New Health Care Scorecard Finds Wide Differences In Access, Quality And Cost Across U.S. States |
| The cost and quality of health care, as well as access to care and health outcomes, continue to vary widely among states, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System’s second state scorecard report. |
The report, Aiming Higher: Results from the 2009 State Scorecard on Health System Performance, is a follow-up to the Commission’s 2007 State Scorecard report; it ranks states on 38 indicators in the areas of access, prevention/treatment quality, avoidable hospital use and costs, healthy lives, and equity. In 2009, Vermont, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Maine, and New Hampshire lead the nation as top performers on a majority of scorecard indicators. Leading states set new, higher benchmarks on a majority of indicators. Conversely, states in the lowest quartile often lag the leaders on multiple areas and the gaps have grown wider in multiple areas. Read more at www.sciencedaily.com |
| The Health and Human Services Department is undertaking a balancing act as it crafts a nationwide structure for electronic exchanges of patient medical data |
| HHS needs to find the right combination of strong requirements tied to financial incentives that it can put in place while also leaving enough room for innovation |
To avoid harming innovation, the core requirements should be technology-neutral and architecture-neutral, the workgroup said. To reduce costs for providers, the federal government should certify the health information exchange components on these core requirements, the workgroup said. Read more at fcw.com |
| Patients Warm to Digital Records, Docs Shun Web |
| The study results suggest that consumers are open to the idea. Overall, 54 percent of those surveyed said they were interested in viewing their medical records online.
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Health IT panel recommends 31 IT measures |
A federal advisory group has recommended 31 performance and data capture measures for incorporation into the Health and Human Services Department’s standard for meaningful use of electronic health records. |
The Clinical Quality Workgroup of the federal advisory Health Information Technology Standards Committee presented the ideas at a meeting today. The committee will review and forward the advice to HHS for incorporation into rulemaking later this year. Read more at fcw.com |
GAO: The FDA needs strategic IT plan |
“A comprehensive IT strategic plan, including results-oriented goals and performance measures, is vital for guiding and coordinating the agency’s numerous ongoing modernization projects and activities. Until it develops such a plan, the risk is increased that the agency’s IT modernization may not adequately meet the agency’s urgent mission needs,” GAO wrote. Read more at fcw.com |
E-Health Records Planned Despite Stimulus Uncertainty
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About seven in 10 healthcare providers believe electronic medical records will have a positive impact on their businesses and patient care, but 80% say the lack of money is their biggest obstacle to deploying health IT systems, said the new report by IVANS, a supplier of EDI and network services to the insurance industry.
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The nationwide, e-mailed survey of 508 healthcare providers — including hospitals, clinics, private medical practices, nursing homes, home healthcare organizations and medical billing companies — found that while nearly 40% plan to forge ahead with e-medical record deployments within the next 12 months, more than 50% of healthcare providers do not believe the federal stimulus package will successfully encourage health IT adoption.
Read more at www.informationweek.com |
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New Health Care Scorecard Finds Wide Differences In Access, Quality And Cost Across U.S. States
