David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, former National Coordinator for Health IT, has been named chairman of the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.

While accountable care organizations (ACOs) have been tapped as the mold for the future of healthcare reform, little is known about what the model will look like or what benefits hospitals will incur. Now, after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services put forth its 429-page document attempting to define the mystery of ACOs, some top U.S. hospitals and legislators are slamming the proposed rule.

WASHINGTON, D.C.Meaningful use is doable, necessary and here for the long term, offered Keith J. Dreyer, DO, PhD, vice chairman of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, during the Dwyer Lecture at the annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). In addition to shattering pervasive myths about meaningful use, Dreyer shared essential information to help radiologists meet its requirements.

CMIO presents a weekly update of the EHR products certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC-ATCBs). The following EHR certifications were announced recently:

RadNet has executed a series of agreements to provide radiology services to Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District and related parties in the Imperial Valley region, east of San Diego.

An average clinician spends 122 hours per year (three business weeks) trying to access information from various EMRs, according to a June report from the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Imprivata.

A new 3D x-ray method, SAXS-CT, offers detailed images of brain cells and maps the myelin sheaths of nerve cells, which are key to understanding conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, according to Danish research published in the July issue of NeuroImage.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights has launched a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the HIPAA Privacy Rules standard for accounting of disclosures of protected health information (PHI) and electronic PHI.