EHR interoperability

See the following -

Ebola in the United States: Short on Accountable 'Open' Information, Effective Systems Planning and Decision Making

Events in the present Ebola crisis prompt unease that the United States deployment of Web based, standardized population health and biosurveillance information services is fragmented, incomplete and insufficient, prompting me to write this blog. The United States has made significant progress in public health and medical preparedness since the 9/11 terrorist attacks; yet, poorly interconnected information systems add to our vulnerability to planning and response to viruses like Ebola or enviro virus EV-D68 that threaten the health of large populations. Today, a gap exists between information technology specialists and public health programmatic or scientific personnel. 

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EHR Certification Process: 'Massive' Changes Ahead?

Marla Durben Hirsch | Fierce EMR | May 13, 2014

Health IT Policy Committee wants to streamline process, limit scope of certification

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EHR Data 'Blocking' Hobbles HIT, Says ONC

John Commins | Health Leaders Media | April 13, 2015

Technology vendors, hospitals, and health systems restrict data access under the guise of security and confidentiality, but it can be challenging to identify and differentiate information-blocking from more benign impediments, says an ONC report.

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EHRs, IoT, Revenue Cycle Bring Opportunities for Healthcare APIs

Jennifer Bresnick | Health IT Analytics | January 4, 2017

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are quickly becoming a critical tool for healthcare organizations looking to build interoperable connections, and it is likely that this new standard for health data exchange will keep growing in importance during the next few years. A new report from Market Research Engine (MRE) predicts healthy growth for the nascent healthcare API ecosystem, forecasting a 4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that will produce a $234 million market by 2024....

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EMR Direct Announces Availability Of Direct Project Secure Email Powered By phiMail™ In OpenEMR 4.1.2

Press Release | EMR Direct, OpenEMR | August 19, 2013

EMR Direct, a leading developer of software for the secure exchange of Protected Health Information (PHI) over the Internet, today announced the integration of its phiMail Direct messaging platform with the latest production release of OpenEMR, enabling users of the open source electronic health record software to send and receive Direct messages through their EHR system.  OpenEMR 4.1.2, released on August 17, is focused on enhanced interoperability, and the Direct messaging capabilities powered by phiMail are key to seamlessly exchanging clinical information with other healthcare providers for referrals and other transitions of care.  The functionality can be activated through hosted service or customer deployment of the phiMail Direct messaging software developed by EMR Direct. Read More »

EMR Direct Now Integrated with OpenEMR

is on a mission to modernize medical work flow and improve patient care by simplifying healthcare interoperability. The company is committed to developing technologies that protect patient privacy, improve the quality and coordination of care, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Recently, EMR Direct donated its code to OpenEMR which integrated their solution into OpenEMR version 4.1.2  They have also  announced their participation in the Tennessee Health eShare program, facilitating access to Direct messaging for healthcare providers across that state. Read More »

Enhancements Minimize Data Latency at MD Anderson Cancer Center Data Vault

Press Release | CAV Systems LTD | June 16, 2014

CAV Systems Ltd...has recently completed a major enhancement of Evolve Suite – the company’s “relational from MUMPS” data mapping and migration tools – for The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Office of Protocol Research (OPR). Prior to the enhancements, even with the benefits of the Evolve Data Migrator, the transfer of data from the PDMS system sitting on a legacy VAX/VMS platform to the Data Vault was a lengthy process involving multiple platforms. With the completion of the enhancements, the “freshness” of the Clinical Trials data in the Data Vault is now determined by the needs of the users of the Data Vault rather than the operational constraints of the multi-platform data extraction process.

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Epic and Other EHR Vendors Caught in Dilemmas by APIs (Part 1 of 2)

Andy Oram | EMR and HIPAA | March 15, 2017

The HITECH act of 2009 (part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) gave an unprecedented boost to an obscure corner of the IT industry that produced electronic health records. For the next eight years they were given the opportunity to bring health care into the 21st century and implement common-sense reforms in data sharing and analytics. They largely squandered this opportunity, amassing hundreds of millions of dollars while watching health care costs ascend into the stratosphere, and preening themselves over modest improvements in their poorly functioning systems...

