Innovative Software Cuts Costs and Time for States to Report Hospital Quality Information to the Public

The Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS’s) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) unveiled MONAHRQ—My Own Network Powered by AHRQ—a free, MS® Windows®-based software application that significantly reduces the cost and time a State, hospital or other organization would need to spend to compile, analyze and post data on quality of hospital care, its cost and how that care is used.

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Electronic Health Records

Electronic Health Records

EHR Implementation:
A Vendor’s Diary

This is the first in an occasional series chronicling the implementation of an electronic health record in a small community hospital system in rural New Hampshire. Serious discussion about the implementation began in 2009, during a time of seismic change in healthcare and healthcare IT.

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Health IT & Quality

Health IT & Quality

Regulate HIT Tools as Medical Devices? Yes and No

The Food and Drug Administration recently announced it is reconsidering its previous decision to exclude health information technology (HIT) tools from regulation as medical devices. When last evaluated in the late 1990s, this decision made common sense. At that time HIT consisted of rudimentary clinical documentation systems, electronic reference materials, and administrative applications.

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Editor’s Notebook: The unTechnology Conference

Editor’s Notebook

The unTechnology Conference

 

Many sports fans are familiar with the quip, “Last night I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out.” Well, in early May, I went to a technology conference, and a patient safety meeting broke out. I didn’t expect the conference to be run-of-the-mill; the unSummit, by its name, signals that it offers an alternative conference experience and claims to offer high-quality, practical advice.

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EXTENSION, Inc. Announces EXTENSION 2.0

EXTENSION, INC. announced that EXTENSION version 2.0 is now available
for integration. Version 2.0 – replacing EXTENSION version 1.4 – offers
features and functionality that further enhance clinical and
operational workflows and overall communications among clinicians,
healthcare staff, and patients.

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NQF Forms New Health IT Advisory Committee

To guide its ongoing work in health information technology, the
National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health Information
Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory
committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including
consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and
community healthcare.

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