A federal grand jury has indicted former chief financial officer and administrator Joe White of the now-shuttered Shelby Regional Medical Center in east Texas for collecting $800,000 in EHR incentive payments under false pretenses, according to an article in the Dallas Morning News.

To assist eligible providers with meeting Meaningful Use requirements, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it is building a database to help entities determine the readiness of public health agencies and registries to receive electronic data from certified EHRs, according to a Federal Register notice.

The market for electronic health and medical records (EMRs) is set to experience rapid growth over the coming years, with EMR peer group value estimated to climb from approximately $10.6 billion in 2012 to $17 billion by 2017, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8%, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The numbers keep climbing. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has paid out $19.2 billion to 440, 998 registered providers participating in the federal EHR incentive program as of the end of 2013, with $19.2 billion paid out in incentives.

iPatientCare, Inc., a pioneer in mHealth and cloud-based ambulatory EHR and integrated Practice Management solutions, announces its readiness for the transition to ICD-10. All HIPAA-covered healthcare entities are required to switch to the new code set by October 1, 2014, meaning that their EHR software and medical billing systems must be compliant. Any claims submitted with ICD-9 codes for services provided on or after the October compliance deadline will not be paid.

Medorizon has extended to the public an offer of premium value. While they get your practice ready for the ICD9 to ICD10 conversion, they are giving away the PM (Practice Management) and EHR (Electronic Health Record) free for three months providing minimum requirements are met. It is estimated that the implementation of the new international disease code sets will cost from $15,000 to $70,000 per provider. For this reason Medorizon has offered to help absorb the burden of this mandated healthcare change.

This week we brought you coverage of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s annual meeting. The office took the opportunity to share information about several of its efforts to improve interoperability and usability of health IT tools.

A robust information governance strategy is essential to ensure the success of ehealth initiatives, American Health Information Management Association CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, said in remarks at the association's eHealth Initiative Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.