There have been oftentimes when I have been asked, “When our hospital information system vendor sold us our system, we were convinced the system would provide management with the type of financial information that would allow for quality decision-making on cash flow, revenue, accounts receivable analysis, etc. Now, after implementation, we can’t get quality, meaningful [...]

For years – since HIPAA privacy rules were finalized actually – I’ve had my nemesis. I’ve never met her. Never heard her speak in a public forum. But everything I have read about that included a quote from her about the state of healthcare privacy laws in this country has led me to believe she [...]

The race is officially on. EMR vendors have been busy since the beginning of the year to prepare their systems to meet the requirements of Meaningful Use – Stage 1. Now, one of the biggest questions marks in the process is a giant step closer to being answered. On one of the biggest stages possible [...]

Are you reading this while at HIMSS 2010 in Atlanta? Unfortunately I’m not there with you if you are. If you’re elsewhere like me and wish you were at HIMSS let me know – maybe there are enough of us that I’ll start a Facebook group! If you’re elsewhere and happy to be far away [...]

This past week I had the opportunity to speak with about 30 CFOs. Some were from community hospitals and others were from critical access hospitals. All were there for the same reason: to learn about the federal EHR Incentive Program. But before I went into the details of Stage 1 of “Meaningful Use” I took [...]

I think it’s great that the federal budget proposed on Monday, February 10, 2010 included $110 million for healthcare IT. But is the money going where we need it and is it enough? OK, you’re right. I’m asking the question because I don’t think so.
The money is earmarked to strengthen healthcare IT policy coordination [...]

By now I think most of us in healthcare IT have either spent time reading the requirements for Stage 1 of meaningful use. Others have listened to the many webinars that are helping hospitals and physicians understand “42 CFR Parts 412, et al” and “45 CFR Part 170”– the fancy name on the Federal Register [...]

With the excitement of Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) in the 1979 film “The Jerk” I was thrilled to see the government release the definition of meaningful use at the end of 2009. The nearly 600 page document was as big as the phonebook that contained Navin R. Johnson’s new listing and made him “somebody” [...]

I struggled for a week trying to come up with a topic for this week. Driving home last night from a Cub Scout meeting it came to me… a Top 10 to get us into 2010! Now, what stories in healthcare IT? Surely ARRA and HITECH. And defining and refining “meaningful use.” What about the [...]

Health Data Management reported on December 7 that the Department of Health and Human Services is on time in the agency’s effort to release rules regarding HITECH, a key component of ARRA (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Anybody seen them? Yeah, neither have I. They were supposed to be out on the same day [...]