AMERICAN MEDICAL NEWS -What's in a Name?

Washington -- The jumble of terms in health information technology soon could be simplified. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology announced March 24 that it finished proposed definitions for five key HIT terms and will seek public comment on them until April 9. The ONC chose the terms because they are the most often confused. Lawmakers have proposed bills that use the terms in different ways, said Karen M. Bell, MD, director of the ONC's Office of HIT Adoption.   After the definitions are finalized, the ONC will officially adopt them and use them in its contract language, said alliance Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jane Horowitz, who leads the project. Organizations and companies should follow and operationalize the definitions throughout health care, she...

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The Chart at the Foot of the Bed is Gone

Sorry for being absent the past several weeks. Recently I had the unexpected opportunity to catch up on technology at the bedside (in the bed) at my local community hospital which I had been on the staff 16 years ago.  I had been away in another community and only recently had returned to the area but practice in a more rural community in the same town.  Some things change, and others never change. Chest pain is chest pain and shortness of breath are the same complaints.  My arm band now had a bar code on it. The nurses all used wireless laptops for charting and reading orders. The doctors were all still at the nursing stations either dictating or writing their chart notes. The doctors seem to be the last link in the chain of IT.  I definitely had the feeling IT was "leaking...

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