HHS report finds uptick in doctors' use of electronic health records

May 24 2013

Also in the news, the Pentagon is in search of a new system for veterans' health care while San Francisco is "leading the way" in new health data applications.

USA Today: Incentives Push Doctors To Electronic Medical Records
More than half of doctors' offices and 80 percent of hospitals that provide Medicare or Medicaid will have electronic health records by the end of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday (Kennedy, 5/22).

CQ HealthBeat: HHS Report Shows Strong Growth In Use Of Electronic Health Records
More than half of all doctors now get Medicare or Medicaid incentive payments for using electronic health records, according to a report federal officials released on Wednesday. But Republicans say medical professionals should not just use the records in their own offices but also should exchange them with other providers (Adams, 5/22).

The Associated Press: Pentagon To Seek New Records System For Vets Health Care, Says It Won't Solve Claims Backlog
The Pentagon has decided to buy a new computerized health records system to be able to better share and merge its data with the Department of Veterans Affairs, but officials cautioned that it was part of a "long-term modernization" effort and would not help ease the backlog in VA disability claims (5/22).

California Healthline: San Francisco Leading The Way In Health Data Applications
The city of San Francisco is leading the way in using health data in innovative ways and it's paying off in a big way, according to several city officials who spoke yesterday at the Healthy Communities Data Summit. The summit was held in San Francisco and that meant a number of success stories were local, but the conference cast a wide net in its approach to innovation prompted by public release of health data (Gorn, 5/22).