Bill would boost IT funding for multi-campus hospital systems

In other news, The Boston Globe reports on one of the perks enjoyed by doctors who use electronic health records, and Bloomberg details the British Medical Association's advice to members to avoid patients on Facebook.

Modern Healthcare: Bill Aims To Give IT Boost To Multi-Campus Systems
Multi-campus hospital systems would get a boost in funding for health IT upgrades under bipartisan legislation introduced this week. The bill sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) to amend the federal electronic health-record program created by the 2009 stimulus law would require higher incentive payments for multi-campus hospitals compared to those with only a single location (Daly, 7/13).

The Boston Globe: Docs With Electronic Health Records Are Better Able To Sort Patients By Care Needs
One of the perks of electronic health records is that they make patient information sortable. All the bits of the information entered into separate boxes on a patient chart can be categorized and filtered. That gives physicians the power to easily and quickly create lists of patients who, for example, had an abnormal lab test or have complained of nausea after starting on a new prescription. These patient lists, or registries, are meant to help physicians manage patients more proactively and more closely monitor their own work (Conaboy, 7/13).

Bloomberg: Avoiding Patients on Facebook Is Healthier for Doctors, BMA Tells Members
Social-networking services such as Facebook Inc. pose risks for doctors, who should "politely refuse" friend requests from patients and be wary of posting on Twitter, the British Medical Association said. Health professionals and medical students should also adopt strict privacy settings on the websites, where unchecked candor may damage patient confidentiality and hurt a doctor's job prospects, the London-based BMA, which represents about 140,000 U.K. physicians and medical students, said in guidelines issued today. Online social networks can "blur the boundary" between a doctor's professional and private lives, the group said (Mead, 7/13).