Archive for May, 2009
Putting the Cart before the Horse
The vice-chair of the HIT Standards Committee, John Halamka, MD, opened the first Standards Committee meeting by charging the committee with “recommending standards, implementation specifications, and certification…in support of meaningful use.” But “meaningful use” has not yet been defined, which begs the question—Are we putting the cart before the horse?
In fairness, the Standards Committee, [...]
The Machinery Behind Health-Care Reform
This weekend, The Washington Post published an investigative report entitled “The Machinery Behind Health-Care Reform: How an Industry Lobby Scored a Swift, Unexpected Victory by Channeling Billions to Electronic Records.” The reporter, Robert O’Harrow Jr., clearly hit a nerve when he exposed the origins of the EHR funding portion of the Economic Stimulus Bill—The [...]
Legislation without Representation
The 21 members of the HIT Standards Committee have been appointed, and unfortunately I was not among those selected. However, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal did assemble a highly credentialed, very impressive group of health IT experts who will contribute much time [...]
No Use = No “Meaningful Use”
On Day 2 of the Government’s Hearing on Meaningful Use, there was finally some recognition of the need for physicians to be able and actually willing to use their EMRs. Three speakers from the audience, including SRS, presented testimony reminding Committee members of the dismal track record of traditional EMRs to date, and warning that [...]
