West Virginia

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West Virginia REC Program Reaching Key Milestones

Editor | WVRHITEC Newsletter | July 23, 2013

As part of its ongoing mission to assist the state’s health care community with health information technology matters, the West Virginia Regional HIT Extension Center (WVRHITEC) has accomplished the following: Read More »

As Fracking Booms, Growing Concerns About Wastewater

Roger Real Drouin | Yale Environment 360 | February 18, 2014

With hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas continuing to proliferate across the U.S., scientists and environmental activists are raising questions about whether millions of gallons of contaminated drilling fluids could be threatening water supplies and human health. Read More »

Epic-IBM DoD EHR Modernization Award Bid Making Progress

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | January 9, 2015

Epic Systems and IBM continue to strengthen their pitch to land the $11-billion Department of Defense (DoD) EHR modernization award  with the formation of an advisory group and continued testing of its proposed EHR technology at a pilot site in West Virginia, according to multiple reports. Read More »

How Hospitals, Nursing Homes Keep Lethal ‘Superbug’ Outbreaks Secret

Deborah J. Nelson, David Rohde, Benjamin Lesser and Ryan McNeill | Reuters Investigates | December 22, 2016

The outbreak started in January 2014. That’s when a resident of the Casa Maria nursing home here was diagnosed with Clostridium difficile, a highly contagious and potentially deadly “superbug” that plagues hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. By the end of February, six more Casa Maria residents were suffering from the infection, characterized by fever, abdominal cramps and violent diarrhea...

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Journalism, Science Groups Decry EPA Move to Muzzle National Science Advisers

Press Release | Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) | August 12, 2014

Journalists and scientists are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop banning leading national scientists from talking to media outlets and the public. The EPA is placing new restrictions on independent scientists who advise the agency, according to a memorandum from the EPA’s chief of staff. The memo instructs Science Advisory Board members to get permission before talking to the press, which inhibits their ability to speak freely to the public about important scientific issues, including air pollution, toxic chemicals and water quality. Read More »

Kenneth W. Kizer and Peter J. Groen: W.Va. a Leader in Health Info

Kenneth W. Kizer and Peter J. Groen | The Charleston Gazette | March 17, 2009

West Virginia has quietly become a national leader in the use of health information technology, particularly in the area of "open-source" electronic health record solutions that are used by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service. These high-value systems...have been adapted and are being used in a number of innovative ways to improve the health of West Virginians. Read More »

Medicaid Expansion, Insurance Exchanges Taxing State Health Agencies

John Moore | Kaiser Permanente | August 29, 2013

Medicaid is set to expand next year, and state IT departments are grappling with pressing deadlines, new eligibility rules and millions of potential applicants as they ready systems to accommodate the changes. Read More »

NASCIO Recognizes Outstanding Achievements in State IT: Finalists Announced for 2017 NASCIO State IT Recognition Awards

Press Release | National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) | August 3, 2017

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has selected 32 finalists across 11 categories for the State IT Recognition Awards. This is the 29th consecutive year NASCIO has honored outstanding information technology achievements in state government through the awards. Projects and initiatives from NASCIO member states, territories, and the District of Columbia were eligible for nomination. NASCIO members served as volunteer judges to review the 100+ submissions, narrowing the nominees down to finalists in each category. From these finalists, a recipient will be announced during an awards dinner at the upcoming NASCIO Annual Conference this October in Austin, Texas...

RPMS: An Alternative to the VA VistA Electronic Health Record (EHR) System

Peter Groen & Dr. Terry Cullen | Virtual Medical Worlds | July 1, 2007

If one were looking to acquire and implement a comprehensive ‘open source’ electronic health record (EHR) system, serous consideration should be paid to the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS) used by the Indian Health Service (IHS). RPMS is an adaptation of the VistA health information system originally developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), modified to meet the needs of IHS. RPMS is an integrated health information system ideally suited for implementation in healthcare facilities of varying sizes and complexity. Patients treated at IHS facilities tend to include a diverse mix of all age patients, males and females. While RPMS is deployed at many IHS inpatient facilities, it is more heavily utilized in ambulatory care settings.  Read More »

Secret Document Trove Reveals Bold ‘Crusade’ to Make OxyContin a Blockbuster

David Armstrong | STAT | September 22, 2016

The doughnut ploy, highlighted in a trove of internal documents obtained by STAT, shows the lengths to which Abbott went to hook in doctors and make OxyContin a billion-dollar blockbuster. The sales force bought takeout dinners for doctors and met them at bookstores to pay for their purchases. In memos, the sales team referred to the marketing of the drug as a “crusade,” and their boss called himself the “King of Pain.”

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VistA & 'Open' EHR Systems spread across West Virginia & Appalachia

The installation and use of 'open source' electronic health record (EHR) systems have continued to spread across West Virginia and many other states across the U.S.  See the map of healthcare facilities running some variant of the open source VistA electronic health record (EHR) system in West Virginia and oth Read More »

VistA's open-source extension into West Virginia

Joseph Conn | Modern Healthcare | April 29, 2013

David Elyard, a health IT coordinator in West Virginia's bureau of behavior health and health facilities, drove the winding roads of his mountainous state last week to trouble-shoot the launch of the computerized laboratory information module being added onto the predominately open-source VistA electronic health-record system... Read More »