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Epic Retains Lobbyist to Improve Image on Capitol Hill

Darius Tahir | Modern Healthcare | September 10, 2014

Electronic health-record giant Epic Systems Corp. has hired a lobbying firm for the first time to counter a perception on Capitol Hill that its EHR systems aren't interoperable with other vendors' technology. The Verona, Wis.-based company retained lobbyists Card & Associates in August, according to the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act database. Epic says in the registration that it's making the move to “educate members of Congress on the interoperability of Epic's healthcare information technology.”

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Evolve Suite

The Evolve Suite is a comprehensive set of software tools intended to help organizations using MUMPS/Caché systems to grow towards relational databases (Oracle®, DB2, SQL Server, MySQL™, PostgreSQL and others) and modern software technologies. The Suite is comprised of three main products, each addressing different needs:

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Fax Is Not a Machine, It Is a Technology

Once more I am listening to a presentation on interoperability. These always get a little uncomfortable - especially in the early going - because I can almost predict where the presenter will go horribly wrong and do a complete disservice to the audience (generally somewhere between slides 3 and 8). This time it was slide 6 where the speaker inserts stock picture of a decrepit old fax machine with paper cascading off a desk and onto the floor. This comes along with the typical lecture on everything that is wrong with "fax". With the lemmings in the audience nodding/snickering along, the speaker proceeds to misinform and mislead the group. Cringe-worthy really. What's misleading? Pretty much everything he says.

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Fax Technologies Take Center Stage at HIMSS19 Exhibition

One of the most surprising developments at HIMSS19 is the large number of companies exhibiting their Fax Technologies. Long derided by reporters, health IT consultants, and EHR vendors, fax technologies have been growing in leaps and bounds while EHRs continue to fail to deliver interoperability. Just a couple of years ago faxes were used in around 75% of medical records exchanges. Latest numbers indicate that faxes are now used to exchange more than 85% of medical records. Most people would react in horror to such figures. How could physicians and medical personnel rely on antiquated paper technologies like faxes? The real story to be found on the exhibit floor at the HIMSS 2019 conference is that what we are seeing is a rapid transition to digital fax technologies and platforms. And this transition is taking place because physicians and medical staff have figured out they work!

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Fax Technology is the Cornerstone of Interoperability. Here's Why.

Fax is the dominant information exchange technology in U.S. healthcare, outpacing secure direct messaging 25-to-1. Most of that is exchanged using inefficient and unsecure machines. With the emergence of cloud-based fax technology to facilitate secure system-to-system document transfer, the use of cloud fax needs to be part of every CTO's/CIO's digital strategy...The evolution of fax from paper-based to cloud transmission and storage - Cloud Fax Technology (CFT) - is a key step that enables providers to comply with HIPAA and other regulations. Further strengthening CFT as a key component in Healthcare Information Systems (HIS) is its evolution into Direct Messaging platforms, enabling the seamless exchange of Patient Health Information (PHI) between the diverse data and document management systems used by labs, pharmacies, doctor's offices, hospitals, and billing providers. CFT supports and contributes to the goal of interoperability...

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Federal Incentive Payments For EHRs To Doctors And Hospitals Edge $24 Billion

Bob Brewin | Nextgov.com | June 12, 2014

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services paid out the equivalent of the gross national product of Costa Rica -- $23.7 billion -- to hospitals and medical professionals from 2011 through April 2014 to adopt electronic health records. 

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Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare Chooses CAV Systems for QuadraMed CPR Data Extraction

Press Release | CAV Systems Ltd | November 26, 2014

CAV Systems Ltd, a leading Israeli software company, recently completed delivery of a custom “data extraction” solution for Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gillette is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in the diagnosis and treatment of children, teens and adults who have disabilities and complex medical conditions. Read More »