One of the challenges in connecting the dots in patient identifiers is linking together all the fragments of health data about a given patient that is scattered widely across many different settings of care – is trying to match patient identities. The practice-internal ID number...

“Closing the loop” is a term that describes a well-functioning coordinated healthcare delivery system. It implies that clinical information flows easily during a medical referral – the referring clinician is able to let the recipient clinician know the pertinent information about the patient being referred,...

Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) has been an ongoing effort to identify best-practices for health care, based on clinical evidence. The AHRQ defines comparative effectiveness as research “designed to inform health-care decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness, benefits, and harms of different treatment options.”

Many clinicians who have now completed their 2011 EHR Incentive Program attestation may now, feeling a sigh of relief, believe that keeping track of privacy and security is done – that it was a one-time effort needed in order to comply with one of the...

As we head into 2012, the “hot topic” in EHR / Health IT circles is connectivity. A doctor’s EHR in the office is supposed to be able to connect with outside sources of patient data – reference laboratories, other clinicians using the same or different...