Comments on: ‘Gold rush’ for medical e-records firms seeking stimulus funds

By: Jim Williams, MD

Jim Williams, MD — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:05:15 +0000

The vendors are selling crap HIT devices that have not been approved by the FDA. Taxpayers’ dollars are being wasted worse than in the UK.

The suckers who buy this stuff will have nothing but heart ache. The FDA site MAUDE reports multiple deaths called in to it, even though no one has informed the doctor and nurse users to file complaints there.

Laffel presented an interesting infomercial.

DON’T BUY DEVICES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE FDA.

Send in complaints to the FDA MedWatch on line using form 3500.

By: 5 stimulus programs to watchdog now : BusinessJournalism.org Reynolds Center for Business Journalism

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:54:49 +0000

[...] information technology. The stimulus contains money for medical electronic records: $2 billion for regional extension centers, $27 billion for hundreds of thousands of doctors’ offic…for comparative-effectiveness research on various treatments, according to Fred Schulte of the [...]

By: Linda Austin

Linda Austin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:39:21 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Dr. Laffel. Looks like you and your blog offer another perspective on what is and is going to be a big local story.

By: Glenn Laffel, MD, PhD

Glenn Laffel, MD, PhD — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:12:32 +0000

It sounds like Mr. Schulte did a great job summarizing the issues, and I agree with Ms. Austin that there are/will be a ton of local angles and great stories as the national effort to roll-out HIT unfolds in the upcoming 1-2 years.

I would add that a great local angle is the impact that electronic health records have on the practice of medicine…physicians have great stories to tell about how the EHR improved their workflows and efficiencies, improved the quality of care they can provide, improved communication with their patients, etc.

There’s also an angle concerning the financial impact of EHRs on small practices. Traditional EHR systems can be quite expensive, but newer, Web-based EHRs are dramatically cheaper (indeed, ours is free), so more practices can afford them.

We’ve got tons of physicians that would be willing to share their views on these matters with you. We also publish a somewhat edgy, but always informative blog on the subject, at ehrbloggers.com, for those who are looking to get an in-depth understanding of this space.

Please reach out to us. We can help you find some great angles and locally appealing stories!

Glenn Laffel, MD, PhD
Sr. VP Clinical Affairs
Practice Fusion EMR