> Many physicians still have questions about the Meaningful Use incentive program; the cost of electronic health records is still one of the biggest barriers to implementing an EHR system, according to a recent article by former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari and others published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The article, meant as a guide to physicians, says that Stage 1 of the incentive program is the most difficult step; the subsequent stages will be a "glide path," they say. Article
> The quality of the information in many EHRs is not very good, according to Peter Witonsky, president and chief sales officer at iSirona, in a recent article from Healthcare IT News. Several of the most common causes of data inaccuracies, according to Witonsky, include simple miskeying by providers, miscommunications from the patient, incorrect generic entries of data, delays in admissions, discharge and transfer information, which causes charting to the wrong patient, and timeliness of the data entry, causing providers to make decisions based on older information in the record. Article
> The California Health Information Partnership and Services Organization (CalHIPSO), the nation's largest federally designated regional extension center, has hit "key milestones" over the past two years, according to its latest report. The entity, a not-for-profit joint venture aimed to help providers implement EHRs, has enrolled more than 7,700 providers. Additionally, more than $65 million in incentive payments have been earned by CalHIPSO members. Announcement
And Finally... Then why are there cupcake shops on every corner? Article