> The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has issued an interim final rule to revise a paragraph in the Common Meaningful Use Date Set definition to allow more flexibility with respect to the representation of dental procedures data for electronic health record technology testing and certification. The agency will accept comments on the change for 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. Rule (.pdf)
> Standard and Poor's lowered Wake Forest Medical Center's bond rating after the announcement of much larger-than-anticipated operating losses. The hospital notes that the losses are "largely due" to the high costs and business disruption suffered during its all-in rollout of its Epic EHR system. Article
> A recently published survey from Community Hospital 100 and Anthelio finds that most community hospitals have acquired or fully implemented EHR systems. However, the costs for the systems vary widely, with some hospitals paying less than $5 million and others more than $20 million. Survey (.pdf)
Health Insurance News
> Insurance companies have sent misleading cancelation notices to consumers and provided little or no information about the health insurances exchanges, Talking Points Memo reported. The article points to LifeWise Health Plan of Washington, which told members that their existing plan would get canceled to comply with healthcare reform, but if members did nothing, they would automatically switch to a new plan that was the "closest match" to their current coverage. The letter made no mention of the health insurance exchanges as a place to shop around for other insurance options. Article
> Despite the fact that young Americans hold the key to healthcare reform success, early exchange enrollees are older than expected, according to the Wall Street Journal. This aging trend is linked to problems with the HealthCare.gov website: Sick people who really need coverage are likely to put up with technical difficulties to get it, insurers told the WSJ, while younger, healthier adults may quit trying to apply for it. Yet insurers are counting on young, healthy enrollees to offset the costs of insuring older, sicker and more expensive members. Article
Mobile Health News
> A new study analyzing more than 43,000 healthcare apps available on the Apple iTunes app store has found that the vast majority have limited use and simple functionality, with most apps doing little more than providing information. The report, released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, also revealed a lack of evidence of the clinical benefits of the apps, without which app use will not be able to move from "a novelty into the mainstream of healthcare" nor realize its full potential. Article
And Finally... At least the baby wasn't conceived there! Article