Work toward widespread use of e-prescribing has come a long way in a short period of time, but theres still a long way to go before it is completely accepted and its flaws are fixed, according to the presenters of a Nov. 16 webinar cosponsored by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

As technologies proliferate and health reform initiatives take hold, more and more information becomes available, but healthcare executives are still struggling to realize its potential. For the purpose of applying vast amounts of information to practical use, Cynthia Zak, health information management and privacy director at Milford Hospital in Westport, Conn., foresees the emergence of a new role at hospitals and healthcare organizations: the chief knowledge officer (CKO).Cynthia Zak, health information management (HIM) and privacy director at Milford Hospital in Westport, Conn.,

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has achieved its goal of enrolling 100,000 primary care providers with regional extension centers (REC) that were developed to assist small-scale practices with EHR implementation and meaningful use compliance.

Sutter Health, a northern California healthcare network, issued a notice informing its clients that a desktop computer containing some personal health information was stolen from the Sutter Health administrative offices in Sacramento.

Three European hospitals have recently reached Stage 6 on the EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM) scale, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Societys (HIMSS) rating system to track the progress of healthcare facilities efforts to implement new health IT programs.

A highly functional EHR can facilitate better care by providing complete, accurate and up-to-date information for patients and physicians. But realizing such improvements requires the involvement of physicians who actively engage patients in the information gathering process. So said Peter Basch, MD, medical director of ambulatory EHR and health IT policy at Medstar Health in Maryland, at the Nov. 17 annual meeting of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT.

As a number of policy initiatives aimed at extracting more bang for the buck out of healthcare costs are being rolled out and implemented, healthcare consumers are showing enthusiasm for the benefits that they propose.

The community hospital that still relies exclusively on a paper medical record is rapidly moving toward extinction, according to a report from healthcare researcher KLAS.