MedStar hospitals crippled by computer virus
Editor's Note Washington DC-area MedStar hospitals were hit by a computer virus that forced all computers offline on March 28, the Chicago Tribune reports. The shutdown of computers was the latest against US hospitals after a California hospital paid ransom to free its infected systems using bitcoin currency. The FBI…
EHRs leading to physician burnout
Editor's Note Physicians are beginning to dread what some are calling “EHR pajama time”--the 1 to 2 hours they now have to spend at home finishing up their electronic health record (EHR) documentation after their kids have gone to bed, notes the ACS Surgery News, reporting on a session at the…
CMS reports drop in physicians, hospitals in ‘meaningful use’
Editor's Note The number of physicians that participated in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “meaningful use” program dropped from 228,662 in 2014 to 226,514 in 2015, and hospital participation declined from 4,177 to 4,071, Bloomberg BNA reports. The drop in participation occurred despite repeated efforts by CMS…
Nurses’ perceptions of EHR
Editor's Note This study was designed to understand nurses’ perceptions of using an electronic health record (EHR) at the point of care. At 1 year after EHR adoption, the nurses said: it did not improve patient care the learning curve was steep they had lower confidence using the EHR than…
CMS extends ‘meaningful use’ deadline to July 1
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on February 26 once again extended the deadline for hardship exemptions for the “meaningful use” requirement of the electronic health records incentive payment program, Modern Healthcare reports. The new deadline for hospitals, critical access hospitals, physicians, and other eligible professionals is…
California hospital pays hackers $17,000 to unlock EHR
Editor's Note Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid hackers who infiltrated and disabled their electronic health record (EHR) a $17,000 ransom to unlock their system, the February 18 Modern Healthcare reports. Administrators at the Los Angeles hospital said they paid the ransom because it was the quickest and most efficient way…
CMS extends ‘Meaningful Use’ deadline
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline to attest to achieving “Meaningful Use” in 2015 to March 11, the February 12 MedCity News reports. The original deadline had been February 29. CMS announced the extension in an e-mail to providers and health IT…
EHR associated with fewer in-hospital adverse events
Editor's Note Pneumonia, cardiovascular, and surgery patients whose treatments were entered into a fully electronic health record (EHR) were between 17% and 30% less likely to experience in-hospital adverse events, this study finds. Among the findings: Pneumonia patients had 35% lower odds of adverse drug events, 34% lower odds of…
CMS extends comment period for EHR certification, quality reporting
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on February 2 extended the deadline for sending feedback on electronic health record (EHR) certification and quality reporting to February 16, 2016. The request for information is part of an effort by CMS to streamline and reduce the burden of…
FDA: Draft guidance on designing interoperable devices
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 26 published draft guidance for “Design considerations and premarket submission recommendations for interoperable medical devices” to assist medical device manufacturers in designing products that are interoperable and can securely share data. The draft includes factors to consider when developing the…
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