News

AHRQ Health IT News and Events
News and Events from the National Resource Center for Health Information Technology

National Web Conference on Privacy and Security Solutions for Interoperable Health Information Exchange: Phase II
Hear a report on the progress of the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative (HISPC), funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Health IT Tools Available In One Place
AHRQ and its community of contractors and grantees have developed tools to help health care organizations plan for, implement and evaluate health information technology (health IT). These tools are made available in one place on the AHRQ Health IT Web site - Health IT Tools. http://healthit.ahrq.gov/tools
Health IT Implementation Stories: AHRQ-Supported Telewound Care Networks Aims To Speed the Healing Process
An AHRQ-supported project is helping patients in rural Oklahoma get faster and more efficient treatment for chronic wounds through a web-based telecare network that links nursing home aides, home health workers, and other providers to wound care and other specialists.
Literacy Guide for Health Information Technology
New AHRQ guide helps developers and purchasers of health information technology (IT) reach adults with limited literacy. Limited literacy can be a barrier to making the benefits of health IT widely available to consumers. The guide, which includes a checklist, presents design principles and strategies to increase consumer accessibility to health IT.
A National Web Conference on the Results and Impact of Electronic Prescribing (e-RX) Use
The five participating sites of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) e-RX pilot evaluation have monitored and assessed the impact of e-RX in a variety of clinical settings. In this third Web conference on the MMA pilot projects, a panel of experts convened by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will present findings related to provider use and adoption, workflow, and the downstream effects of e-RX use.
AHRQ Awards New Ambulatory Safety and Quality Grants
In September 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded more than fifty grants to improve ambulatory quality and safety in the United States. The opportunity to turn the potential of health information technology (IT) towards improving safety and quality in the ambulatory care setting, especially within care transitions, forms the cornerstone of AHRQ's Ambulatory Safety and Quality (ASQ) Program.
Health IT Implementation Stories: AHRQ IT Project Helps Bridge Distance for Native Americans Seeking Health Care
For Native Americans in California, getting medical treatment at a nearby clinic or hospital can be difficult. But a new project to use electronic health records could help bridge the distance and provide better care for patients.
Health IT Implementation Stories: HANDS Care Plan Tool Seeks to Improve Nurse Communication at Handoff in AHRQ-Funded Study
An AHRQ-supported project is testing whether a standardized, computerized tool can help nurses document patient care better and communicate more effectively at handoff. So far, the new tool - called HANDS - has proved extremely useful for documenting care. The next step: using HANDS to guide communication at handoff.
The "Final Look" at How Privacy and Security Policies and Practices May Affect Health Data Exchange Efforts.
A joint Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC)-funded project with RTI International has produced a synthesis on variations in business practices, policies, and State laws related to privacy and security that impede electronic health data exchange. Three reports capture the highlights from 34 subcontracted State teams, summarizing the major crosscutting themes raised during the State teams' discussions. Also included is a nationwide summary that expands the issues raised and discusses the broader implications of the project, offering suggestions for federal and State government action to facilitate nationwide electronic health information exchange.
A Toolkit for Assessing HIE Business Practices
Assessing the variation in organization-level business practices enables regions, States, and territories to identify the practices, policies, and laws that may present barriers to interoperable health information exchange (HIE). This knowledge allow stakeholders to identify and propose practical solutions to barriers while preserving privacy and security, and it enables them to develop detailed plans for implementing solutions. A new toolkit, developed as part of the joint Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC)-funded project with RTI International, provides a set of tools and resources for those wishing to conduct such an analysis in their region, State, or territory.
A National Web Conference on Computerized Provider Order Entry: Lessons Learned from the Trenches
A recent article published online as a PrePrint in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association addressed the extent to which hospitals experience unintended consequences during and following computerized provider order entry (CPOE) implementation. Joan S. Ash, Ph.D., the principal author of this article, will lead a discussion with an explanation of the various types of unintended consequences identified in her study and their importance.
