In just a few days, more than 37,000 healthcare IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world will descend upon Orlando for the 2014 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, which features best-in-class workshops, round table discussions, thought leader sessions, health IT products and networking opportunities. It's no wonder the theme for the conference is […]
As the New Year begins, we can reflect on the past year’s technology investments’ maturation. Fittingly, the December Harvard Business Review closed 2013 with a spotlight on “Making Your Company Data-Friendly.” Three of the articles provide some edgy considerations for healthcare IT in 2014. Analytics 3.0 Thomas H. Davenport in Analytics 3.0 says to envision […]
In conversation recently with a dear old friend, who also happens to be an outstanding IT project manager in a cutting-edge hospital system, I broached the subject of their transition to ICD-10. It was progressing well, she confided. In fact, they would be ready to start testing by mid-August! I was slack-jawed with surprise. Weren’t […]
More than 450 doctors have a new credential to add to their CVs. They are the first-ever to be recognized as board-certified clinical informatics. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) led the drive to have a clinical informatics subspecialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). The AMIA said formal recognition as a […]
The economic impact of the Affordable Care Act remains unclear in its early stages, but should prove a boon for healthcare job seekers and, specifically, HIT professionals. In addition, these five industry trends point to another year of opportunity and HIT job growth in 2014. HITECH Act Analysis of the healthcare job market from 2007-2011 […]
When the Health Information and Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed in 2009, the road from paper to electronic health records seemed steep - and long. But four years later, considerable progress has been made in EHR adoption, from hospitals and facilities to physicians and pharmacists. Perhaps the greatest progression has […]
Big data in healthcare splashed onto the front page of the Wall Street Journal earlier this summer, heralding its arrival as a new and important topic for mainstream media to follow. In reality, we’ve had big data in healthcare for as long as I’ve been around. What we haven’t had are the tools for effective […]
The October 1, 2014, ICD-10 conversion deadline is 12-plus months away, so why does it feel like two minutes until midnight? Only in healthcare and government does such lead time convert to last-second, bug-eyed panic. Our anxiety will surely worsen before it improves. The months ahead will bring more hand-wringing and an increasing volume of […]
One sign of success for EMR software giant Epic Systems is the continued expansion of its sprawling campus in Verona, Wis., just outside of Madison. As reported in the Wisconsin State Journal, Epic recently opened three new office buildings that “have the appearance of a bucolic farm. “A white farmhouse with a wrap-around porch leads […]
Electronic medical records and big data go together like bricks and a finished house; the smaller parts build the framework of the larger finished product, and each day a new discovery could result within. As providers across the country have access to patient medical data beyond the desktop, physicians will be able to put together […]
Healthcare IT outsourcing will reach $50.4 billion worldwide by 2018 – up from $35 billion in 2013, according to a new report from M & M, a market research company. The firm says insurers, health systems and pharma companies are driving the market, utilizing outsourcing to "enhance their focus on core business, reduce operational and maintenance […]
The need for ICD-10 coding experts may increase by as much as 40 percent over the next two years, according to a new report. The "State of H.I.M." survey of over 300 health information management professionals says coder demand will reach its peak between the third quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014, as […]