Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | June 5, 2014
Lee Stevens | May 14, 2014
As we approach 2014 National Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 25-31), it seems like an appropriate time to pause and reflect on two hurricanes that have impacted the lives of many Americans, Sandy and Katrina, and the role of health information technology (health IT). ONC has long supported the use of health IT and health information exchange services to support emergency preparedness and response efforts, and the lessons learned from both of these natural disasters have helped to inform future efforts and to protect patient information to make sure that it is available to patients and providers where and when it is needed.
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Matthew Swain | May 5, 2014
Hospitals across the country continue to adopt health IT such as electronic health record (EHRs) to improve the health and health care of their patients. ONC posted the latest results [PDF – 933kb] from the 2013 American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Health IT Survey, which show that more than nine out of ten hospitals possess certified EHR technology, and nearly six in ten hospitals adopted an EHR with advanced functionalities (classified as a Basic EHR).
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Kevin Horahan | March 18, 2014
Getting a complete and accurate picture of a patient’s medical history is a challenge under normal circumstances, but it is even more difficult – and even more important – in an emergency. Take, for example, a fairly common occurrence. A woman falls and breaks her arm. Someone calls 9-1-1 and an ambulance arrives. An emergency medical technician (EMT) or paramedic provides treatment and transports her to the emergency department (ED) where she gets an x-ray and a cast.
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Brett Coughlin | March 6, 2014
Marrying public health and primary care coordination to improve population health using Health IT sounds like a no-brainer. It sounds easy, right? Maybe not, but a new initiative is bringing these three elements together in a bid to improve health, healthcare and control costs.
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