BEI HIT Blog
iHealthBeat, May 8, 2013
BEI Commentary: Surescripts recently issued their annual report on eprescribing. Adoption is increasing year over year, and nearly half of all prescriptions are now transmitted electronically. The report has all types of interesting information, including prescribing rate by practice size, specialty and geographic area. Note that there is also a link in the article to the complete report.
Slightly less than half of all U.S. prescriptions were submitted electronically in 2012, according to a new report from electronic prescribing network Surescripts, FierceEMR reports.
Key Findings
The report found that about 44% of all prescriptions were submitted electronically by the end of 2012, up from 36% by the end of 2011. The total number of electronic prescriptions submitted increased from 570 million in 2011 to 788 million in 2012. Read More
iHealthBeat, October 11, 2011
BEI Commentary: Patients are interested in accessing and downloading their medical records. Here is another indication of that with the number of users greatly exceeding initial expections.
On Tuesday, HHS Chief Technology Officer Todd Park announced that more than 430,000 veterans have downloaded their health care claims data via the Department of Veterans Affairs’ “Blue Button” initiative since it launched late last year, Modern Healthcare reports.
Park announced the figure during the FedTalks 2011 conference in Washington, D.C. (Daly, Modern Healthcare, 10/11).
About the Blue Button Tool
The Blue Button system is a tool for veterans to download, store or print medical information. From the MyHealtheVet site, veterans can use the Blue Button tool to download:
- Demographic information;
- Emergency contacts;
- Lists of prescription medication; and
- Wellness reminders. Read More
iHealthBeat, August 5, 2011
BEI Commentary: Don’t believe that the government will pay the EHR incentives? They have paid out over $400 million so far.
A CMS official recently announced that Medicare and Medicaid have distributed a combined total of about $400 million in meaningful use incentive payments, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments. Read more
From: iHealthBeat, a Service of the California Healthcare Foundation, May 12, 2011
Federal incentive payments have aided nationwide growth in the use of electronic prescriptions, according to a report from e-prescribing network operator Surescripts, Healthcare IT News reports.
The report — titled “The National Progress Report on E-Prescribing and Interoperable Healthcare” — tracked the status of e-prescribing from 2008 to 2010 (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 5/12). Read More
From: iHealthBeat, a service of the California Healthcare Foundation, April 18, 2011
Electronic clinical decision support reminders can help physicians avoid ordering unnecessary treatments,
according to a study published in the journal
Pediatrics,
Modern Healthcare reports.
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital studied whether automated alerts built into the hospital’s electronic health record system could aid physicians in complying with new red blood cell transfusion guidelines. Read more
From: iHealthBeat, A Service of the California Healthcare Foundation, April 14, 2011
Nearly 80% of health care providers using ambulatory electronic health record systems say they are confident that they will meet the federal meaningful use requirements by the end of the year, according to a report from research firm KLAS, Medscape reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments (Lowes, Medscape, 4/13). Read more
From: iHealthBeat, a Service of the California Healthcare Foundation, April 11, 2011
More than 70% of U.S. adults think the country’s health care system should be completely changed and a large majority want their care to include health IT, according to a survey released by the Commonwealth Fund, CMIO reports (Byers, CMIO, 4/8).
The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, surveyed 1,011 adults between Feb. 7 and Feb. 11. It found that most adults reported problems with accessing health care services and care coordination (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 4/6). Read more
