Electronic Medical Records News and Research

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Treating often ignored non-cancer health issues after cancer diagnosis prolongs survival

Receiving treatment for non-cancer health issues while being treated by specialists for cancer improves cancer survival rates according to a study published in the December 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

28 Dec 2007

Geriatric care intervention appears to provide some benefits for low-income seniors

A home-based geriatric care program for low-income seniors resulted in higher-quality medical care, improvement in quality of life and fewer emergency department visits, but did not appear to prevent decline in physical functioning, according to a study in the December 12 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Dec 2007

Improving health care for older adults

Most older adults obtain their health care in the offices of busy primary care physicians or, in the case of those without physicians, in even busier hospital emergency departments.

13 Dec 2007

Electronic medical records improve continuity of care for osteoporosis

Electronic medical records and outreach programs of e-mail messages, letters and phone calls to patients and their primary care providers after a bone fracture can dramatically improve the diagnosis and management of the patients' osteoporosis, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

22 Oct 2007

Elderly Medicare, Medicaid patients not receiving quality care

If the care received by vulnerable older people concurrently enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid was evaluated on a grading scale, it would squeak by with a barely passing mark, a new UCLA study has found.

18 Oct 2007

Statins cut heart attacks by more than a quarter

A study into the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs has found they reduce heart attacks by more than 25 per cent.

12 Oct 2007

Medical identity theft

Many consumers take precautions against identity theft, but what about medical identity theft?

10 Oct 2007

Genomic technologies to identify toxic chemicals should be developed

A new report from the National Research Council recommends that government agencies enhance their efforts to incorporate genomic data into risk assessments of chemicals and medicines, and calls for a concerted effort to fully develop these methods' potential to protect public health.

10 Oct 2007

Painful condition affecting kidney failure patients increases risk of death

A painful and debilitating condition that affects patients with kidney failure may be more common than previously believed and appears to be strongly associated with prior exposure to certain contrast agents used in imaging studies.

29 Sep 2007

Higher death rates in kidney patients with nephrogenic systemic fibrosis

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is a newly identified debilitating and painful condition that affects patients with kidney failure and is characterized by a thickening and hardening of the skin.

29 Sep 2007

Unanticipated consequences of healthcare information technology

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have developed a framework to help hospital managers, physicians, and nurses handle the tough challenges of implementing health information technology (HIT) by directly addressing the unintended consequences that undermine safety and quality.

18 Sep 2007

Report shows PA hospitals national leaders in health IT adoption, investment

Despite high barriers, Pennsylvania's hospitals have established a leadership position in the adoption of health information technology (IT) as compared to their peers nationwide.

28 Aug 2007

Problem of undiagnosed hypertension in children

In a study of children and adolescents with hypertension, only about one in four had been previously diagnosed with the condition, according to a study in the August 22/29 issue of JAMA .

22 Aug 2007

High blood pressure in children not being diagnosed

According to a study by researchers in the United States, children and adolescents with high blood pressure are not being diagnosed.

21 Aug 2007

Study looks at how medical IT affects both employees and residents in nursing homes

Staff members in 17 nursing homes in downstate New York are being trained in the use of new, hand-held wireless computers for record keeping that will send patient information directly to a central server, where doctors, pharmacies, rehabilitation specialists and others treating residents will be able to access it easily and quickly.

17 Jul 2007

Electronic health records not associated with improved quality of outpatient health care

Electronic health records have been hailed as a key element in making U.S. medical care more effective and efficient, but a new study led by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that electronic records were not associated with improved quality of outpatient health care in 2003 and 2004.

10 Jul 2007

ICW America and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island team up to offer an interoperable personal health record

ICW America (ICW), a leading international e-Health provider and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University's Center for Primary Care and Prevention (the Center) at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, a leading research and teaching institution, have reached agreement to enter into a strategic collaboration to "develop and test a 21st century patient-centered, e-Health model of care".

9 Jul 2007