Healthcare EDI provider Gateway EDI has released a new Web site. "The new site is user-friendly, intuitive, and customizable. These features help prioritize tasks, organize processes and increase efficiency, which save Gateway EDI's clients time and resources," according to a release.
The House is again set to consider legislation that would expand the National Archives and Records Administration's power to dictate how agencies and the White House preserve electronic records. A similar measure cleared the House in the last session, but was not acted on by the Senate. The bill would amend the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act. Under the proposed legislation, NARA would require agencies to capture, manage, and preserve records in an electronic format and that agency would develop regulations for how agencies maintain electronic records.
Tampa Bay, FL, plans to launch a new effort to make health records completely paper-free, including digitizing every prescription and patient history written in the 10-county area surrounding Tampa and St. Petersburg. Over the next two years, Tampa's leaders plan to train every one of the 8,000 physicians in the area in electronic prescribing, with the goal of having at least 60% of all eligible prescriptions by Tampa Bay doctors written on a computer instead of a prescription pad.
More physician leaders are embracing technological advances such as electronic medical records, but most still consider them clunky and unresponsive to their needs, according to a survey by the American College of Physician Executives.
Kaiser Permanente is cutting 860 information technology jobs nationwide under a realignment that includes a $500 million deal giving IBM management duties at Kaiser's medical records data centers. Kaiser has inked a seven-year deal with IBM to maximize the performance of its data processing units, but the agreement puts 700 Kaiser jobs in jeopardy at data centers in California and Maryland.
As many as 75% of U.S. doctors will be writing electronic prescriptions within five years, thanks to new federal spending to encourage e-prescribing, according to a forecast. The economic stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama last month included about $19 billion to promote the use of healthcare information technology, including e-prescribing. An estimated 13% of U.S. doctors prescribe drugs electronically, leaving the vast majority writing paper prescriptions, according to Surescripts, which operates the largest U.S. electronic prescribing network.