Older Feds Aren't Playing to Their Strengths
Is It Too Hard to Fire Misbehaving Feds?
Americans Still Like the Postal Service
A Forced 4-Day Weekend for Many Feds
No More Tax-Cheating Feds, Senators Say
Video: The Daily Show on Apple's Taxes
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
John Pulley
John Pulley has written the Health IT Update blog since May 2011. Prior to becoming a regular contributor to Nextgov, he covered technology for Federal Computer Week and Government Health IT magazines. He has written about government for Federal Times and Air Force Times, as well. Pulley has worked in journalism for more than 20 years. He began his career covering local government for regional newspapers. In addition, he served as a writer and senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education for seven years. In 2006, he founded The Pulley Group, an editorial services agency.
EHRs Not So User-Friendly
June 1, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
The usability (or lack thereof) of electronic health records is a key factor in the adoption (or rejection) of EHRs, yet vendors do a poor job of systematically focusing on convenience of use throughout development and testing of e-records, concluded a recently released report. Those findings aren't lost on doctors ...
Curbing the Red Flags
May 28, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Lawmakers introduced a bill this week in the Senate that would exempt doctors from a new law that seeks to protect consumers from identity theft. Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Mark Begich, D-Alaska, introduced the bill (S. 3416) that would curb the scope of the Federal Trade Commission's "red flags ...
Uncle Sam Wants You (for HIT)
May 26, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Scrapping the country's paper medial records and replacing them with health ITsystems is a massive undertaking requiring human capital that currently does not exist. Moreover, producing tens of thousands of health IT experts requires an infrastructure--certified training programs, curricula, instructors and competency exams--that is not yet in place. Establishing the ...
AMA to Insurers: Get Well Already
May 25, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Provisions related to the use of health IT are included in a new health insurer code of conduct released this week by the American Medical Association. The set of principles seeks to "bring transparency and accountability" to the multi-billion dollar health insurance industry, AMA said in a news release. The ...
Controlling the Flow of IT Dough
May 21, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Digitization of the country's healthcare data has released deep wells of previously untapped capital. The resulting gusher is spewing billions of dollars across government agencies, private companies and healthcare providers. Two efforts undertaken this week seek to control--if not contain--the flow. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services selected Northrop ...
An Earful of Meaningful Use
May 20, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
The federal government's push for the rapid adoption of electronic health records is engendering considerable pushback. The fiercest clash is over proposed meaningful use rules for electronic records that must be met by health care providers serving Medicare and Medicaid patients, Politico reported this week. Compliance will make providers eligible ...
Health IT Cuts Heart Attack Risk
May 14, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Electronic medical records played a key role in lowering cholesterol in people at very high risk for heart disease to levels considered by many health experts to be unattainable, reports Kaiser Permanente. A study of 7,247 patients being treated by Kaiser found that more than 43 percent decreased their low-density ...
Health IT Industry, Heal Thyself
May 13, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
No one would use an e-mail provider that is slower than the U.S. Postal Service. A television remote control that required more effort to use than getting off the couch to manually change channels also would be a nonstarter. So is it any wonder that the uptake of health information ...
HIT Windfall? Trust but Verify
May 11, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
Expansion of health information technology could result in healthcare savings of $261 billion over 10 years, according to a report released this month. Ever wonder where a number like that comes from? And how reliable it is? The estimated $261 billion in savings, reported by Information Week , comes from ...
Reforming Reimbursement Rules
May 7, 2010
FROM NEXTGOV
In the superfast mobile computing era of iPhones, iPads, Kindles and net books, telemedicine is stuck in a rut. The biggest potholes are anachronistic reimbursement rules that bar physicians from receiving payment for services rendered via mobile devices, thereby hindering doctors' use of the devices, concluded a panel sponsored by ...
