In the wake of several executive orders on immigration, ICE—the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s immigration laws—has ramped up enforcement activities. As a result, local public school districts and health care providers in Massachusetts have asked the Attorney General about their rights and obligations with respect to the undocumented students and patients they serve. On May 22, 2017, the AG issued comprehensive guidance to answer their questions.… More
Tag Archives: electronic health record
New Study: Patient Privacy Rules Hamper Adoption of Electronic Medical Records
A recent article from Computerworld reports that, according to a new study conducted by researchers from MIT and the University of Virginia, "EMR [Electronic Medical Record] adoption is often slowest in states with strong regulations for safeguarding the privacy of medical records." According to the study, in states with "strong privacy laws", the number of hospitals using EMR systems is up to 30% lower than in states with "less stringent privacy requirements." … More
Lessons from the VA: what you can learn from someone else’s problems
For all their problems, Veterans Affairs medical centers across the country are at the vanguard of the implementation of electronic health records. As such, there is a lot to learn from the problems that the VA system has experienced in this area. According to an article in the March 4, 2009 Journal of the American Medical Association, the problems experienced by the VA include mixed-up patient names and missing medication orders. These types of problems are probably endemic in any EHR system.… More