Editor's Note: Irv Lichtenwald is president and CEO of Medsphere Systems Corporation, the solution provider for the OpenVista electronic health record. Prior to joining Medsphere, he served as CFO of Advent Software, a leading provider of investment management solutions. Between 1995 and 2003, Irv led Advent through three public stock offerings.
Do we believe in something we can’t see?
The suggestion has been made that some vendors are actively engaged in “information
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Health IT | News, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
Epic CEO Judy Faulkner Pledges 99% of Wealth to Philanthropy
On Tuesday, Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Verona, Wis.-based Epic Systems announced plans to give away 99% of her wealth to philanthropy, Forbes report. Faulkner joins 136 other individuals and families in the Giving Pledge led by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will.
In her formal pledge letter Faulkner wrote, "Epic needs to be strong, successful, and
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Senate Health Committee Announce Health IT Bipartisan Hearings
Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced the start of a series of bipartisan hearings on possible solutions to achieve the promise of health IT. The senators announced that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will chair, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) will serve as ranking member, for the committee’s next hearing in the series, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will chair a subsequent hearing.
“Today’s hearing sets the table for
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Wellstar Breaks Off Merger Negotiations with Emory
Wellstar Health System announced it has ended merger negotiations with Emory Healthcare, Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. The proposed merger failed to fit into Wellstar’s “new strategic direction," according to Gary Miller, chairman of the system's board of trustees.
"WellStar has declined to enter the next stage of discussions with Emory University,” Miller said. “We respect Emory University as a leading, international academic medical center. WellStar will accelerate multiple horizontal
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Modernizing Medicine’s CEO Talks Revolutionizing EMRs through IBM Watson
When we think about electronic medical records (EMR), lots things come to mind including the hiccups and headaches that have come with the technology’s lack features and functionality over the years. But that’s all changing, according to Modernizing Medicine’s CEO Dan Cane; EMRs are evolving to better assist physicians in unprecedented ways.
Cane should know since he’s helping his Boca Raton, FL-based company lead the way in developing a new league of sophisticated EMR technology across a
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Ochsner Health Launches Healthgrades-powered Appt Scheduling for Epic EHR
Healthgrades and Ochsner Health System has announced the availability of online appointment scheduling, enabling consumers to book real-time, online appointments with Ochsner doctors who utilize the Epic EHR. Today, more than one million people a day use the Healthgrades websites to search, compare and connect with hospitals and physicians based on the most important measures when selecting a healthcare provider: experience, hospital quality and patient satisfaction.
Online Scheduling
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Steven J. Stack, M.D., Inaugurated as New President of AMA
Steven J. Stack, M.D., an emergency physician practicing in Lexington, Ky., has been sworn in as the 170th president of the American Medical Association (AMA). Stack is the first emergency physician to serve in the role and the organization’s youngest president in the last 160 years.
The newest president will focus his tenure on advancing the AMA’s three strategic areas: improving health outcomes for the 86 million Americans living with pre-diabetes and the 70 million with hypertension;
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Medsphere Closes $7.5M Venture Loan to Expand Open EHR
Medsphere, a provider of affordable and interoperable EHR solutions, has closed a $7.5 million venture loan from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a specialty finance company that provides capital in the form of secured loans to venture capital backed companies. The venture debt will use the funds for working capital purposes to grow their customer base and expand product offerings. Unlike traditional bank lending, venture debt is defined as a form of debt financing for venture
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AMA Policy Supports Medical Student Access to EHRs
Building on the AMA’s current efforts to transform medical education and ensure medical students are trained and prepared to practice in the evolving health care environment, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy today to ensure medical students receive necessary hands-on clinical experience using EHRs.
The new policy calls on the AMA to work with medical school accrediting bodies to encourage the nation’s medical schools, along with residency and fellowship training programs,
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CMS Chief Data Officer Recieves Health Data Liberators Award
Niall Brennan, Chief Data Officer and the Director of the Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics at the CMS has been announced as the recipient of this year's Health Data Liberators Award for his efforts to share CMS data in innovative ways to help improve the quality and value of care delivery. Chris Boone, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of HDC, and Charles Ornstein, presented the award in front of nearly 2,000 innovators, healthcare industry executives, policymakers, venture capitalists,
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