Electronic Medical Records News and Research

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Ownership of electronic health information must be addressed

The recently passed 'Stimulus' funding will create a huge amount of electronic medical information in the next few years, but legal uncertainty about who owns the information "presents a major obstacle to integrating and using" it to improve public health and health care, according to a national commentary co-authored by a Wake Forest University and a Duke University faculty member.

24 Mar 2009

Study tracks increasing use of CT on pregnant women

Researchers have found that over a 10-year period radiologic exams on pregnant women have more than doubled, according to a study published in the online edition of Radiology.

17 Mar 2009

Obesity brings worse outcomes after pancreatic cancer surgery

Obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 appear more likely to have cancer that has spread to their lymph nodes, lower rates of survival and higher rates of recurrence following surgery for pancreatic cancer, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

16 Mar 2009

Outspoken health care reformer, Obama advisor, visits URMC

David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., a key health care advisor to President Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, will speak at the University of Rochester Medical Center on Friday, April 3, for the 10th annual Saward-Berg lecture.

11 Mar 2009

Financial incentives stimulate changes in medical practice

A large group of California physicians given financial incentives to improve the quality of medical care have begun to embrace an array of changes important to advancing quality, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

11 Mar 2009

Electronic medical records improve operating room scheduling

In the current economic climate, using electronic medical records to lower health care costs is receiving a great deal of attention.

8 Mar 2009

UB and AHRM, Inc. help Buffalo join the electronic medical revolution

The Obama administration's push to move health care from handwritten charts and prescriptions into the electronic age is getting a boost in Western New York with new funding to establish a Medication Management Research Network in the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

3 Mar 2009

Opportunities for the health system in a sick economy

With the interim report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission published yesterday the time for implementing reform could hardly be better.

18 Feb 2009

How electronic medical records can be used to test drug efficacy

For years controversy has surrounded whether electronic medical records (EMR) would lead to increased patient safety, cut medical errors, and reduce healthcare costs.

8 Feb 2009

Health IT associated with better outcomes, lower costs

Patients at Texas hospitals that have automated some aspects of their health information systems appear to have fewer complications, lower death rates and reduced costs, according to a report in the January 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

27 Jan 2009

Caring for chronic diseases in a "fragmented" health care system

Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care.

6 Jan 2009

90% of overweight children may not be properly diagnosed

Despite recent widespread media attention given to studies that have indicated one-third of American children have a weight problem, a new study shows just one-third of children who are overweight or obese actually receive that diagnosis by a pediatrician.

30 Dec 2008

Financial incentives motivates doctors to reduce ethnic differences in heart disease treatments

Financial incentives for doctors can improve the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) and reduce ethnic differences in quality of and access to care, according to Dr. Christopher Millett, Consultant in Public Health at Imperial College Faculty of Medicine in London in the UK, and his colleagues.

17 Nov 2008

GE Healthcare showcases new cardiology technology

GE Healthcare continues to re-invent and re-imagine cardiology and the innovations that may help fuel the field through the future.

10 Nov 2008

Citywide electronic health information exchange

Across the nation concerns about health-care quality and costs are growing. For the first time, both candidates aspiring to the nation's highest office are looking to greater reliance on electronic medical records as critical to any remedy.

15 Oct 2008

Black patients with chronic pain less likely to have obesity measured

At the intersection of two U.S. health epidemics - obesity and chronic pain - researchers from the University of Michigan Health System found black patients with chronic pain were less likely to have their weight or body mass index (BMI) recorded, even though they are at higher risk for having obesity when compared with their white counterparts.

14 Oct 2008

Commonwealth Fund report examines health care proposals of major Presidential candidates

The health care proposal of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is more likely to improve health care affordability, accessibility, efficiency and quality than the plan of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), according to a report released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

5 Oct 2008

Kaiser roundup of health policy-related blog posts

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

3 Aug 2008

NYT examines potential for cost savings in Obama's health plan

A promise from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) that his health care proposal would reduce health insurance premiums for the average family by $2,500 "is one of the most audacious promises in a campaign that has been thick with them," the New York Times reports. In addition, Obama has promised to implement a health plan by the end of his first term as president.

24 Jul 2008

ACLU urges Congress to define medical privacy as patient control of electronic health records

The American Civil Liberties Union today urges the House Energy and Commerce Committee to require patient control of medical records and compensation for privacy breaches to be a part of the standards set for converting to electronic patient records.

23 Jul 2008