HHS Intends to Delay Stage 2 of Meaningful Use
The Department of Health and Human Services intends to delay until fiscal year 2014 (Oct. 1, 2013) the proposed start of Stage 2 meaningful use requirements for hospitals under the Medicare electronic health record incentive program.
EHR Adoption for Office Docs at 57%: Survey
Rates of electronic health-record system adoption among office-based physicians grew significantly in 2011, according to a national report card on EHR adoption.
Don’t Let Unexpected EHR Hurdles Undermine Implementation
Most providers can prepare for well-known issues regarding electronic health record implementation, such as making sure to allocate sufficient time for training. This piece addresses four particular problem areas that can trip up unsuspecting providers trying to implement their EHRs and meet the Meaningful Use criteria.
Kidney Failure Patients Missing out on Convenient, Cost-Effective Therapy, Study Says
While 382,000 patients in the U.S. receive dialysis treatment for kidney failure, only 35,000 dialyze at home. A special report in the December issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation, suggests that as a result of systematic barriers, patients are not always receiving the option of home dialysis.
Rethinking the Fairness of Organ Transplants
Because of an organ shortage, hundreds or even thousands of people miss out on needed organ transplants each year. Business researchers at Harvard and MIT are rethinking how kidney transplants are allocated to give patients longer lives.
Making Sure Kidney Donors Fare As Well As Promised
More and more people are donating one of their kidneys to a loved one, a friend, even a stranger, and now a move is on to make sure those donors really fare as well as they’re promised.
Tavenner To Replace Berwick At CMS Helm
Marilyn Tavenner, who has an extensive health background as a nurse, a health care official at both the state and federal level and a hospital chain executive, was tapped by President Barack Obama Wednesday to succeed Dr. Donald M. Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Four Habits of High-Value Health Care Organizations
Recent attention to the question of value in health care — the ratio of outcomes to long-term costs — has focused on problems of definition and measurement: what outcomes and which costs? Less attention has been given to an equally difficult but important issue: how do health care delivery organizations reliably deliver higher value?
Should We Offer Patients Money to Change Unhealthy Habits?
If the promise of a longer, more productive, satisfying life fails to encourage individuals to abandon risky, unhealthy lifestyle habits — what will? Sadly, one research study proposes that financial rewards might be just the ticket to encourage healthy living — at least for short term results.
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