The following are April's 10 most popular health IT stories from Becker's Hospital Review, beginning with the most read.
1. 10 biggest technological advancements for healthcare in the last decade
The reach of technological innovation continues to grow, changing all industries as it evolves. In healthcare, technology is increasingly playing a role in almost all processes, from patient registration to data monitoring, from lab tests to self-care tools. Read more
2. 50 things to know about Epic, Cerner, MEDITECH, McKesson, athenahealth and other major EHR vendors
As the EHR market has matured, a once-crowded field of vendors has narrowed significantly. At the end of 2013, 10 EHR vendors accounted for about 90 percent of the hospital EHR market, based on meaningful use attestation data from CMS: Epic, MEDITECH, CPSI, Cerner, McKesson, Healthland, Siemens, Healthcare Management Systems, Allscripts and NextGen Healthcare. Here are 50 things to know. Read more
3. Epic vs. Cerner: 9 key comparisons
When one thinks of EHRs, the discussion often starts with Epic or Cerner. Hospitals often love or hate Epic or Cerner and they often defend the choice the system made or complain that their system made the wrong decision. Although the two healthcare IT vendors provide similar services, the two companies function very differently. Read more
4. Epic comes out in force, brings thousands to HIMSS
At first glance, most of the Epic representatives blended into the massive crowds at the HIMSS15 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. They traveled in groups of three or four, most dressed semi-casually as they chatted between booths. At closer examination, the exhibition center was packed with Epic employees — approximately 2,700 of them, including attendees and booth staff, according to HIMSS registration records. Cerner, its next largest competitor in the EHR market, brought only 377. Read more
5. HIMSS15 guidebook: What to expect from the year's biggest health IT event
HIMSS came to Chicago for its Annual Conference & Exhibition April 12 – 16. It is the biggest industry event of the year. Becker's Hospital Review highlighted some key ideas, topics and discussions that were to be held among the 35,000 IT professionals and more than 1,200 exhibitors. Read more
6. GE Healthcare to exit hospital EMR market
GE Healthcare has been phasing out its Centricity Enterprise product, the acute-care focused EMR. Read more
7. Electronic health records: The good, the bad and the ugly
With passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, electronic health records have been widely adopted across healthcare organizations large and small. While there are many benefits to EHRs — improved accessibility to patient data, increased charge capture and improved preventative health — there are inherent problems in adopting this technology. Read more
8. Opinion: Clinician objections to EHRs are 'bogus' rife with entitlement
Clinicians and healthcare providers have long voiced their opposition to federally mandated EHR requirements, with some even claiming that EHRs are more harmful than beneficial to patients. Paddy Padmanabhan, CEO of Damo Consulting, disagrees. Read more
9. Inside the Epic, IBM, Impact Advisors DOD EHR bid
Epic and IBM announced their intention to bid for the Department of Defense's Healthcare Management System Modernization contract last June and added Impact Advisors to the team shortly thereafter. The team announced the formation of an advisory group in January consisting of more than 17 executives from 13 healthcare organizations to provide pre-planning advice to the team on best practices throughout the bidding process and during the initial go-live phase if the IBM-Epic team is awarded the contract. Read more
10. Where are these 7 EHR vendors most popular?
EHR adoption is at an all-time high, and practices and hospitals that have yet to implement an EHR platform have a number of vendors to select from. The ONC released an application that allows users to view the percent of hospitals participating in meaningful use programs that are using a vendor's product in each state. Read more
More articles on health IT:
Senators reintroduce MEDTECH Act loosening FDA regulation on HIT software
Enabling veterans: Rush University Medical Center, IT vendors provide job training for returning vets
Study says patient portals may widen health disparities