This past year was a big one for health IT.
Among the growth in telehealth, mHealth, meaningful use progression, ICD-10 delays and one of the biggest healthcare data breaches, the healthcare industry had a lot to keep tabs on.
Here are the 10 most popular health IT stories from Becker's Hospital Review from the past year.
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
Billions have been poured into the transition to electronic health records. As of May, CMS has paid out a total of $14.6 billion in incentive payments to hospitals and health systems for the adoption and use of EHRs. These incentive payments, coupled with the looming threat of financial penalties for non-adopters and a need to better coordinate care have driven providers to rapidly adopt EHRs over the past few years. The EHR market is expected to reach $9.3 billion annually by the end of 2015. Read more
3. 26 of the smartest people in health IT
Technology is becoming a major force in the healthcare industry as providers scramble to not only meet government regulations but to provide the best care for their patients in the most efficient way possible. Here are 26 of the health IT industry's brightest leaders. Disclaimer: List selections were made through an editorial review process, and people could not pay to be included. The list is in alphabetical order. Read more
4. How some of America's largest companies are poised to shake up healthcare
Of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500, 14 are traditional healthcare organizations that have found continued success in a rapidly changing industry.
And 24 are new entrants into healthcare; mega-corporations poised to disrupt the $2.8 trillion healthcare industry, according to a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute. Read more
5. Missouri mom accused of violating HIPAA by taking son's photo is suing Mercy Hospital
The mother of a patient at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo., is suing the hospital for allegedly detaining her and claiming she violated HIPAA after she took a picture of her son during an appointment. Read more
6. Community Health Systems hacked, 4.5M patients' information compromised
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has reported a cyberattack affecting nearly 4.5 million people, according to an SEC regulatory filing issued by the health system. Read more
7. EHR workflow flaw caused Texas Health Dallas to initially miss Ebola diagnosis
When Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan first presented in the emergency department of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, he told a nurse he had traveled to Africa and she recorded that information in the hospital's EHR system — but that information was not displayed in the physician's EHR view, and Mr. Duncan was released. Read more
Note: Texas Health Resources backed off its original statement. Read the updated story here.
8. Cleveland Clinic, MedStar, others begin to monetize their innovation
Proprietary software developed by Pittsburgh-based UPMC uses available data to help physicians choose the lowest-cost option that produces a patient outcome equal to or better than the best outcome recorded in past case files. Physicians can then see their own results in comparison with results from their de-identified colleagues. The software cost UPMC an estimated $5 to $12 million to develop. However, the health system could recoup some of that outlay through its plan to sell the software to other providers. Read more
9. From "DOA" to Stage 6: Akron Children's IT turnaround
"Staffing, operations, project management — there was nothing there anyone could point to and call good. It was almost like you had an IT shop from the mid-1990s that somehow wandered into 2010."
So says current Akron (Ohio) Children's Hospital CIO Thomas Ogg of the state of the hospital's IT department when he took the helm four years ago. He was the fifth CIO the organization had had in five years, coming into a department an external consultant had called "DOA." Read more
10. 7 negative outcomes from EHR implementations
More than 90 percent of the country's hospitals have received an incentive payment for their adoption or use of an electronic health record system, and the EHR implementations are expected to continue: About half of hospitals with 200 or more beds plan on purchasing a new EHR system by 2016, according to a survey from KLAS. Read more
More articles on health IT:
257,000 clinicians face meaningful use penalties in 2015
10 latest headlines from health IT's biggest players
Healthcare's virtual scoreboard: Data-based physician reviews