Healthcare IT NewsHealthcare IT News
TwitterFacebookLinkedInHealthcareITNews International
  • Home
  • Topics
    • ARRA/Stimulus
    • Business Intelligence
    • Claims Processing
    • Data Warehousing
    • EDIS
    • Election 2012
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Enterprise Content Management
    • Enterprise Resource Planning
    • ePrescribing
    • Financial/Revenue Cycle Management
    • Health Information Exchange (HIE)
    • ICD-10
    • Mobile/Wireless
    • Network Infrastructure
    • Policy and Legislation
    • Privacy and Security
    • Quality and Safety
    • RIS and PACS
    • RTLS
    • Telehealth
    • Workforce Management
  • Issues
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • On Demand Webinars
  • White Papers
  • Blog
  • Events
  • HIMSS JobMine
  • RSS
  • Press Releases
  • Slideshows
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Supplements
  • Survey Analyses
  • Newsletters
  • Advertise
  • Login
  • Register
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • Newspaper
    • Email Newsletter
Home » News
Receive News By Email

  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • RSS Icon
  

Grassley inquires about hospitals’ IT experiences

January 21, 2010 | Mike Miliard, Managing Editor

Suggested Content

  • Senators aim to make Medicare claims data public
  • GOP puts heat on Obama's 'costly' Medicare fraud-fighting technology
  • Two Senate bills to encourage healthcare IT adoption
  • HHS awards privacy, security contracts
  • Proposed legislation would implement quality reporting system for physicians
  • 'Obamacare' a lightning rod, but what about health IT?
  • NQF endorses resource use measures
  • ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions
  • NPP releases case studies, tracking progress toward health improvement goals

WASHINGTON – Close on the heels of a letter sent to several IT infrastructure companies this past fall, in which he investigated “complaints and/or concerns” he’d received about electronic medical records, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has issued another missive to 31 American hospitals.

In his letter, Grassley asks those providers 11 detailed questions about their experiences so far with the purchasing and implementation of healthcare IT.

With $19 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earmarked for medical information technology, Grassley writes that he has “a special responsibility to protect the health of the [IT] programs’ more than 100 million beneficiaries as well as the congressionally authorized tax dollars used to fund” them.

Grassley cites reports he’s heard about “difficulties and challenges associated with HIT implementation,” including “administrative complications,” “formatting and usability issues,” “computer errors stemming from the programs themselves,” and problems with “interoperability between programs.”

More specifically, he raises concerns that “when [providers] report such problems to their facilities and/or the product vendors, their concerns are sometimes ignored or dismissed.” Often, he writes, “this is attributed to alleged ‘gag orders’ or non-disclosure clauses in the HIT contract that prohibit health care providers and their facilities from sharing information outside of their facilities regarding product defects and other HIT product-related concerns.”

Questioning the “lack of a national system for reporting product errors or failures and adverse events associated with the use of such products,” Grassley makes clear in his letter that his mandate as a senator is to ensure that patients are treated safely and that tax dollars are “appropriately spent on effective and interoperable HIT systems.”

The list of 31 providers Grassley contacted is on the next page.

  • 1
  • 2
  • next ›
  • last »
Related Topics:
  • Charles Grassley
  • Iowa
  • Mike Miliard
  • Washington

Reader Comments (0)Login to Post a Comment

Most Popular

Latest Headlines
Most Popular
  • 10 most outlandish kinds of ICD-10 codes
  • 5 stages of EHR maturity and patient collaboration
  • 5 simple ways to realize ROI from your EHR
  • 'Obamacare' a lightning rod, but what about health IT?
  • Remote health monitoring pegged at 3 million users by 2016
  • H.I.T. Men and Women to pick up awards at HIMSS12
  • University challenge targets NCDs with mHealth and social media
  • Indiana health exchange taps AT&T to scale up
  • eHealth Initiative releases recommendations for accountable care
  • One surgeon's take on need for culture change in medicine

WEBINARS AND WHITE PAPERS

  • WHITE PAPERS
    Winning the EHR Battle with Enterprise Content Management
  • WHITE PAPERS
    The Scarborough Hospital: Establishing a Document Management Strategy for EHRs
  • WHITE PAPERS
    Sharp HealthCare: Growing Content Management into an Enterprise Strategy
  • ON DEMAND WEBINARS
    The Value of Document and Content Management in Healthcare Transformation
  • ON DEMAND WEBINARS
    Case Study: Sentara Healthcare Completes an Award-Winning EHR with Enterprise Content Management
More Resources
Syndicate content

HIMSS JOBMINE

  • Director, Sales - HIMSS - Arlington, VA
  • Program Analyst - Mathematica Policy Research - Princeton, NJ
  • Oracle Implementation Analyst - Virginia Mason Medical Center - Seattle, WA
  • Web and Custom Development Manager - Virginia Mason Medical Center - Seattle, Washington
  • Epic Analyst/Builder - Vitalize Consulting Solutions - Nationwide
more jobs

Marketplace

Follow Healthcare IT News on TwitterFan Healthcare IT News on FacebookJoin Healthcare IT News on LinkedInRSS Subscriptions
Digital EditionBlogEvents
JobsMobile SiteMobile App
 
Healthcare Finance News Government Health IT EHRWatch Healthcare Payer News HITECHWatch ICD10Watch mHIMSS PhysBizTech NHINWatch
©2012 MedTech Media Healthcare IT News is a publication of MedTech Media
Subscribe Advertise About Us Privacy Policy