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@ShahidNShah

Meet the bloggers (and other New Media personalities) at HIMSS

I’m hoping to see many of my friends at HIMSS this year and I’m working with great folks like John Lynn to setup several unofficial meetups at HIMSS for those of us reading or writing blogs or other New Media tech like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Our previous HIMSS meetups have been fun and productive at the same time (they’re great networking events). I say unofficial meetup because HIMSS has some official sessions with bloggers which are a bit more formal (and equally valuable).

Shahid N. Shah

Report: How to get your hands on $900 Million in Federal Health IT and $70 Billion in Health Tech

Here’s a new report you’ll like if you’re interested in getting your contractor hands on federal healthcare tech dollars (including health IT). Here’s the introduction from the report: The U.S. Federal government will spend more than $385 billion on healthcare – not including Medicare spending – in GFY2010. Nearly $70 billion of that will go to government contractors in the area of healthcare technology. Note that $70 billion will be spent on healthcare technology, not simply health IT.

Shahid N. Shah

$99 Wii Balance Board Outperforms $17,885 Medical Device

I love these kinds of stories. Last week Gizmodo posted In Early Tests, $99 Wii Balance Board Outperforms $17,885 Medical Rig which was initially reported in New Scientist’s Wii board helps physios strike a balance after strokes. Basically, the story revolves around a paper published by Ross Clark in which Clark’s team compared a $99 Wii Balance Board (used in gaming and exercising while connected to the Wii console) to an almost $18,000 force platform.

Shahid N. Shah

Beware EMR bullies quoting federal stimulus rules

I’ve been hearing a lot of stories these days about EMR companies telling potential physician customers that they need to buy a sophisticated or “full blown” EMR right now in order to get any stimulus funds. Some of my readers have asked whether this is true or not so let me set the record straight. Yes, it’s true that the ARRA HITECH Act clearly states (in section 4101, page 353) that the government shall provide “incentives for adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Shahid N. Shah

Social networking 101 for physicians

Massachusetts Medical Law Report’s Social networking 101 for physicians is a great summary for physicians who are looking to get into social networking or have already been participating for some time. It’s got some great tips that sound obvious but should be heeded carefully: Be mindful of patient confidentiality. Remember that your patients are not your ‘friends.’ Monitor your web presence regularly. Take advice from online doctors’ forums with a grain of salt.

Shahid N. Shah

Markle gives sound advice on “Meaningful Use of Health IT” to policy makers (again)

The Markle Foundation has been giving some very reasonable advice on the use of IT and technology in general for the healthcare industry. Their most important advice, if heeded by lawmakers, would put to effective use the billions of dollars that have been earmarked for healthcare IT in the ARRA stimulus bill. I loved what they said in their letter to Frizzera (CMS), Blumenthal (ONCHIT), and Orszag (OMB). On page 3:

Shahid N. Shah

Guest Article: Tips to help prepare for EMRs, even before you choose your software

Given my recent postings on how to ease into technology before jumping head-first into EMRs, many readers wrote back asking additional questions about how else they should get ready for EMRs. To make sure readers get the best software selection advice, I reached out to Sheldon Needle, who is president and founder of CTSGuides.com, publishers of software evaluation materials. They have a free Medical Software Selection kit for indepth reviews of leading EMR, scheduling, and billing software, performance ratings for over 800 features, and a template to plan and manage your software demos.

Shahid N. Shah

Study of 3,000 hospitals shows little benefit from EMRs – similar to CRMs and SFA?

This week The New York Times reported in Little Benefit Seen, So Far, in Electronic Patient Records that: The nation is set to begin an ambitious program, backed by $19 billion in government incentives, to accelerate the adoption of computerized patient records in doctors’ offices and hospitals, replacing ink and paper. There is wide agreement that the conversion will bring better care and lower costs, saving the American health care system up to $100 billion a year by some estimates.

Shahid N. Shah
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