Articles by Industry Expert

CMS Finalizes its Quality Measure Development Plan

By Kate Goodrich, MD, MHS – On December 18, 2015, we posted our draft Quality Measure Development Plan, a strategic framework for clinician quality measurement development to support the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System and advanced alternative payment models.



A Deep Dive on the MACRA NPRM

By John Halamka MD – As promised, I’ve read and taken detailed notes on the entire 962 page MACRA NPRM so that you will not have to. Although this post is long, it is better than the 20 hours of reading I had to do! Here is everything you need to know from an IT perspective about the MACRA NPRM.


Business Associates: More Than a Checkbox

By Matt Fisher – The Office for Civil Rights announced a $750,000 settlement with Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, P.A. of NC on 4/20/16, resulting from a breach involving an “undocumented” business associate. The settlement comes only weeks before desk audits are expected to begin and focuses on a perceived area of weakness, BA agreements.



Caring for the Clinician

By Jerry Ford – The Key to Improving Patient Experience, Enhancing Health Outcomes, and Reducing Cost. According to the CMS National Healthcare Expenditure Projections report, the US healthcare system is the most expensive in the world, making up 17% of the country’s GDP. Projections of 20% by 2020.


The Value of Interoperability: We’ve Come a Long Way

By Lorelle Lapstra – I’ve worked in medical imaging for over 25 years and in that time I’ve seen the industry take amazing strides forward on the road to better patient care. When I compare today’s technology stack, the clinical breakthroughs, image quality and support for interoperability to where they were when I first began my career, it’s remarkable how far we’ve come.


Software Vocabulary

By William Hyman – Users of software such as EHRs are sometimes presented with jargon laced responses that may be unique to the software world. For example, as I may have noted here before, I have long been fond of the term “upgrade” when used to mean fixing something that was never right in the first place.