propelled by government incentives, a desire to improve patient outcomes and the bottom line, sales of EMRs grew 14.2 percent in 2011, according to medical market research company Kalorama Information.
States, caught between the approaching expiration of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), are balancing cost-cutting and cost-containment strategies with healthcare reform initiatives, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. The 11th annual survey provides a snapshot of Medicaid spending, enrollment and policy initiatives in each state based on data for fiscal year (FY) 2011 and FY 2012.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has added the position of principal deputy in an effort to “to more effectively meet the mission outlined by the Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [ARRA].”
Based on the reports of 198 CIOs, 26 percent said their organizations have qualified to receive stimulus funding under the HITECH Act portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act within the first full year of the program, according to a survey by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).
SALT LAKE CITY—Stephen M.R. Covey, author of
The Speed of Trust, described how trust plays an important role in today’s healthcare system during his keynote address at the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) conference, Oct. 3.
The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association), a collaboration of 42 EHR suppliers, announced new leadership for the coming year following its annual elections in June.
The average number of hospitals going live with computerized physician order entry (CPOE) has ballooned to 233 per year, up from 87 before passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), according to healthcare market research firm KLAS. However, even with recent growth, less than one quarter of U.S. hospitals are live with CPOE, and only a few vendors have even half of their customer base live.
Implementing health IT in the community setting is a national priority designed to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. However, community-based organizations who are implementing health IT often lack the expertise to effectively evaluate the systems, according to a perspective published Aug. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recently commented on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’ notice of propose-rulemaking (NPRM) regarding HIPAA Privacy Rule accounting of disclosures. The disparate organizations had very different opinions on the subject.
“The economic recession has significantly affected a normally recession-resistant medical industry,” stated a report from HIMSS Analytics. However, results from the first quarter of 2011 indicate that IT budgets might be adjusting back to pre-recession levels.
Thirty-three states have now said they will further slash Medicaid payments to healthcare providers, according to a survey issued by the National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Meaningful use is doable, necessary and here for the long term, offered Keith J. Dreyer, DO, PhD, vice chairman of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, during the Dwyer Lecture at the annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). In addition to shattering pervasive myths about meaningful use, Dreyer shared essential information to help radiologists meet its requirements.
