HealthcareITNews

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology published its proposed rule on certification of electronic health records on Tuesday in the Federal Register, launching the comment period.

The Consumer Partnership for eHealth (CPeH), a coalition led by the National Partnership for Women and Families, has collected consumer and employer perspectives on the top 10 arguments concerning meaningful use.

Some members of Congress are going to ask federal officials to postpone the start date for when providers must begin to show meaningful use of health data to qualify for bonuses under the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Internet has considerably more influence over consumer health decisions and actions than traditional channels like print, TV and radio, according to a new report from Manhattan Research.

About 48 percent of patients in a recent survey said their doctor was using an electronic health record during their most recent visit to their physician.

Vendors may suggest that many successful health information exchanges have been built with their technology, but the reality is different, according to a new report from KLAS.

Healthcare IT has been highlighted over the past four years in State of the Union speeches, though President Barack Obama made no mention of it in his Wednesday night speech.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will grant Alaska ($900,000), Kentucky ($2.6 million), South Carolina ($1.48 million) and Wisconsin ($1.37 million) federal matching funds for electronic health records implementations.

The "hand of thoughtful policy" created the proposed criteria for meaningful use, according to David J. Brailer, MD, former healthcare IT czar for the Office of the National Coordinator.

Eighty-five percent of healthcare providers believe their ambulatory electronic medical record software will enable them to meet the 2011 meaningful use deadlines being considered by the federal government.