Top Story

• WEDI conducts ICD-10 progress survey
  A Web-based ICD-10 industry progress survey has been launched by the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange. Survey results will help WEDI, CMS and other groups evaluate the industry's progress in implementing ICD-10 and help them devise programs that will aid health care groups in meeting the 2014 compliance date, according to WEDI officials. Health care groups can submit their survey responses until Feb. 20. Healthcare IT News (1/25)     

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EHRs and MU

• Md. health agency equips clinics with EHR, PHR solutions
  Medical Informatics Engineering's WebChart EHR solution and NoMoreClipboard's personal health records software are now being used by the Prince George's County Health Department in Maryland, encompassing 25 clinics that offer services related to mental health, epidemiology and women's health. The adoption of the PHR platform is expected to allow clinic doctors to communicate with patients electronically and access their data more easily. Health Data Management (1/25)     

• "Digital pen" maker now part of HIT company
  IMedicor, a health IT firm, announced it has completed its acquisition of iPenMD. The deal enables iMedicor to help doctors integrate patient chart notes into EHRs through iPenMD's "digital pen" solution. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (1/25)     

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Advancing Care With IT

• Mobile app assists users in quitting smoking
  An application for tablets and other mobile devices that promotes smoking cessation has been unveiled by Covenant Health. The app, created through a grant from the Will Rogers Institute, enables users to document factors that trigger them to smoke. Using data entered by users, the app will provide a target date for them to quit smoking. The Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tenn.) (free registration) (1/26)     

Technology Trends

• Billings Clinic, AHRQ to examine pros, cons of HIT adoption
  A study examining the effect of health IT adoption on workflows in small and medium-sized ambulatory practices that are turning into medical homes will be conducted by Billings Clinic in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. "Unfortunately, health IT systems can fail to generate anticipated results and even carry unintended consequences, which undermine usability and usefulness. Directly or indirectly, health IT may create more work, new work, excessive systems demands, or inefficient workflow," according to the AHRQ. Health Data Management (1/25)     

• Potential data breach affects more than 1,000 patients in Pa.
  Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, Pa., announced a potential data breach that may have affected 1,182 patients. The incident occurred when an unencrypted CD of patient records, sent by the hospital to its Medicare administrative contractor, got lost in the mail. Data stored on the CD included patients' names and account balances, as well as Medicare ID numbers for around 70% of affected individuals. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (1/25)     

• Heritage Provider works with UCLA, Open mHealth on tech challenge
  An innovation challenge launched by Heritage Provider Network, Open mHealth and the University of California, Los Angeles, calls on developers to leverage Open's mobile health architecture to develop new applications. The contest will "produce mobile applications that address new models of meaningful, self-delivered health care," said Jim Davis, UCLA's vice provost of information technology and chief academic technology officer. Healthcare Informatics online (1/25)     

HIE

• Ga. to boost telehealth capabilities of public centers
  Georgia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald announced a plan to form telemedicine units, each worth around $20,000, in every public health center in the state within two to three years. All county health departments have teleconferencing capabilities, and the commissioner's next plan is to launch telehealth carts equipped with advanced cameras, sensors and computers to connect patients with distant physicians. The Macon Telegraph (Ga.) (1/24)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by Health IT SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• CMS issues guidance on changes to stage 1 MU rules (Health Data Management)

• ONC releases Blue Button Plus adoption guide (Government Health IT online)

• CMS gives more time for comments on electronic data reporting (Modern Healthcare (free registration))

• Feds confront concerns on process for EHR systems (Computerworld)

• White paper links primary care EHR success to 6 practice areas (AAFP News Now)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Career Track

• HL7 launches new health IT team
  The Clinical Quality Information Work Group was recently established by Health Level Seven International. An organizational infrastructure will be provided by the group to "collaborate, educate and foster greater communication and coordination with external quality, health care delivery and management, professional and government stakeholder organizations, as well as across HL7's work groups," said HL7 CEO Dr. Charles Jaffe. Government Health IT online (1/25)     

• Remote monitoring company appoints new sales VP
  Perry Josey was tapped by WellAware Systems in Glen Allen, Va., to be its vice president of sales. Josey worked in the sales department of OptumInsight prior to his appointment at WellAware, which specializes in senior-care remote monitoring. Modern Healthcare (subscription required) (1/25)     

WEDI News

• WEDI regional affiliate call: Cloud Computing and Information Security
  Please join us on Feb. 12 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time as we examine the adoption rate of cloud services, cloud types and cloud standards, as well as current and future security technologies. Ben Brizendine, technical services design director for Convergence Networks, will discuss the significant move to cloud-based computing and what health care organizations need to consider in addressing information security requirements. Get more information and register.     

• WEDI Virtual Event -- The Omnibus is Here: Survival Guide for the New Privacy & Security Regulations
  Sign up now to attend the FREE upcoming WEDI Virtual Event on Friday, Feb. 15. It offers an in-depth review of the revisions to the privacy and security rules, including enforcement and GINA. If you are a part of the health care industry, it will no doubt affect your organization. Register now.     

SmartQuote

If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow." --William McFee, British-American writer