When the patient-centered medical home care-delivery model arrived at the industry's doorstep a few years back, the concern by some was that the concept's potential for savings would come at the expense of medical specialists who would see fewer patients. But as data from pilot medical home projects are starting to show, the savings instead are coming out of the pockets of hospitals because fewer patients need inpatient care.

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MedVirginia, a Richmond, Va.-based health information exchange, is now linked to the virtual lifetime electronic record, a collaboration between the healthcare systems of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments and civilian healthcare systems, the organization has announced.

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The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in its report on healthcare information technology last week came up with some interesting ideas about redirecting federal efforts to put more emphasis on health information exchange.

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The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ended its two-day update of federal health IT activities on Wednesday with cheerleading from three top government information technology officials.

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While I am an ardent health information technology advocate, as an independent practitioner my personal experience mirrors the Stanford findings … so far. Read More »

HHS has opened a Web portal allowing access to health data as a resource for developers of innovative health information technologies. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a news release that the Health Indicators Warehouse “provides a new public resource needed to fuel development of innovative information technology applications” that will improve healthcare. 

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The birth date of the Web is not nearly as relevant right now as its future survival, which is being threatened, according to Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist credited with putting the Web together from a batch of old and new ideas.

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A recent report from the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recommends that giving nurses new leadership roles and care-giving authority will be the right prescription under healthcare reform as demand for services is expected to surge, especially in primary care.

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Recent studies have concluded that promoting patient safety in the hospital setting will require dramatic cultural shifts, less hierarchy and more collaboration among nurses, physicians and other caregivers. 

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The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments have agreed to create a joint common platform for electronic medical records as they confront the need to modernize their respective digital systems, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said at a Senate hearing today.

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