Health IT

See the following -

WELL Health Technologies Becomes World’s First Billion-dollar Open Source EMR Company

Canadian start-up company WELL Health Technologies (WELL) just crossed the threshold a month ago to become the world’s first billion-dollar open source electronic medical records (EMR) company. WELL, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has accomplished this milestone less than three years after its founding. WELL’s market cap is currently hovering between $1.2 and $1.3 billion. The company has developed a disruptive digital health platform model with an open source EMR core, and a firm focus on improving clinical outcomes by using the technology to assist physicians and patients focus on health and wellness. Its goal is to shift the industry from a highly fragmented and expensive sick-care system to a health care system.

Read More »

What Are We Prepared to Do in the United States to Save Primary Care?

I propose two significant changes to help make primary care relevant in the 21st century...I wrote a longer piece on [Virtual Care] earlier in the year. In short, it's a disgrace that we've put so many hurdles on telemedicine, and that it continues to be so underused. It is widely available in health plans, but rarely practiced by physicians nor by patients. Instead, we still mostly go to our doctors offices, to ERs, or perhaps now to drugstores.A televisit should be the first course of action for non-emergencies. We must remove regulatory and reimbursement barriers, and incent patients to take advantage of the speed and convenience of the option. Moreover, as AI options for diagnoses and advice quickly become more viable, we can use them to triage our needs, help assure continuity with physicians, and eventually reduce the need to talk to a human...

Read More »

Who Owns Patient Data?

Fred Trotter | O'Reilly Radar | June 6, 2012

The notion of ownership is inadequate for health information. For instance, no one has an absolute right to destroy health information. But we all understand what it means to own an automobile: You can drive the car you own into a tree or into the ocean if you want to. No one has the legal right to do things like that to a "master copy" of health information.

Read More »

Why Cloud for Health IT? Sharing our Experience at careMESH

If you want true, robust security, it is increasingly difficult to argue against cloud, given the advancements and growth in major service providers such as Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. No matter how many security staff members or how much cybersecurity experience you have, the major service providers have more. It's no surprise that across industries, investment in cloud computing, storage and infrastructure are predicted to grow at a rate of 17% annually over the next 3 years.[i]

Read More »

Why Cloud Hackers Could Come For Your Health Data Next

Todd Campbell | The Motley Fool | September 14, 2014

The revelation that Community Health Systems  (NYSE: CYH  ) servers were hacked, resulting in the loss of 4.5 million patient records, and that a server for the Affordable Care Act's healthcare.gov website was breached, puts the issue of healthcare privacy front and center even as industry watchers warn that health care security is far too lax...

Read More »

Why Data Breach Readiness Isn't Getting Much Better

Erin McCann | Government Health IT | October 1, 2014

Think you can avoid a health data breach the lazy way, without putting in the requisite work?  Then think again. This year, in fact, healthcare organizations have reported more data breaches than the year prior, seeing on average a 10 percent jump in breach frequency...

Read More »

Why Open Source Is Positive For Healthcare

Andy Clegg | The Information Daily.com | September 9, 2014

As a clinical consultant representing a proprietary software supplier in healthcare, you may be surprised to hear that I believe the attention that open source software is receiving is positive...

Read More »

Why the Touchstone Project is so important to HL7 FHIR

The AEGIS Touchstone Test Platform, launched at the most recent HL7 FHIR Connectathon in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2015, provides the means to help guide FHIR implementations toward a high degree of conformance and interoperability within a continuous testing and integration model. As stated by HL7 CEO Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, “A successful testing program also provides FHIR development teams at HL7 with the essential infrastructure that is critical for all of our stakeholders."

Read More »

Why the VA Should Stick with VistA and Not Waste $16 Billion on an Attempt to Replace It

This VA leadership lull provides an opportunity for reflection. Specifically, it’s worth asking while we have the time whether Cerner is the right path for the VA to take. While the decision may seem like a no-brainer to some, the VA’s situation is unique and arguably calls for a singular approach to both existing organizational issues and a major healthcare IT decision. Specific to the Cerner decision, what should the new VA secretary consider?

Read More »

Why Thorough EHR Adoption Must Precede Population Health

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | November 3, 2014

While the healthcare industry is certainly moving away from volume to value and working to manage the health of patient populations, it does not have sufficient depth of EHR adoption to support next-generation care delivery...

Read More »

With White House CTO's Departure, Industry Looks for Signals

Josh Smith | NextGov | January 27, 2012

The White House announced Chopra's departure on Friday, but did not say why he is leaving or what his plans are. TechAmerica's acting President Dan Varroney said Chopra's belief in the "transformative nature of technology" allowed him to forge effective public-private collaboration. Read More »

Your Toaster May Be Bad For Your Health IT

the cyberattack last week...shut down access to many major websites...What does this have to do with health care?  Plenty, as it turns out.  IoT devices are increasingly helping us manage our health and medical care.  IoT in health care is expected to be a huge market -- perhaps 40% of the total IoT, and worth some $117b by 2020, according to McKinsey.  Expected major uses include wearables, monitors, and implanted medical devices. The problem is that many manufacturers haven't necessarily prepared for cyberattacks.  Kevin Fu, a professor at the University of Michigan's Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security, told CNBC: "the dirty little secret is that most manufacturers did not anticipate the cybersecurity risks when they were designing them [devices] a decade ago, so this is just scratching the surface."

Read More »

ZH Healthcare Billing Feature Enhancements Aimed At Efficient and Consistent Management of Practice Revenue

Press Release | ZH Healthcare | February 28, 2013

ZH Healthcare recently released new features for the ZH OpenEMR Advanced Billing Module that allow for more efficient and consistent management of practice revenue and financials. The Write-off Engine and Patient Statement Engine enhancements improve revenue management for both ZH OpenEMR users and ZH Healthcare Billing Services customers. The Write-off Engine enhancement allows office managers and billing managers that utilize the ZH OpenEMR solution to search for specific billing codes that are underpaid or not covered by payers and apply consistent rules for how these situations are handled.

Read More »

ZH Healthcare Exhibits the BlueEHR Platform at HIMSS17

Press Release | ZH Healthcare | February 10, 2017

ZH Healthcare brings blueEHR, a flexible and user-friendly EHR and Health-IT-as-a-Service (HITaaS™) solution to the exhibit floor for the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 19–23, 2017. More than 40,000 healthcare industry professionals are expected at the conference, where they will gain expert insights during the exchange of innovative ideas and best practices in improving health through IT, and have an opportunity to hear ZH Healthcare's CEO, Shameem Hameed, speak on the topic of "Unleashing the Value of HITaaS" in the Innovation Zone, on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 2:00pm ET. Read More »

ZH Healthcare Releases New Electronic Health Solution (EHS), Becomes Provider’s Answer to Health IT

Press Release | ZH Healthcare | January 14, 2015

ZH Healthcare (ZH), a leading provider of open source Health IT solutions, announced today the release of BlueEHS, the first ever Electronic Health Solution (EHS). Developed to offer an alternative to existing Electronic Health Records (EHRs), BlueEHS is a Freemium Software as a Solution (SaaS) product that offers expanded functionality, malleability and customization that have received raving endorsements from medical providers who have tested the product around the world.

Read More »