Federal Government Report on EHR Interoperability Pinpoints Barriers to Information Exchange; Questions Value of Meaningful Use Requirements
Some health IT experts criticize the Government Accountability Office report for ‘incomplete research’ and failure to focus on ‘person-centered interoperability’ Several years after paying billions of incentive dollars to thousands of hospitals and physicians to encourage adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), federal officials remain frustrated at the lack of interoperability among the competing EHR systems. This is a problem recognized by clinical laboratories that must create and...Physician Adoption of EHRs Accelerates, but Rural Providers Slow to Embrace EHRs
As larger numbers of physicians implement electronic health record (EHR) systems, clinical laboratories are faced with the task of building interfaces that connect their laboratory information systems (LIS) to those EHRs. Recent numbers indicate that hundreds of thousands of physicians are now enrolled in the federal HEHR incentive program.This puts medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups squarely in the midst of the drive to encourage physicians to both implement an EHR in their clinical practice and use that EHR in ways that meet “Meaningful Use” requirements.
