The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated a frequently asked question regarding meaningful use eligibility and inpatients admitted through the emergency department (ED). According to the update, there are now two methods for calculating ED admissions for the denominators for measures associated with Stage 1.

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT has allotted more than $16 million to fund the Health Information Exchange (HIE) Challenge Program, which encourages breakthroughs for nationwide HIE.

Although ambulatory EMR adoption may be difficult, having the correct balance of operational planning, realistic budget expectations, staff involvement and governance can help practices get through the trouble spots.

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

The Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) has developed a pilot program to connect healthcare providers in the Moab, Utah region, with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to help patient care coordination and access to healthcare services for Veterans and service members.

Central Florida Health Information Technology Initiative (CFHITI), the University of Central Floridas regional extension center, has selected athenahealth as a preferred EHR partner.

New Jersey Health Information Technology Extension Center (NJ-HITEC) has partnered with healthcare software developer Patient Access Solutions and iMedicor, a health IT consulting firm, to promote meaningful use of EHRs among New Jersey-based providers.

Special algorithms allowed researchers to successfully search an EMR-derived cohort to help confirm and newly identify genes associated with the PR interval, according to a study published online Nov. 1 in Circulation.