implementation news from FierceHealthcare

The U.S. government has set an aggressive goal for the healthcare industry, ensuring every American has an electronic healthcare record by 2014. As President Obama's recovery package rolls out Read more...

Well, everyone knew the following was going to happen, but CMS plowed ahead anyway--though maybe it had to do so or risk never launching at all. As predicted, things have gotten really messy in the Read more...

A federal judge based in Washington state has taken the side of hospitals in a dispute over the use of Medicaid reimbursement to subsidize safety-net services. In a move that the judge ruled was Read more...

> Several groups have asked CMS to delay the implementation of the National Provider Identification number, arguing that no one involved is really ready to move ahead. Read more...

After a year spent traveling around the country interviewing experts and officials, Mayo Clinic has officially taken a position as to what it feels needs to change in our struggling healthcare Read more...

Not sure your physicians will buy in to your EHR rollout? It's a reasonable fear. After all, they may not feel ready for the changes EHRs will require them to make. But a physician leader who's been there--and achieved 100 percent adoption of a CPOE system--suggests that if executives take the right steps, they can virtually guarantee that their EHR implementation will succeed. Column

A new survey of 1,500 community hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association has found that, despite barriers such as cost and integration, implementation of health IT is on the rise in hospitals. Nearly half of all surveyed hospitals reported moderate or high use of health IT in 2006, compared to a response of 37 percent in 2005. Large, urban and teaching hospitals are at the forefront of this movement. In addition:

• 69 percent of responding hospitals have either …

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HHS has awarded $103 million to 27 states, supporting programs designed to improve the way Medicaid dollars are used. Congress has approved a total of $150 million for these "transformation grants," which will distributed over fiscal '07 and '08. States will be able to use the funds for a variety of purposes, including development of programs to encourage EMR, clinical decision support tools or e-prescribing; increasing utilization of generic drugs; implementation of a medication risk …

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IBM signed a deal with the Canadian province of Alberta that sees the tech giant lead their transition from paper-based to electronic records. Big Blue wins a two-year contract worth $10 million to lead the implementation of the new system and train users. Alberta has pledged to create an electronic medical record for every resident by 2008. Article

Britain's National Audit Office released a report warning that delays in the implementation of the country's massive health IT project may "hurt public confidence in the project." Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes jostling between Cerner and GE Healthcare for control of the London phase of the project is continuing. Report (.pdf)