EHR WATCH
Electronic Health Records will soon be a centerpiece of the healthcare debate, in gov and beyond. We're already paying attention.
By Eva Marie Stahl
In May, Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Jerry Avorn, critiqued the backlash regarding $1.1 billion in funding for comparative effectiveness research (CER) generated by its inclusion in the Stimulus Package. The funds, according to Avorn, threatened
EHRs: An Ongoing Carrot and Stick Saga By Eva Marie StahlThe American Reinvestment and Recovery Act passed by Congress earlier this year itemized over $19 billion dollars for Health IT. Of that amount, $17 billion is directed toward fiscal incentives promoting the adoption of electronic health records (EHRsread more
Remote EKG reading technology shows promise for VA By Eva Marie StahlThe Department of Veterans Affairs is testing a new mobile handheld technology that enables off-site cardiologists to read EKGs and use them to prescribe treatment within 3 minutes. For a patient awaiting the arrival of an on-call cardiologist while inread more
Study: Medicaid providers may get fed funding for EHRs By Eva Marie StahlA George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services report states that according to national data, there are over 45,000 Medicaid providing physicians eligible for Electronic Health Record (EHR) funding support through the Americanread more

Mention OMG and receive a $200 discount on registration.
Help prevent flu outbreak:
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius,
isn’t wasting any time looking for new ways of doing things at her agency. On
July 9th, her department announced a video contest that seeks to “tap into our nation’s creativity,”
by inviting the public to submit YouTube videos on flu prevention and safety.
It’s a clever idea: if the contest works in generating press
and a usable public service announcement, the government will save money by not
having to hire a marketing firm … and one lucky citizen will take home a check
for $2,500!
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Inspector General slams FEMA
Poor FEMA. Even after its
high-profile mistakes and oversights finally drop off the front page, there's
always the follow-up reports that surface months later, and remind us all of
things we'd rather forget.
The latest resurfacing of
mistakes by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency is courtesy of the inspector general's office in the
Department of Homeland Security.
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