With the wide array of health IT products on the market, determining what's essential technology can be difficult. Shahid Shah, enterprise software analyst and creator of the blog The Healthcare IT Guy, suggests the five technologies every hospital should be using.

Usability: the concept is often at the root of slow adoption of EMR systems, and rightfully so. Although effective training and implementation methods affect user adoption rates as well, poor usability has a strong impact on productivity, error rate and user satisfaction.

Six technologies, whose impact has been measured by hospitals, can improve workflow and communication for nurses while boosting patient care, according to analysts.

From unproven mobile platforms to legacy EHRs, some healthcare IT should just be avoided. Shahid Shah follows his list of <a href="http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/5-technologies-every-hospital-should-be-using">"5 technologies every hospital should be using"</a> with five IT practices to avoid at all costs.

They say the early bird gets the worm. In this case, 69,099 worms (or ICD-10 diagnostic codes) warrant an ahead-of-the-game approach to transition. Melanie Endicott gives us five tips for ICD-10 success.

The emphasis placed on health IT team performance has increased as the industry undergoes landmark changes. Here are nine ways to support your health IT team and ensure not only their success, but also the success of your entire organization.

A new platform created specifically to boost healthcare IT innovation is now available to the public, kicking off a $5,000 competition that challenges developers to create Web applications for patients, physicians and public health.

President Barack Obama asked Congress for $76.8 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services Thursday in a fiscal year 2010 federal budget outline.

A survey sponsored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Dell has found that the data centers of small and medium-sized hospitals in North America, Europe, and China are not prepared for the "wave of data" that will soon be inundating them.

Few procedures in the hospital cause more consternation for clinicians than passwords. In some facilities, employees need a literal scorecard to keep track of which complex alphanumeric log-on sequence they need for which application. It can number in the dozens for some.

Information technology research and advisory company Gartner, Inc. has released its second annual Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25, which identifies organizations striving for supply chain excellence and better patient care.

With a new app tailored for iPads and iPhones, patients at one of the nation's leading nonprofit health systems now have access to their health records anytime, anywhere.

It's noble and potentially cost-efficient, but embracing the "go green" trend isn't simple. Jerry Buchanan of eMids Technologies shares five powerful green IT practices for healthcare.

Once representing a niche market of specialty applications, virtual reality (VR) has been integrated into a broad portfolio of healthcare activities, including clinical IT systems, operating rooms, schools of medicine, and treatment programs for returning U.S. soldiers, according to Kalorama Information's recent report Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare in the U.S.

Experts from 28 of the nation's leading health systems have developed an industry standard information management capability roadmap for coordinating accountable care, Premier Healthcare Alliance announced Friday.

Those RHIOS and HIES that need a push to gain some much-needed traction should seek help from those whom have traveled down the road a piece.

While stubbornly high unemployment continues to drag on the rest of the economy, the healthcare industry can’t seem to find enough qualified people to fill its information technology needs. Unlike other sectors where hiring remains muted, health systems are crying out for talent in IT, information management and coding, employment specialists say.

Stage 3 of the EMR Adoption Model, devised by HIMSS Analytics, to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems, is growing very quickly, said Mike Davis, executive vice president. Hospitals a...

In a move that will add comprehensive government program patient eligibility and enrollment services to its existing revenue cycle management suite, Emdeon has announced it will acquire Atlanta-based Chamberlin Edmonds & Associates, which serves more than 200 acute care facilities in 30 states.

Three of the nation's top hospital companies and two major hospital systems - together representing more than 400 hospitals across the country - have invested in the Heritage Healthcare Innovation Fund L.P., a venture fund focused on investments in businesses that improve the delivery of healthcare services. The partners will make individual investments of up to $10 million in new businesses.