Seventy-one percent of physicians have adopted an electronic health record (EHR), and 85% of adopters have an EHR certified for meaningful use, according to a new report based on 2013 data from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). An additional 10% of physicians plan to adopt an EHR, the report found. Eleven percent of physicians are uncertain, and 8% have decided not to adopt. Of those who have no plan to acquire a system, four in 10 are retiring. Solo practice physicians have the highest percentage of physicians who are uncertain about EHR adoption or who do not plan to adopt. Among different specialty types, surgeons include the largest group of physicians (9%) who do not intend to adopt.
Boston Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center are considering a merger, a deal that, if approved, would be the biggest union of Boston teaching hospitals in nearly two decades. A merger would link two nonprofit hospitals that both treat many low-income patients and have endured financial struggles. BMC, the state's largest "safety net" hospital, has an especially high number of patients on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor. Tufts has tried to carve a place for itself in a city rich with world-renowned hospitals. Tufts and BMC confirmed Wednesday that they are discussing a merger but declined to detail when an agreement might be reached or how it would be implemented.
Kindred Healthcare is planning a $39.5 million expansion of its headquarters along Fourth Street at Broadway, adding up to 500 additional employees over perhaps three years. The health care giant will build a six-story, 142,000-square-foot building adjacent to the current corporate headquarters facing The Brown hotel that will house a support center for training, an employee wellness clinic and other operations. Kindred said ground may be broken next summer, with construction to take around two years. Kindred officials were joined by Gov. Steve Beshear and Mayor Greg Fischer Thursday afternoon at Theater Square to announce the new jobs and the construction, after the state Economic Development Finance Authority reviewed a set of $11 million in state incentives for the expansion earlier in Frankfort.
Recently I ran across an article in the Boston Globe detailing a new survey on medical errors in Massachusetts. The findings were stunning: Nearly 25% of Massachusetts residents reported a medical mistake had occurred either to them or to someone they know, and of those, half said the oversight had serious repercussions to their health. The study, along with other new research into medical mistakes and patient safety, was commissioned by the Betsy Lehman Center, an organization named for a Globe health reporter who died in 1994 when she was given an overdose of chemotherapy for her breast cancer — an overdose that was four times the correct amount.
ObamaCare ads will now appear on 7-Eleven receipts at more than 7,000 stores nationwide as government health officials expand their outreach in the second year of healthcare sign-ups. Information about ObamaCare sign-ups will appear on the bottom of receipts for anyone using an mobile payment company called PayNearMe, which allows bank-less customers to pay in stores like 7-Eleven and Family Dollar. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced the new partnership with the tech start-up PayNearMe on Thursday at a store in Washington, D.C.
With less than a week until the deadline to buy individual health insurance that begins Jan. 1, experts say sign-ups are on course to hit or exceed the Obama administration's projection of about 9 million enrollees in 2015. Several weeks into the second year of the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges, about 1.5 million people have enrolled in coverage, according to data from state and federal exchanges. As of Dec. 5, almost 1.4 million had enrolled through the federal insurance exchange, which serves 37 states, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported Wednesday.