The EHR: It’s About Our Patients, Not Technology
A message to all physicians from Robert M. Wah, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees emphasizing that health IT is not a technology “project”; it is about taking full advantage of these new capabilities and using them to achieve better, more effective and cost-efficient patient care.
Meaningful Use of Health IT Stage 2: The Broader Meaning
Providers will be well served to view stage 2 not as a requirement to better use their electronic health records, but as a foreshadowing for how to compete and thrive in a future that is coming sooner then most anticipate or are prepared for.
Doctors Can’t Tear Themselves Away From Paper Records
Even as a growing number of healthcare organizations acquire electronic health records (EHRs), they’re not necessarily going paperless. A recent online survey shows that 80% of medical offices are still using paper records.
Hospital Report Cards Fall Flat at Improving Patient Outcomes
Physician Compare is on the horizon, and yet seven years after the federal government started publicly reporting hospitals’ performance on quality measures, evidence suggests that this transparency effort has not improved patient outcomes measurably.
Stem Cell Therapy Could Boost Kidney Transplant Success
New research suggests that a novel technique that uses a kidney transplant recipient’s own stem cells may someday replace or reduce the initial use of anti-rejection medications.
Kidney Transplant Patients Seek Life Without Drugs
In a new experimental approach to kidney transplant, the seeds of a new immune system are transplanted along with a new kidney. In pilot studies of a few dozen patients, all doctors have reported successfully weaning many, but not all, of their initial participants off anti-rejection drugs.
More Frequent Dialysis Does Not Improve Physical Health
Frequent (6 times per week) in-center hemodialysis improves self-reported physical health and functioning, but has no significant effect on objective measures of physical performance when compared with conventional (3 times per week) in-center hemodialysis.
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