An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting. Included in this information are patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports. The EHR automates and streamlines the clinician's workflow. The EHR has the ability to generate a complete record of a clinical patient encounter, as well as supporting other care-related activities directly or indirectly via interface—including evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting.
Health information technology could improve health care quality, but it is not the cure-all solution to reducing U.S. health care costs, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said at a forum on Friday, CQ HealthBeat reports. The forum was hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that would promote the adoption of a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports.
Health IT Now! Coalition on Friday at a Capitol Hill briefing asked lawmakers to pass legislation that would subsidize health care providers for the adoption of electronic health records, ensure interoperability among health care information technology platforms and address privacy concerns, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 6/13).
Pennsylvania Senate Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a health care proposal that would enhance care provided at community health centers and create a high-risk pool for state residents who are unable to obtain health coverage elsewhere, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Raffaele, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/10).
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday announced the 12 cities and states that have been chosen to participate in a $150 million Medicare pilot program to encourage physicians to use electronic health records, CQ Today reports.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Monday began a two-week economic tour in Raleigh, N.C., where he discussed his proposals to address the economy, health care and other issues, the AP/Philadelphia Daily News reports (Babington, AP/Philadelphia Daily News, 6/10).
Officials from Kaiser Permanente and Microsoft on Monday announced that the companies are developing a patient information exchange pilot program, Reuters/Washington Post reports (Kaufman, Reuters/Washington Post, 6/9).
Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate Democratic and Republican measures to halt a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees; Senate legislation involving veterans' mental health; and a House bill that encourages greater adoption of electronic health records in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."
Lawmakers, patient-privacy and health care advocates, and information technology experts on Tuesday "debated ... how Congress can strike a balance between accelerating the adoption of a nationwide system of electronic medical records while protecting patient privacy," CongressDaily reports (Noyes, CongressDaily, 6/4).
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS on Tuesday released a cross-agency directive to speed up the adoption of a nationwide health information technology system that would improve health care quality, increase efficiency, reduce medical errors and address concerns of patient privacy and data security, CQ HealthBeat reports.
The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health at today's hearing to develop privacy and security standards at the same time the health care industry converts from paper to electronic patient records.
Legislation that would promote the adoption and standardization of health information technology is "knotted up" in Congress over privacy issues, CQ Today reports (Wayne, CQ Today, 6/2).
Officials from America's Health Insurance Plans have proposed a plan they estimate could reduce U.S. health care spending by $145 billion by 2015, The Politico reports. The group plans to present its findings to congressional committee chairs and ranking members and to hold a policy briefing.
Aetna ranked first among 130 large health insurers in efficiency and accuracy in reimbursements to physicians, and Cigna ranked second, according to a report scheduled for release on Thursday by Athenahealth, the Wall Street Journal reports.
HHS has received more than 30 applications from communities that seek to participate in a Medicare pilot program that uses electronic health records, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 5/20).
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced efforts underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that will complement each other to improve patient safety and the quality of medical care.
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday hold the first of at least eight congressional hearings focusing on strategies to reform the U.S. health care system, featuring testimony by former HHS secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Tuesday in a speech at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., detailed his health care proposal and for the first time proposed a plan to help individuals who cannot obtain private health insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions, the Miami Herald reports (Dorschner, Miami Herald, 4/30).
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Monday at a health care symposium sponsored by Siemens said that the Bush administration and Congress should do more to implement electronic health records nationwide, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Monday at the Miami Children's Hospital promoted his health care proposal, which he said would "put families in charge," USA Today reports (Jackson, USA Today, 4/29).
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