Healthcare IT News For VARs — January 23, 2014
In the news, your healthcare customers’ credit ratings could be negatively affected by paying for major IT projects. Also, the global wireless EHR market is expected to grow to $23.5 billion by 2018. In addition, a Health IT Buzz post lists guidance for the IT industry to help overcome EHR usability challenges.
EHR, Other IT Costs Can Hurt Your Customers’ Credit Ratings
A Becker’s Hospital Review article provides examples of why your healthcare customers’ credit rating could be downgraded as a result of paying for EHRs and other IT projects. The costs of these projects and decreasing margins can negatively impact the bottom line.
Global Wireless EHR Market Could Climb To $23.5 Billion By 2018
BCC Research estimates the global wireless EHR market will rise to $11.2 billion, and forecasts it will grow to $23.5 billion by 2018. The full report available from BCC includes analysis of market trends and segmentation of the market on the basis of wireless patient monitoring, EHR-compatible devices, wireless EHR software, EHR mobile technologies, application markets, end-user markets, and specialty markets.
ONC To IT Industry: Help Overcome EHR Usability Challenges
In a Health IT Buzz post, Jacob Reider, the director of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) says he is concerned “that some of the usability challenges that we early (EHR) adopters tolerated ‘for now’ (a decade ago) remain unresolved.” His post includes a list of ONC guidance and resources for the IT industry to help overcome these challenges:
- Excerpts from annual conferences held in partnership with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
- ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee hearings on EHR usability: a hearing in 2010 and a hearing in 2013
- The Institute of Medicine’s report on Health IT and Patient Safety
- 2014 Standard and Certification Criteria requirements for quality management and usability and safety
- Tools for usability evaluation
- Examples of how health IT developers can make complex tasks easier.
Healthcare IT Talking Points
A Healthcare Informatics article features an interview with Shane Pilcher, VP of Stoltenberg Consulting, who says there is a difference between Big Data and “smart data.” He says healthcare organizations need to monitor the quality and quantity of the data they are collecting. Pilcher adds that using the data models of other industries won’t necessarily apply to healthcare — it might be a better approach to learn from peers.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a proposed rule related to the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The HHS states the proposed rule is intended to permit certain HIPAA covered entities to disclose the identities of individuals who are subject to a federal “mental health prohibitor” that disqualifies them from possessing or receiving a firearm.
Judge Noel Hillman ruled in December that individuals do not have a right to bring lawsuits to enforce HIPAA. The federal judge stated this is the responsibility of the Health and Human Services Department. A mcknights.com article provides the details of the suit brought after the theft of a laptop that contained personal data. The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, so the plaintiff could file again in state court.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Healthcare IT Resource Center.