Morning Headlines 1/7/14

IMS Health files for potential billion-dollar offering

IMS Health, a health care data analysis and consulting firm that works primarily in the pharmaceutical industry, filed initial IPO paperwork Thursday. Analysts estimate that the company should raise between $500 million and $1 billion with the offering.

McKesson Introduces Paragon Ambulatory Care Practice Management Solution

McKesson extends its Paragon HCIS footprint into the ambulatory space with a new practice management solution that promises scheduling, billing, registration, patient education, and health maintenance support along with an enterprise-wide integrated database and a unified look and feel.

Usability of EHRs remains a priority for ONC

Jacob Reider, MD, acting national coordinator for health IT publishes a blogpost calling for a renewed emphasis on EHR usability, saying "But as a physician who has used an EHR in my clinical life since 2001, I worry that some of the usability challenges that we early adopters tolerated “for now” (a decade ago) remain unresolved."

Senators press for EHR interoperability

Senators John Thune (SD) and Mike Enzi (WY) added an amendment to the recently passed short term budget deal that calls for meaningful EHR interoperability to be achieved by 2017. A separate, more specific, amendment was also added that directs HHS to adopt a common interoperability standard by 2017, as part of the rules for Meaningful Use Stage 3.