> athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush, writing for The Hill's "Congress Blog," says the problem with the Meaningful Use incentive program is a "lack of transparency and accountability." He calls the current standards for meeting Meaningful Use "lax," and says they ultimately could lead to disparities between what providers can do with EHR systems and their ability to improve care. Commentary
> The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT named Baylor Health Care System CIO David Muntz principal deputy, reports Health Data Management. Muntz reportedly will handle daily operations and staff management and, according to the HIStalk blog, will oversee four offices within the ONC--Programs and Policy; Operations; Economic Analysis, Evaluation, and Modeling; and Chief Scientist. Brief
> The Health Foundation of South Florida this week awarded the Institute for Child and Family Health a $100,000 grant that will go toward the use of electronic health records in behavioral health services, Healthcare IT News reports. Article
> In a commentary this week for Government Health IT, Dr. Sumant Ramachandra--senior vice president of research and development, and chief scientific officer for Hospira, Inc.--outlines why healthcare acquired infections should be part of the equation for meeting Meaningful Use. "HAIs, kill more people annually than car crashes, but they do not make front-page news," Ramachandra writes. "Given their widespread and costly impact on the healthcare system, however, perhaps they should." Commentary
And Finally... Maybe the thieves plan on doing a lot of cooking. Article