Carolyn Hartley's Page

On May 28, 2009, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released guidance on how it plans to identify and fund Health IT Regional Centers. Section 3012 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), as added by the HITECH Act, authorizes a Health Information Technology Extension Program to assist all providers, but with priority access to Health IT for the uninsured, underinsured, historically underserved and other special-needs populations, and use of that tech… Continue

At present there are two definitions of meaningful use for EHRs posted by health thought leaders with a third to be posted on Thursday, May 8. HIMSS and Markle Foundation each have come out strongly in favor of trusted and reliable interfaces that result in secure exchange of health information between practitioners and patients, and… Continue

AHRQ Health IT Update: New Health IT Resource for Implementers of Clinical Decision Support Tools

To further its mission of supporting the use of health information technology (health IT) to drive improvements in health care outcomes, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is providing online access to the first chapter of Improving Medication Use and Outcomes with Clinical Decision Support: A Step-by-Step Guide which is designed for implementers of clinical decision support (CDS… Continue

On April 17, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that requires vendors of personal health records (PHRs) and related entities such as non-profit organizations that offer PHRs, to notify individuals when the security of their individually identifiable health information is breached. The NPRM seeks to conform with rules from HHS that safeguard protected health information, but the FTC proposed rule applies to non HIPAA-covered entities that are not subj… Continue

Workflow assessments often make your workforce nervous because they are afraid you will identify inefficiencies in the way they do their work. Communication will make all the difference in the success of your workflow studies. For example, when asked the #1 question, “Am I going to lose my job?”, your response could be, “We’re not planning to terminate anyone, but we will make sure you receive training to manage your new tasks.”

Start with the following workflows and add more as you begin imple… Continue