First published in 1987, ISO 9000 has consistently been ISO’s most popular series of standards. Now, building on 25 years of success, the ISO technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, subcommittee SC 2, Quality systems, is busy laying the groundwork for the next generation of quality management standards.

This was a big week in the nation’s Capitol for health IT. Congress focused on mobile health, HIT policy and innovation.

Last year was the worst for IT services contract activity since 2002, according to research from Ovum. Performance in the three months to the end of December 2012 fell significantly below the levels seen in the same period of 2011, ensuring that annual IT services contract activity fell to its lowest level for 10 years, both in terms of total contract value (TCV) and deal volume.

President Barack Obama has signed legislation that renews a law enacted after Hurricane Katrina to improve the readiness of communities and hospitals to respond to disasters and waves of infectious disease.

Johnson & Johnson has opened the Johnson & Johnson Innovation center in London, one of four regional hubs being established this year in global innovation hotspots by the company. A part of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the goal of the London innovation center is to accelerate early-stage science and develop new healthcare options.

As health IT systems continue to transform, providers should manage data like an asset through a framework of information governance, Lydia Washington, MS, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) senior director of HIM Practice Excellence, and AHIMA member Sandra Nunn, MA, RHIA, CHIP, announced during a March 6 session at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference in New Orleans.

When it comes to mobile access to patient data, CIOs have two choices: Provide a secure access method, or continue to plug the hole in the dike with their fingers—and pray. With smartphone use among physicians at 98%, according to a 2012 report from Spyglass Consulting, attending and referring physicians who find themselves locked out of mobile access to patient data are likely to be looking for workarounds to circumvent hospital policy.

One ripple effect of Meaningful Use is the increasing focus on medical device integration (MDI). However, Julian M. Goldman, MD, medical director of biomedical engineering at Partners HealthCare in Boston, suggests that providers need to strategize beyond Meaningful Use. He discusses the potential and current limitations of MDI with Clinical Innovation + Technology.