Morning Headlines 4/17/13

GOP senators raise concerns with push for electronic medical records

Six Republican senators criticize HITECH, saying that EMRs are increasing healthcare spending, that the government lacks a sound interoperability plan, and that the adminsitration is more interested in pushing money out the door than achieving specific goals.

Bioinformatics experts join Cedars-Sinai to develop personalized treatments based on patients’ DNA

Zhenqiu Liu, PhD has joined Cedars-Sinai as the director of bioinformatics in the Department of Medicine’s Hematology/Oncology Division. Lui will be developing highly personalized treatment plans for patients by uncovering the way individual genes and gene sequences respond to specific therapies.

Impact of Providing Fee Data on Laboratory Test Ordering

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine concludes that presenting fee data to providers at the time of order entry resulted in a modest decrease in test ordering.

Apps4Tots Health Challenge 

ONC has launched a new challenge which calls for programmers to make use of the Healthdata.gov data API and TXT4Tots message library, a library of short, evidence-based messages focused on nutrition and physical activity, to create a new platform aimed at curbing pediatric health issues by educating caregivers.