Portrait of Kevin Larsen

Federal Agencies Update Eligible Hospital 2014 Clinical Quality Measures and Provide New Measure Development Testing Tool

Kevin Larsen | April 3, 2014

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are leveraging emerging health IT in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to improve the quality of care available to beneficiaries. One step in helping to achieve this improvement is the regular updating of electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) specifications.

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Portrait of Leila Samy

Transforming Veterans’ Care in Rural Practices Using Health IT

Leila Samy | March 28, 2014

A 65-year-old veteran living in a rural community presents at his local Critical Access Hospital (CAH) with symptoms of pneumonia. After evaluating the patient, the physician discharges him with a prescription for antibiotics. What the physician doesn’t know is that his US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) providers had prescribed warfarin (a blood thinner) to help prevent harmful blood clots that may cause a stroke. Yet certain antibiotics, when combined with warfarin, can lead to an adverse drug reaction that could include bleeding or interfere with the protection the anticoagulant (blood thinner) provides,

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Portrait of Leila Samy

Expanding Funds for Health IT in Tennessee’s Poorest Rural Counties

Leila Samy | March 26, 2014

The latest round in a White House Rural Council initiative to link rural doctors and hospitals with financing they need to adopt Health IT, such as electronic health records, kicks off today in Tennessee. The program focuses on the poorest counties in Tennessee and is part of a broader initiative that generated over $70 Million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other partners for rural hospitals and clinics in 2012 and 2013.

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