Portrait of Kate Tipping

Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care

Kate Tipping | July 26, 2012

Many people with behavioral health disorders are disproportionally impacted by chronic primary care conditions including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Health IT and health information exchange can play a role in integrating behavioral health and primary care. However, for the most part, behavioral health providers and facilities do not meet the eligibility requirements for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs established in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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Portrait of Erin Poetter Siminerio

ONC Challenges Americans to Find Out What’s In Your Health Record?!

Erin Poetter Siminerio | July 19, 2012

Share Your Story and Win Cash Prizes (#YourHealthRecord)
Many Americans can’t recall the last time they stepped foot into a bank to manage their finances. Eighty percent of U.S. adults use the Internet [1] and of those who are online, 61 percent do their banking online [2]. Yet when it comes to managing our health, most Americans don’t have their most important information—their health information—at their fingertips. Rather, this information is locked away in filing cabinets and folders.

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Portrait of Claudia Williams

Health Information Exchange: It Should Just Work

Claudia Williams | July 18, 2012

The day is not far off when any hospital discharging a patient or doctor making a referral will be able to send along needed information seamlessly, electronically, and easily from their electronic health record (EHR) to the next point of care and to patients. This means safer, better and cheaper care.

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Portrait of Dr. Farzad Mostashari

Physicians’ Experiences with EHR Adoption is Largely Positive

Dr. Farzad Mostashari | July 17, 2012

Last November, we released data from the 2011 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) of office-based providers, finding that 57 percent had adopted an electronic health record (EHR), and 34 percent met all criteria for “basic EHR use” (patient history and demographics, patient problem list, physician clinical notes, comprehensive list of patient’s medications and allergies, computerized orders for prescriptions, and ability to view laboratory and imaging results electronically). 

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