The 2013 Healthcare Information and Management Information Society (HIMSS) annual convention was a busy, informative and insightful time in New Orleans. During the Physicians’ IT Symposium, co-hosted by AMDIS, I was particularly struck by the realization that we are at the point where the vision of the pioneers in this field has begun to be realized.

With new Omnibus federal privacy and security rules effective March 26 with an upcoming compliance date of Sept. 23, two privacy experts urged covered entities to build an action plan and design an implementation timeline to ensure they are prepared. 

The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) and the Minnesota Health Action Group (The Action Group) are among 21 state medical societies, specialty societies and regional health collaboratives that have received grants from the ABIM Foundation to help physicians engage patients in conversations aimed at reducing unnecessary medical tests and procedures.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released an update of its approved test methods for clinical quality measures under the 2014 Edition of the Meaningful Use program.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently launched its new eHealth initiative, designed to align the various quality and reporting projects facing providers, including ICD-10, Meaningful Use, physician quality reporting and e-prescribing.

In the third of three Senate Energy & Commerce Committee hearings on health IT, Christy Foreman, director of device evaluation in FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, promised the release of the agency's final guidance on its oversight over medical mobile apps (MMAs) by the end of this fiscal year. Looming regulatory uncertainty dominated discussion with healthcare and mobile industry witnesses during the past two hearings, with many urging FDA to finalize its 2011 draft guidance detailing its oversight approach.

Interim results from new payment and delivery models tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) are forthcoming within a year with recommendations for payment and care changes to follow within two years, Richard Gilfillan, MD, director of the center, told the Senate Finance Committee during a March 20 hearing. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) webinar being offered several times this week had a specific purpose: to explain to providers how their decision to participate in several federal programs or put off participation could affect their incentive payments and payment adjustments in coming years.