Events: A National Web Conference on Electronic Prescribing (e-RX) and the Medicare Modernization Act e-RX Pilot Evaluation
This teleconference is the first in a series of four on e-RX and the e-RX pilot evaluation and its findings. Rochelle Woolley and Kevin Johnson will provide an overview of e-RX and discuss its value and potential impact, current state of adoption, and barriers to adoption. The speakers will also introduce the e-RX pilot evaluation, of which the standards, outcomes, and impact analysis will be discussed in detail in the subsequent three teleconferences of this series.
Health IT Implementation Stories: AHRQ-Funded Study Explore the Value of Health Information to Communities
What's the value of health information to a community? Potentially, a great deal, in terms of both quality and cost. The trick, though, is not to share too much information too fast. That's just one of several lessons learned from this AHRQ-funded project.
Health IT Implementation Stories: Michigan Electronic Medical Records Project Provides Lessons Learned for Data Exchange
Ten critical access hospitals in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are working together to create a regional health information network that will allow for the communication of patient data with physicians. The network is designed to solve a major barrier to improving the quality care in a place where access to advanced health care services can be difficult.
AHRQ's State and Regional Demonstration Projects
Get detailed, up-to-date information on AHRQ’s State and Regional Demonstration (SRD) projects, which are creating regional networks for health information exchange among providers, laboratories, payers, and public health departments. How are the projects structured? What technologies are they using to achieve their goals? Find answers to these questions and more in this new section of the Web site.
Events:A National Web conference on the Role of HIE in Helping Providers Assess Their Performance on the AQA Starter Set
In a major step toward improving the quality of the U.S. health care system, a broad-based coalition of health care agencies and organizations--the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance (AQA)--selected a "starter set" of 26 clinical performance measures for the ambulatory care setting. The starter set of measures is intended to provide clinicians, consumers, and purchasers with a set of quality indicators that may be used for quality improvement, public reporting, and pay-for-performance programs.
Get a “First Look” at How Privacy and Security Policies and Practices May Affect Health Data Exchange Efforts
A joint Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC)-funded project with RTI International has produced a nationwide summary and synthesis on variations in business practices, policies, and state laws related to privacy and security that impede electronic health data exchange. The summary report captures the highlights from 34 subcontracted State teams and presents some of the major crosscutting themes raised.
Improving Health Care, Improving Lives: AHRQ 2007 Annual Conference
This year's AHRQ Annual Meeting agenda will include a plenary and concurrent sessions on a variety of topics related to improving the quality of health care in the U.S. Health IT programming is scheduled for Wednesday September 26th and Thursday September 27th. AHRQ asks that you plan on attending for these two days and encourages you to attend the meeting for all three days. Sessions will be offered in the following areas: Privacy, Security, Data Sharing and the Public Trust; Medication Management and Safety; Value and Sustainability; Improving Health Care Decision making; Patient Safety and Quality; and System Design and Organizational Change.
Call for Papers: Health Services Research Theme Issue on Health Care Efficiency and Value
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the AHRQ National Resource Center for Health Information Technology invite submissions to the first Theme Issue of Health Services Research (HSR). This first theme is titled “Improving Efficiency and Value in Health Care.” Learn more about the theme and how to respond to this Open Call for papers
Health IT Implementation Stories: AHRQ Project Seeks To Cure What Ails Electronic Health Records
Can IT-based tools expand the value of electronic health records by providing both clinical decision support and population-based performance feedback to clinicians? This AHRQ project, which seeks to improve health care safety and quality, aims to find out.
Reports: Evaluation of E-Prescribing Pilot Projects Funded by AHRQ and CMS
What’s the outlook on e-prescribing standards? An evaluation report compiled by AHRQ and the National Resource Center for Congress summarizes and synthesizes findings across pilot projects funded to test such standards. The projects were funded by AHRQ and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Events: A National Web Conference on Privacy and Security Solutions for Interoperable Health Information Exchange
Learn about the preliminary findings from the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration, a project funded through an AHRQ contract with RTI International. You’ll hear about variations in business policies and practices, as well as state laws related to privacy and security, that electronic health information exchange.
