A Look Back at 2014

2014 was quite a year.   Thinking back to December 2013, I cannot believe that so much has happened.    Let’s take a look at the major HIT events that shaped 2014 and what they portend for 2015Affordable Care Act - despite challenges with healthcare.gov and state health insurance exchanges, the notion of moving forward with an open insurance marketplace and accountable care got traction.   The IT needed to meet the needs of the patient centered medical home, the ACO, and Care Management spawned a new type of software - the care management medical record.    Not many products exist and none are mature, but HIMSS was filled with promises of workflow engines, population health, and protocol driven care management tools.   2014 made it clear that the EHR is just a starting point and over time there will be a new generation of tools used by clinicians and non-clinician extenders to keep people healthy, not just record their encounters when they’re sick.   Hopefully we’ll see maturing products in 2015.Meaningful Use/Standards - 2014 was really the first year we could take a look back at the Meaningful Use program.    I think we can conclude that Meaningful Use Stage 1 was generally perceived as a positive step, laying the foundation for EHR adoption by hospitals and professionals.   Stage 2 was aspirational and a few of the provisions - Direct-based summary exchange and patient view/download/transmit required an ecosystem...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Technology Consultants Source Type: blogs