As part of the discussions at eHealth week, Dr Farzad Montashari, National Coordinator for Health IT, US Department of Health and Human Services shared some thoughts about workforce training in eHealth. The stimulus package in the US provided $117m for workforce programmes and an evaluation of the impact will be available soon. However Dr Montashari has some interesting points to make.

The funding was spent in a number of areas:

Curricula development for 5 eHealth roles with…

Dr Farazad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health IT, US Department of Health and Human Services gave us an update on the state of play of eHealth in the US. Like the rides in Disney, which stipulate you must be "this tall" to play, he proudly announced that after 4 years of implementation of the HITECH act, the US had grown a bit and was now ready to play.

Dr Montashari…

I attended the EU-US Health IT Cooperative Assembly event during eHealth week 2013 in Dublin. There were some excellent presentations from Alex White from the Department of Health, Ireland, Karel de Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner, Dr Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health IT, US Department of Health, Peter Zilgalvis, Head of Unit, Health and Well-being, DG CNET, Enda Kenny, Taoiseach, Therese Murray, President of Massachhusetts Senate, Chandra Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary, US…

By Kim Phan, Program and Marketing Coordinator, The Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT2)

Health care enterprise content management (ECM) is beneficial to the health care industry and is the critical framework behind collection, storage, analytic tracking, reporting, and securing clinical data for electronic health records (EHR).  As we move through the stages of meaningful use, organizations…

Video from the UK Department of Health "Digital Challenge" project:

Drs Ken Roberts and Jim Granfortuna on problems with electronic health records (from a debate on whether EHRs enhance patient care and education or not, 5/5/2013):

The new SMART helmet

This is pretty smart - "SMART helmet is the world’s first smart cycling helmet which monitors your heart rate without using a chest strap" …

Two new jobs on the Health Informatics Forum jobs board this week:

• Education and Informatics Technical Advisor at IntraHealth International (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
• Health Informatics Coordinator at ATCIC (Austin, Texas)

See all the jobs here:…

By: Kim Phan, Program and Marketing Coordinator, The Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT²)

The …

Interesting piece on healthcare execs being reliant on IT now more than ever.  Read more here: http://ricoh.emailsrvc.net/track/dl/1394/Wave_2_Healthcare_final_WEB.pdf

Harvard researchers find a way to re-identity anonymous research patients – take a look at this: …

Let us know what you think about the recent findings from this study particularly the comment “All of us think that interns spend too much time behind the computer” ….…

Without comprehensive educational support for both doctors and patients, frustration, confusion and complaints will arise from what should be a positive step forward in healthcare”  - A survey of UK doctors suggests clinicians are far less positive about the idea of sharing information than the government might like:…

Interesting read if you’re wondering what might be in store:  http://jamia.bmj.com/content/early/2013/03/27/amiajnl-2012-001508.short?g=w_jamia_ahead_tab

There are approximately 1050 steps between the front door of our hospital to the side door of the attached Hospice facility.  Metaphorically speaking that is 1050 steps from hope to hopelessness for many.  It is so easy to look past the people who come through our…

GE and Microsoft launches Caradigm:  http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/EHI/8537/ge-and-microsoft-launch-caradigm-in-uk          

Dan West on Histalk has written a nice piece on improving UX in healthcare: http://histalk2.com/2013/04/15/readers-write-five-ways-to-improve-the-healthcare-user-experience/

Get involved in the  www.ehi.co.uk EPR debate:   http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/ehi/8517/take-part-in-the-big-epr-debate

Early bird registration is available until the 26th April for Medinfo 2013 World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics in Copenhagen: http://www.medinfo2013.dk/registration

eHealth Week will be held in Dublin from MAy 13-15 this year. It looks like a very exciting program, especially the mobile health symposium which is being hosted by HIMSS Europe. 

 “eHealth solutions are critical in the delivery of a world class health system and offer significant opportunities for stimulating economic growth” said Dr James Reilly TD, Minister for Health in Ireland."