Morning Headlines 4/17/15

Jonathan Bush on MU: A big joke that is actively unproductive

Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush calls the Meaningful Use program a big, fat joke and says of interoperability that the word has bee “beat up so bad, I don’t know if anyone knows what it means anymore. “ He goes on,, “preventing patients from getting their information is borderline immoral.”

Telehealth dropped from 21st Century Cures bill, sources say

The House committee responsible for drafting the 21st Century Cures bill has reportedly removed language that would have mandated that Medicare pay for telehealth services.

Healthcare Data Breaches Increasing, Require Action

Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research say that 29 million medical records were exposed in data breaches between 2010-2013, and given the rapid expansion of EHRs in healthcare, the incidents were likely to increase.  

The Combined Effect of the Electronic Health Record and Hospitalist Care on Length of Stay

Researchers find that the the increase in hospitalist programs has had a more significant effect on reducing length of stay for patients than the increased use of EHRs, but that the combined effect of the two were also substantial.