NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2013 -- Hello Health® and CollaborateMD have announced the integration of Hello Health's no-cost electronic health record (EHR) and patient portal with CollaborateMD's affordable medical billing and practice management system. The partnership marries Hello Health's one-of-a-kind business model with CollaborateMD's robust claim management functionality, for an easy-to-use, complete solution that is free and well-suited for small- to medium-sized independent medical practices.

Meaningful use Stage 2 requirements are driving EMR-specific patient portal adoption but the increase is having a negative effect on best-of-breed vendors because third-party solutions are not as well equipped as EMR offerings for the requirements, according to a report from KLAS.

ANN ARBOR, MI, September 16, 2013 – San-Diego-based Sharp HealthCare, one of the nation’s leaders in implementing electronic health records, also devotes significant resources to ensure that patient information is easily accessible and patients are correctly identified within its records system to support its 2.3 million visits per year.

A new patient matching effort aims to identify and recommend standardization of the basic attributes most commonly used, according a HealthIT Buzz blog post by Lee Stevens, policy director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's state health information exchange program.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--PracticeMax, a national provider of medical practice management and technology services, today announced it has acquired Medi-Data Service, LTD, (MDS) of Naperville, IL, continuing its expansion of operations throughout the Midwest. Under the direction of president Andy Kokosa, MDS is one of the oldest most respected medical management firms in the Chicagoland area. For over three decades, MDS has provided billing and practice management services across a multitude of specialties, including individual physicians, groups, and hospital owned practices.

When it comes to the healthcare industry, the status quo will not suffice. 

Consumers represent a major untapped workforce in the healthcare system today. Consumers and providers working together in unison could be the unprecedented force we have been looking for to solve the systems quality/cost dilemma.   

Healthcare organizations in North America are expected to spend more than $34.5 billion on health IT in 2014 to keep pace with healthcare regulations, according to a recent report, “SourceIT Healthcare Report,” from Technology Business Research.