News From Around the Web
> Because of the risk of harm caused by the Zika virus during pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that healthcare professionals ask all pregnant women about recent travel. The CDC has also developed interim guidelines for healthcare professionals in the United States caring for pregnant women during a Zika virus outbreak. Guidelines
> Your doctors may have gotten the hang of using electronic health records, but is your practice as savvy about negotiating vendor contracts? Physicians Practice offers practical advice. Article
> Is the annual physical necessary or not? The debate continues, according to The Wall Street Journal. Article
EMR News
> Primary care providers have mixed views on patient portals, and aren't seeing their vulnerable patients using them much, according to a new study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Article
> The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which will move many physicians out of the Meaningful Use program and into a new Merit Based Incentive Payment System, provides the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with an opportunity to "reconceptualize" Meaningful Use, according to Peter Basch, M.D. and Thomson Kuhn with the American College of Physicians. Article
And Finally… Stirring the pot--literally. Article