The rush to implement EHRs and other IT tools is having a negative impact on patient safety. The federal health IT safety plan, partnerships and other initiatives are working to put the focus back on the patient.

BOSTON--“Usability is not where it needs to be,” admitted Jacob Reider, MD, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s chief medical officer, speaking about health IT at the Medical Informatics World Conference on April 28.

The Electronic Health Record Association raised concerns about a proposed rule containing voluntary certification criteria for EHR systems in 2015, according to a letter sent to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

Physicians pay very little attention to medication lists, vital signs or laboratory results compared with the impression and plan section of electronic notes, according to a study published in Applied Clinical Informatics.

Athenahealth has parted ways with EHR Association (EHRA), according to Dan Haley, vice president of government affairs at athenhealth, who confirmed the split in a blog post and noted that “athenahealth is neither an EHR company nor a software vendor.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reminding eligible professionals that the application deadline for hardship exceptions is July 1. The agency also released a related tipsheet.

It was a relatively quiet week in the world of health IT. But we’re still reeling from the news of the SGR patch, ICD-10 delay and the resignation of Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius—so a little breather isn’t a bad thing!

Third-party accountable care organization vendors are outperforming EMR vendors in meeting the demands of physician-led ACOS, according to a report from Utah-based KLAS Research.