Recent Developments

Quote of the Day:We are always getting ready to live, but never living.--Ralph Waldo Emerson   Health Train Express has recently become acquainted with a Canadian solution to RHIOs search for the "ultimate" application for their interconnectivity needs.  It bypasses the problems of "governance issues" and the thorny issues of "who owns what". Many of these issues ignore the primacy of information transfer, efficiency, accuracy, and quality of healthcare delivery in this country.  In addition to that concern, it is not necessary to re-invent a "wheel" that already exists. What we need has been well established by many consortiums, RHIOs and health information exchanges.  Do we all need all of it? The answer is profoundly "NO". What about those providers who do not have...

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SELF CERTIFICATION ???

Groups To Launch No-Cost EHR Interoperability Testing Software A no-cost, open-source software tool for testing the interoperability of electronic health record systems will be available to vendors March 21, 2008, Government Health IT reports.The tool, which is being jointly developed by the Certification Commission for Healthcare IT and Mitre, will allow vendors to ensure that their EHR systems can exchange information on patients treated by more than one provider. The tool, called LAIKA, also will initially support testing of the Health Level 7/ASTM Continuity of Care Document, a core set of patient information including: Name; Address; Health problems; and Medications (Ferris, Government Health IT, 11/9).Mark Leavitt, chair of CCHIT,...

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RPM or Remote Patient Monitoring

Microsoft has launched it's Health Vault application. With this announcement comes a large list of positive and negative reactions in the marketplace.  The most positive aspects are the "commodization" and accessibility of these devices to consumers at affordable prices.   RPM data can and should enter the consumer electronics mainstream.  In addition, RPM data should be viewed as just one more type of medical data, similar to lab data, pharmacy data, physician notes, etc., that is equally plug and play. But...There are Tradeoffs Depending on whether you are a user or a seller of RPM, you probably reacted differently when reading Bill Crounse's casual reference to devices and services becoming "commoditized".  Regardless of your reaction, he's right.  HV will hasten...

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