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Beaconology for beginners: A chat with ONC's Aaron McKethan

Web Exclusives | Tuesday, September 07 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
The ability to transform healthcare delivery at the community level requires information and tools for both consumers and providers—not one or the other, said Aaron McKethan, program director for the Beacon Community Program under the Office for the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). McKethan discussed "Beaconology," an informal term used by ONC to describe the basics of the Beacon Program, in an exclusive interview yesterday.
 

Cincinnati, Detroit named final Beacon pilot communities

Top Stories | Thursday, September 02 2010
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Sept. 2 that Cincinnati and Detroit are the two final pilot communities selected under the new Beacon Community Program that is using health IT to help tackle leading health problems in communities across the U.S.
 

HHS awards $17M for patient-centered outcomes research

Industry News | Wednesday, September 01 2010
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced three sets of grants and cooperative agreements, totaling nearly $17 million for patient-centered outcomes research.
 

CCHIT, Drummond Group first to be approved as ONC-ATCBs

Top Stories | Monday, August 30 2010
The Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) has been recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) under the initial certification program created to certify that EHRs are capable of meeting the criteria to support meaningful use and qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
 

Indianapolis VA to partner with IHIE for pilot program

Partnerships & Alliances | Wednesday, August 25 2010
The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis will partner with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) to exchange EHR information using the Nationwide Health Information Network.
 

HHS tags $32M for rural healthcare programs

Industry News | Tuesday, August 24 2010
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has granted more than $32 million in fiscal year 2010 funds to increase access to healthcare for Americans living in rural areas.
 

NIST publishes finalized EHR testing procedures

Top Stories | Thursday, August 19 2010
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a set of approved procedures for testing information technology systems that work with EHRs. The approved and finalized testing procedures are now available for use, according to the institute.
 

HHS announces $46 million to ensure transparency in health insurance markets

Industry News | Wednesday, August 18 2010
Affordable Care Act grants totaling $46 million will be distributed to 45 states and Washington, D.C. to help improve the oversight of proposed health insurance premium increases, take action against insurers seeking unreasonable rate hikes and ensure consumers receive value for their premium dollars, announced U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
 

NIH establishes new breast cancer research committee

Industry News | Tuesday, August 17 2010
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, has established a new advisory committee to develop and coordinate a strategic federal research agenda on environmental and genetic factors related to breast cancer, the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC).
 

Stanley awarded $15M to support NHIN

Contracts & Installations | Monday, August 16 2010
Stanley was awarded two time-and-materials contracts, valued at $15 million, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to provide operational and infrastructure support for the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).
 

GE's Centricity Practice Solution receives CCHIT premarket approval

New Products | Friday, August 13 2010
GE Healthcare has reportedly gained conditional permarket approval for its Centricity Practice Solution version 9.5 EMR technology by the Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) as a CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR with additional certification for child health and cardiovascular medicine with advanced reporting.
 

Report: Relaxed meaningful use criteria reflect reality

Industry News | Friday, August 13 2010
Final meaningful use rules that relax criteria slightly for EMRs reflect a more realistic approach given the slow adoption rates of EMRs among physicians over the past few years, according to a report from healthcare research firm Kalorama Information.
 

Payors get into meaningful use incentives game

Top Stories | Friday, August 06 2010
Aetna, through its provider contracting process, will offer financial incentives to physicians who achieve specific quality of care goals and who make investments in technology for implementation of an EHR.
 

HHS allocates $159M for healthcare workforce training

Industry News | Thursday, August 05 2010
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary awarded $159.1 million in healthcare workforce training program grants to train nurses and geriatric specialists in order to improve the performance and recruitment of under-represented minority students.
 

SXC tunes software for D.0 compliance; releases 2Q financials

Industry News | Thursday, August 05 2010
SXC Health Solutions has completed the development and testing of software to support the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) version D.0 of the NCPDP Telecommunication Standard.
 

CCHIT gives Keane's EHR thumbs-up

Industry News | Monday, August 02 2010
Keane Optimum 3.1, Keane’s EHR technology, has received preliminary EHR certification from the Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT).
 

McKesson's Q1 income up 3%

Financial News | Sunday, August 01 2010
McKesson has reported that revenues for the first fiscal quarter, which ended June 30, were $27.5 billion compared to $26.7 billion a year ago.
 

HHS allots $51 million for state health insurance exchanges

Industry News | Friday, July 30 2010
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made available $51 million in grants to help states begin work to establish health insurance exchanges.
 

HIT Standards Committee: Clinical Quality Workgroup to emerge from hibernation?

Industry News | Wednesday, July 28 2010
The Clinical Quality Workgroup of the Health IT Standards Committee under the Department of Health and Human Services is now in a “hibernation period," said Janet Corrigan, MD, chair and president of the National Quality Forum, speaking at the HIT Standards Committee's July meeting.
 

Rite Aid pays HHS $1M over HIPAA violations

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 27 2010
Rite Aid, along with its 40 affiliated entities, have agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: Tort reform may curb non-indicated imaging

Physicians in states with medical liability tort reform laws ordered fewer imaging studies for emergency patients with mild-moderate head trauma, according to a study published July 13 in the online edition of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Beaconology for beginners: A chat with ONC's Aaron McKethan

The ability to transform healthcare delivery at the community level requires information and tools for both consumers and providers—not one or the other, said Aaron McKethan, program director for the Beacon Community Program under the Office for the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). McKethan discussed "Beaconology," an informal term used by ONC to describe the basics of the Beacon Program, in an exclusive interview yesterday.

Feature: Early a.m. rad shift expedites communication of urgent findings

An early morning radiologist shift can expedite the communication of urgent findings and improve patient care, according to a study in this month's Journal of the American College of Radiology. “The Joint Commission and the ACR have emphasized the importance of improved communication, particularly of critical test results, for better patient care,” Rathachai Kaewlai, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, shared with Health Imaging News.

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

SMU nets nearly $600K to study ultrasound in bone strength assessment

Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas has received a $596,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Neurological Disorders and Stroke Institute to study the role of ultrasound in determining the effects of radiation on bone.

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