CMS extends hospital 2014 meaningful use reporting deadline

On Nov. 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that both eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals now have until Dec. 31 to apply for meaningful use attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program 2014 reporting year.

EHR alerts may drive physicians to quit

Incessant EHR alerts may be conditioning physicians to ignore them outright or simply leave their positions.

Hip replacement a good option for young arthritis patients

Patients under 35 years old with chronic arthritis fare exceptionally well during recoveries from hip replacements.

2 NY RHIOs merge in latest step toward statewide HIE

Two regional health information organizations in New York have taken a critical step toward the latter end, as Southern Tier Healthlink and Taconic Health Information Network and Community have merged to create HealthlinkNY, a new and larger RHIO that will serve 11 counties and close to a million patients.

CMS adds new hardship exemption to meaningful use

In an attempt to add more flexibility to the EHR Incentive Programs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services included "extreme and uncontrollable circumstances" as a new meaningful use hardship exemption.

Wearable devices bridging gaps in network of EHRs

As data silos and low patient engagement rates threaten to undo all the good EHRs and value-based care have done, wearable medical devices may be the next link in the healthcare reform chain.

Scientists discover way to reduce effects of traumatic cartilage injuries

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the most common way cartilage cells die off has been identified.

The future of health IT: Where is it headed and why?

There have been many changes to the EHR Incentive Programs to help meet the needs of health care organizations and providers. 

5 important meaningful use dates

Here are five important dates that providers and hospitals should be sure they do not forget about within the coming year.

2014 meaningful use data proves disappointing

There are four provider associations that are reissuing their calls to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to rethink the requirements for meaningful use during 2015.

5 factors to keep in mind as you prepare for hip surgery

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, there are approximately 300,000 hip replacements every year in the U.S.

EHRs proven to drastically improve notes and documentation

Electronic health records have had a major impact on the workflow and productivity of health care organizations since they became one of the most popular health IT devices available.

How should health care organizations recover from the ICD-10 delay?

When the date of the ICD-10 implementation was pushed back to Oct. 1, 2015, last March, many health care organizations felt the heavy impact of the delay.

How can EHRs help with the Ebola outbreak?

The fatal Ebola virus has killed thousands in Africa and has infected two health care workers and caused dozens to be quarantined in the U.S. since the beginning of the outbreak earlier this year.

Practice productivity: Why it’s important [VIDEO]

A practice's productivity directly impacts the level of its success.

Practice productivity: How to improve it [VIDEO]

Last time we talked about how vital productivity is to a practice, ultimately affecting its yearly income.

How to prepare for a meaningful use audit

Every practice that is receiving electronic health system incentive payments from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services is subject to a meaningful use audit at any time.

Surveys show dissatisfaction with poor EHRs

A recent announcement from Black Book Market Research shows that nurse satisfaction with electronic health record systems is at an all-time low.