Christina's Considerations

What consumers want: quality information about health care

According to findings from a survey commissioned by California benefits provider WageWorks, consumers prefer quality information about health care over hands-on help from financial advisers. The survey of more than a thousand Americans revealed an urgent demand for health care... Read more →

WyHIO Update

My friends in Wyoming continue to move forward with their creation of a RHIO to support a statewide EHR system. WyHIO received an initial grant earlier this year and has just entered a subcontract with RTI International, Inc. (RTI) to... Read more →

The Flattenting of Healthcare

I set a goal to make a big dent in The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and brought it on a trip to San Antonio on Tuesday. Not since The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr have... Read more →

Resources for Small Physician Practices selecting an EHR

The Fore Library of the AHIMA recently released a paper for small physician practices selecting an EHR. This is a great overview, but I also recommend an audio CD by Michael Uretz at the EHR Group titled "How to Survive... Read more →

Informing Consumers and Improving Health

My the world is flat! I have some international readers and one is from across the pond at Infomaticopia. Rod Ward reviewed the book Consumer Health Informatics: Informing Consumers and Improving Health Care and you can read it here. Rod... Read more →

Study Finds More Moderate and Middle-Income American Families Uninsured

The following bit was in my last ACHE newsletter: According to a recent Commonwealth Fund study, two of five working-age Americans with yearly incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 were uninsured for at least part of the past year, a dramatic... Read more →

Working Moms Search for Flexibility

Connect Newsletter by BenefitNews.com had the following article in their May 16, 2006 issue and it is worth reproducing here. To learn how you can sign up to receive this newsletter contact Leah Carlson Shepherd. Working Moms Search for Flexibility... Read more →

Time is Running Out for ROI

My latest Health-IT World article is titled Time is running out for ROI. It explores the idea that EHRs will quickly become a cost of doing business for hosptials wanting to survive in the competitive healthcare marketplace. It also highlights... Read more →

Is the Road Home in New Orleans Making a Turn for the Worse?

The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) Road Home Housing Program has released its proposed allocation of disaster recovery funds for southeast Louisiana and while it sounds good because it helps the poor, it is at the expense of the valuable middle... Read more →

Should we join a RHIO?

Gary Baldwin at HealthLeaders interviewed me a couple of months ago for an article and it is refreshing that it isn't all about RHIOs. It is a collaborative effort of their writers titled "Your Question is..." My contribution was on... Read more →

It's all in the name!

Whenever you get around RHIO folks you are likely to hear at least one chant "remember the CHINs". I've been doing some thinking and believe I know why CHINs, for the most part, were abandoned. Most of you understand the... Read more →

RHIOs: What's the plan?

I'm a big advocate for written plans especially when taking on something as complicated as forming an interoperable health informtion network or creating a RHIO/RHIN. I address the importance of a written plan in my guide Forming a RHIO? and... Read more →

Self-Reflection: Reducing Turnover

Health Leaders has an article on Reducting Turnover and what makes it great is their emphasis on the role of self-reflection. A little goes a long way! Read more →

Medication Reconciliation Tools

Those of you who are working to comply with JCAHO's National Patient Safety Goals and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives Campaign might be interested in the two resources below: Study Abstract: Reconciling Medications at Admission: Safe Practice recommendations... Read more →

Educational Program: ROI on EMRs and EHRs

The Southern California Chapters of HIMSS, HFMA and Healthcare Executives are collaborating to present Return on Investment on Electronic Health Records and Electronic Medical Records on Friday, May, 12 at the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles. Both space and... Read more →

P4P: In the eyes of a physician!

Dr. Robert Lambert's latest post on P4P is a must read! I can actually remember when DRGs hit hospitals and then saw the impact of managed care! Looking back I'm reminded of a previous post Technology Boom, Bust and Beyond... Read more →

Enterprisewide Portal Strategy

My latest Health-IT World News contribution is on the MedSeek Inc. and AccessPt merger and the Delivery of an Enterprisewide Portal Strategy. The most exciting result of this merger is the virtual EMR created by the collection of health information... Read more →

Healthy Kids - Happy Kids

This is the start of Cover the Uninsured Week and HIT Transition has dedicated this week's newsletter to the topic so please visit and to learn more about this important issue in our society! I have a special interest in... Read more →