For hospital CIOs, mergers complicate move to electronic records

If the merger went through, Mark Moroses, CIO of Continuum, would work with partners at NYU Langone to meld dozens of billing, procurement and patient care systems over the next few years. At the same time he is in the process of moving the chain of hospitals, which includes Beth Israel, St. Luke's, and Roosevelt, to digital healthcare records. That will allow the chain to claim $20 million to $30 million in government stimulus incentives over the next four years, he told CIO Journal. Mergers can complicate the transition to electronic records. Hospitals have different technical terms, and methods of documenting care, complicating the migration of data between the two institutions.