Government Accounting Office (GAO)

See the following -

Embarrassing New GAO Report On Hospital Safety Has Two Surprising Bright Spots

Leah Binder | Forbes | March 15, 2016

Hospitals are flummoxed by the problem of patient safety, according to a report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) just in time for this week’s Patient Safety Awareness Week. Issued at the request of ranking members of the Senate Committee on Finance and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), respectively, the report reveals three explanations on why hospitals find it so difficult to address patient safety. I am summarizing, but I am not exaggerating...

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Google Joins VistA Team Proposing Open Source EHR for the Department of Defense

Google has thrown its hat into the EHR ring by joining the team led by PwC which is proposing that the Department of Defense (DoD) upgrade their current EHR to Defense Operational Readiness Health System (DORHS), a customized application built for the DoD and based on VistA, the open source EHR developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)...Google’s participation has enormous implications for both the DoD’s EHR and to the healthcare industry as a whole. By choosing the open source EHR team, Google...has sent a clear message to the world that VistA is the best option for the DoD.

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Halamka's Advice to the Trump Administration

As I've listened to the confirmation hearings for cabinet nominees, I’ve realized that no one with healthcare IT expertise has yet been identified by the transition team. I continue to ask all my colleagues about any contact they’ve had with anyone advising the new administration - so far, no one has been asked anything by anyone related to healthcare IT. At this early time in the administration, it’s important to offer advice as to the priorities ahead for the next few years. What would I recommend to the new administration?

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US Defense Think Tank Calls for DoD to Adopt the Open Source VistA EHR and Avoid Closed and Proprietary EHRs.

One of the most prestigious U.S. defense think tanks, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), issued a white paper Thursday calling on the Department of Defense (DoD) to replace their existing dysfunctional “vendor-lock” medical records system with an electronic health records system (EHR) that is "extensible, flexible and easy to safely modify and upgrade as technology improves and interoperability demands evolve." The white paper warns that a "closed and proprietary" commercial EHR - such as the ones offered by Epic, Cerner or Allscripts - will lead to "vendor-lock” and isolation of health data. Read More »