Welcome to the Health IT Buzz Blog
Learn more about HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Privacy and Security of EHRs EHR Security is a Top Priority
Dr. Deborah Lafky | July 19, 2010
With the passage of the HITECH Act, Congress made health IT security a top priority. ONC is committed to making electronic health information as secure as technically and humanly feasible.
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Electronic Health & Medical Records The Future of Health Care and Electronic Records
Dr. David Blumenthal | July 13, 2010
Today, we’ve taken great steps forward in bringing America’s health records into the 21st century. Widespread and meaningful use of fully functional electronic health record systems combined with a robust infrastructure for broad-based health information exchange can improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care for all Americans.
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Privacy and Security of EHRs Health IT Privacy and Security
Joy Pritts | July 8, 2010
Privacy and security are the bedrock of building trust in health information exchange. The proposed modifications to the HIPAA Privacy & Security Rules, announced today, are a significant step forward in HHS’s efforts to protect patient privacy rights while encouraging the adoption of electronic health information exchange. The next phase of this process is just as important—obtaining public feedback and suggestions concerning the proposed rules. The comment period will begin once the rule is published in the Federal Register on July 14.
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Electronic Health & Medical Records Temporary EHR Certification Program and List
Dr. David Blumenthal | June 18, 2010
A surgeon can’t operate without the proper equipment. A clinician can’t achieve meaningful use of electronic health records without an EHR that is designed to improve patient care and practice efficiency.
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services announces today a big step in ensuring that clinicians can easily identify EHRs and EHR modules that have the capabilities needed to achieve meaningful use and thereby reap the financial incentives offered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Electronic Health & Medical Records Health IT Adoption
Dr. David Blumenthal | June 14, 2010
Introducing change in health care is never easy. Historically, adopting our most fundamental medical technologies, from the stethoscope to the x-ray, were met with significant doubt and opposition. So it comes as no surprise that in the face of change as transformational as the adoption of health IT – even though it carries the promise of vastly improving the nation’s health care – some hospitals and providers push back. I resisted using EHRs while an internist in Boston,
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