HHS lays out a plan to have e-health records on the table by next June

HHS lays out a plan to have e-health records on the table by next June: "HHS lays out a plan to have e-health records on the table by next June

By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff

Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt and national health IT coordinator David Brailer have spent a lot of time talking about what health IT systems could do for medicine. Recently, they got a glimpse of what it can look like.

Leavitt and Brailer observed a District of Columbia physician conduct a heart patient�s checkup using an electronic health record and a laptop. (Yes, they obtained permission from the patient to see personal health information, in accordance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules.) "

MEDICARE TAKES KEY STEP TOWARD VOLUNTARY QUALITY REPORTING FOR PHYSICIANS

MEDICARE TAKES KEY STEP TOWARD VOLUNTARY QUALITY REPORTING FOR PHYSICIANS: "MEDICARE TAKES KEY STEP TOWARD VOLUNTARY QUALITY REPORTING FOR PHYSICIANS
Medicare will make it easier for physicians to participate in a voluntary program to report evidence-based, consensus quality measures, an important step toward supporting higher quality physician care, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., announced today.
�Physicians are in the best position to know what can work best to improve their own practices and ultimately the quality of care available to all patients,� Dr. McClellan said. �Through these voluntary reports by physicians on evidence-based quality measures, we can take an important step together to help them improve care, and ultimately to help make sure that they are adequately compensated for that care.�"