By John Halamka MD – When I wrote about the most important healthcare IT stories of 2015 (such as ICD-10 and Meaningful Use), I did not include a discussion of Information Security. That’s because security deserves its own post. Increasingly complex threats and an array of new security technology, policy, and education projects consumed us all in 2015.
Read More
By John Halamka MD – The December 2015 HIT Standards Committee focused on 3 key projects as we wrapped up our work for the year. Cris Ross presented the work of the Certified Technology Comparison Task Force. The idea behind this work is simple.
By David Macfarlane – Maybe the initial challenge of population health is deciding exactly what that phrase means. Well before it became a catchphrase in health IT, population health was the province of academics who devised predictably academic definitions.
By Matt Patterson MD – In my ritual of year-end reflection, I am struck by an unshakeable parallel between the general healthcare climate today, and the atmosphere surrounding the late stages of the American Revolution and the start of our fledgling nation.
By Karen B. DeSalvo – Recently, I spoke at the Bipartisan Policy Center about our vision for the near future where electronic health information is unlocked and securely accessible to achieve better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.
By Robert M. Califf MD & Rachel Sherman MD, MPH – Medical care and biomedical research are in the midst of a data revolution. Networked systems, electronic health records, electronic insurance claims databases, social media, patient registries, and smartphones and other personal devices together comprise an immense new set of sources for data about health and healthcare.
By Patrick Conway MD – At the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), we are working with public and private partners to build a health care delivery system that delivers improved care, spends health care dollars more wisely, and makes communities healthier.
By Jonathan Draper – Breaking down the silos between data sources and departments involves a complex blend of technology and people that, not surprisingly, can result in conflict along the way. However, the ultimate goal remains the same for all: protect the patient. Understanding the concerns of each department and encouraging communication amongst the groups can reduce this tension, allowing for innovation to take hold and enhance care throughout an organization.
By Mark Scrimshire – The hottest topic in Healthcare interoperability right now is FHIR (pronounced “Fire”) – HL7’s Fast Health Interoperability Resource framework. FHIR has caught the imagination and attention of developers across the Healthcare world by offering a developer-friendly Application Programming Interface (API) and a rich set of simple, but flexible standard data formats.