Computerized medical records are an integral part of the Affordable Care Act's effort to coordinate patient care and streamline costs. Implementing technology in place of paper systems is expected to make up for what health experts deem unnecessary and preventable errors including improper or incorrect medications and duplicate testing.

“The problem with EHRs in treating children is that children are not little adults. They have very specific needs,” says Erin Grace, Senior Manager for Health Information Technology with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Unfortunately, EHRs as currently designed may not fully take the needs of children’s healthcare into consideration. As Dr. Carolyn Clancy, the director of AHRQ, testified at a public hearing on health disparities in early June, “Overall, EHRs frequently lack the specification necessary to enable safe, quality care for children.”

For months, applicants who sought stimulus dollars to implement electronic health record projects have been in something of a holding pattern. They’ve been waiting for rules defining the so-called  “meaningful use” standards necessary for this funding. These rules were finally released the day before yesterday. They include 23 and 25 mandatory requirements (for hospitals and doctors, respectively) and 10 optional ones, of which providers must choose five.

In 2006, Vermont legislated statewide healthcare reform. As part of that effort, the state has been piloting electronic health records (EHR) and the health information exchanges to share EHR data among providers. Now, there’s a big chunk of money from the Recovery Act (and the subsequent health care bill) going to such efforts and it felt worthwhile to see what other states might learn from Vermont’s experiences to date.

Virginia is one of many states currently designing and implementing one of the health information exchanges (HIEs), funded by Recovery Act dollars, to share electronic health record data among providers. These will eventually become the building blocks of a national system. But don’t picture a handful of select state leaders sitting in a room and churning out solutions. “This is the world according to the constituents,” says Kim Barnes, the state’s director of Health IT.

Article on the Healthcare reform Forum: Transforming Healthcare through Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Article on the Healthcare reform: Transforming Healthcare throughCollaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Forum Introduction- Article on Healthcare reform : Transforming Healthcare through Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Healthcare remains one of the most pressing issues facing us today. The U.S. healthcare system continues down what most experts have concluded to be an unsustainable path, mired by ever-increasing costs, inconsistent quality, and access pressures. The U.S. spends over $2 trillion on medical care annually, which according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), represents about 2.4 times the average of other OECD countries.

Over the last few years, the importance of health informationtechnology (health IT) has grown. While there is broadrecognition of the promise of health IT, its success rests on