Reports: AHRQ Conference on Health Care Data Collection and Reporting
More than 50 leaders from private and public health care organizations convened by AHRQ discussed opportunities for creating and adopting within five years a core set of broad standards and rules for health care data collection, aggregation, and reporting of performance data. Such standards could provide solutions to an array of data collection issues, including variations in measures across various quality reporting and performance measurement systems, duplications of effort, increased expense, and lost opportunities.
Health IT Implementation Stories: Telemedicine Project Connects, Kids, Doctors for Better Care
This AHRQ funded project in Rochester, N.Y., is using telemedicine to connect child care centers and elementary schools to physician offices. Among the results so far: a 63 percent reduction in absences from child care due to illness.
Funding Opportunity: FCC Launches Rural Health Care Pilot Program to Create Nationwide Broadband Network for Improving Health Care
The Federal Communications Commission has expanded eligibility in its new rural health care pilot program to include connections to National LambdaRail, Inc. (NLR), in addition to Internet2. NLR is a non-profit backbone provider that, like Internet2, serves government research and academic institutions, as well as public and private health care institutions. To give applicants time to consider this change, the Commission also extended the deadline for applications to the program by 30 days. The new deadline will be 60 days after the Commission receives approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the program’s information collection requirements. OMB is reviewing these requirements. The FCC will issue a Public Notice upon OMB approval, which will be posted at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/rural/rhcp.html. .
Health IT Implementation Stories: PROJECT ECHO - Bringing Specialty Care to Rural New Mexico
In the remote towns and sparsely populated counties of New Mexico, specialized care for chronic diseases has always been difficult, if not impossible, to get. But over the past three years, a project funded by AHRQ has started delivering state-of-the-art care via the Internet to those who need it most: rural, low-income, often uninsured patients.
Tools: AHRQ NRC Evaluation Toolkit
Check out the third edition of the AHRQ National Resource Center’s Health Information Technology Toolkit. Here you’ll get step-by-step guidance to develop evaluation plans for your health IT projects. Download it now.
Events: A National Web conference on the First Consulting Group Inpatient and Ambulatory CPOE Assessment Tool
Trying to make computerized physician order entry (CPOE) work? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the First Consulting Group Inpatient and Ambulatory CPOE Assessment Tool. This year, the Leapfrog Group will release self-assessment tools for hospitals, physician practices, and medical groups that evaluate clinical decision support (CDS) as a component of CPOE in hospitals and electronic medical records in ambulatory settings. These tools will give you feedback on the extent to which the application you’re using leverages CDS tools to improve medication safety and to provide public reporting on use.
Emerging Lessons: Electronic Health Records
Strategies for implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems and getting users to adopt and use technology to transform care delivery processes. Learn more by clicking here.
Tools: Ambulatory EHR Time and Motion Tool
Partners Healthcare has developed a tool to help health IT implementers accurately capture time and motion study data to evaluate the impact of health IT on workflow. Also featured are two AHRQ-funded time-motion studies of health IT implementations.
Emerging Lessons: Policy Issues in HIE
New resources are available for States and communities seeking to address challenging policy issues in establishing health information exchanges (HIEs), including the Connecting for Health Common Framework.
AHRQ Funded Projects: RTI Privacy and Security Project
An integral part of AHRQ’s work on policy challenges is the Privacy and Security Solutions for Interoperable Health Information Exchange contract with RTI International. Find out more about the new Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) by clicking here.
Reports: AHRQ Laboratory Exchange Meeting
Communities across the Nation are developing health information exchange (HIE) initiatives to improve quality of care. To address this issue, AHRQ convened a two-day meeting of representatives from major HIE initiatives, clinical laboratories, vendors, and other stakeholders to discuss barriers and identify methods for accelerating widespread access to laboratory information in ambulatory care settings. Find out more about their ideas and conclusions.