Back for one last post in 2005

Where have I been? For most of November and the first half of December, I was neck-deep in what amounts to the first book I have ever written, the January-February issue of Doctor’s Digest. I wrote more than 30,000 words on the topic of technology in practice. It should be out in a couple of weeks.

In mid-December, I was in Orlando for the annual Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference on patient safety, where I was pleasantly surprised to see a much greater presence of IT interests than a year ago. Click here to read my commentary that appeared in Health-IT World.

For 2006, we’re going to see some long-awaited standards for electronic health records, as well as the first EHR certification program in the U.S. Those things are known. What is not known is whether someone will come up with an equitable way of financing technology investments, especially for small physician practices, and if anyone will solve the data-ownership issues currently plaguing RHIO development.

I’ll be watching these developments closely. I trust you will, as well.

Happy 2006.