Almost 50 percent of physician groups reported that they have not heard from their electronic health record vendor about when ICD-10 software changes or upgrades will be available for their practice, according to a report by Medical Group Management Association- American College of Medical Practice Executives.

July 3 is the last day that the eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals can begin their 90-day reporting period if they want to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare electronic health record incentive program for fiscal year 2013, according to an AHA News Now report.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that HHS has met and exceeded its goal for 50 percent of physician offices and 80 percent of eligible hospitals to have electronic health records by the end of 2013.

The Healthcare Innovation Council, an independent group of healthcare experts, has called upon Congress to reconsider CMS' meaningful use program, claiming it is not furthering Congress' goal of improving healthcare, according to a commentary submitted to six U.S. senators.

CMS has added two questions to the frequently asked questions section regarding electronic health record incentive programs.

In a recently released white paper, athenahealth lays out seven actions electronic health record vendors should take to ensure measurable results on meaningful use for its clients.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has released a brief on the available options for meeting the transition of care measure that is required for meaningful use stage 2.

Electronic health record adoption is on the rise. The number of hospitals using basic EHR systems tripled from 12.2 percent in 2009 to 44.4 percent in 2012, according to a report released by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and CMS.  However, the move towards efficient care coordination and care delivery through health IT does not end with EHR adoption alone. Clinical information needs to be able to flow seamlessly between EHR products within one health network and among different networks. Various healthcare industry sectors and software vendors are, therefore, focusing on advancing the interoperability of health IT systems.  

HHS announced that EHRMagic-Ambulatory and EHRMagic-Inpatient, both developed by EHRMagic of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., have had their certifications revoked by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Brendan Flanigan is the regional manager of gloStream, a full service billing, collections, EHR, and practice management company. Here he shares how to use EHR effectively in spine and orthopedic practices and why the switch makes sense.