Interface issues crop up even when systems have been thoroughly mapped, tested and tweaked ahead of go-live. At Anne Arundel Medical Center, a 324-bed facility in Annapolis, Md., Interface Analyst Jay Marquez had his hands full getting discrete data from ventilators and hemodynamic monitors into the facilitys updated Epic EMR. Marquez talked about Anne Arundels device connectivity efforts in a recent CMIO interview.

The FDA has down-classified Medical Device Data Systems, including hardware and software used to display, transfer and store medical device data, making the devices low-risk products exempt from pre-market review.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has begun to notify nearly 1.7 million patients and hospital staff, vendors, contractors and others about a recent reported theft of electronic files that contained their personal or protected health information. The reported theft affects those who were served by or provided services to Jacobi Medical Center, North Central Bronx Hospital and their two affiliated health centers during the past 20 years.

Exceptions to recommended therapy in outpatient quality measures for coronary artery disease in EHRs occur infrequently and are usually valid. However, physicians frequently prescribed drugs even when exceptions were present, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Nearly 35 percent of all imaging costs ordered for 2,068 orthopedic patient encounters in Pennsylvania were ordered for defensive purposes, according to a study presented Feb. 15 at the 2011 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in San Diego.

Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University have signed an agreement to deepen their collaboration in healthcare, medical research and education and help to coordinate future complementary goals of both organizations.

Cleveland-based University Hospitals will expand its deployment of Allscripts ambulatory and acute care EHRs to caregivers throughout Northeast Ohio. The strategic agreement between the health system and Allscripts is expected to support development of University Hospitals' accountable care organization model.

MedAllies, a health information systems provider in New York's Hudson Valley, has been tapped to be part of the Direct Project, a national effort to fast track HIE.