We recently published this guideline at BIDMC based on the input from a multi-disciplinary working group.   I thought it might be useful to share with the community, since many healthcare organizations are at the early stage developing social media policies. 1.  Why do consumers interact with an organization’s social site? In general, there is […]

By John D. Halamka, MD As reimbursement evolves from fee for service to alternative payment models, incentives will shift from treating sickness to keeping the population healthy.   New investments will be made in technologies for Antibody Elisa Research that reach into the home and enhance care team communication. Read more at the MyBiosource website. […]

By John D. Halamka, MD, originally published in May 2016. In 2011 and 2012 I wrote about the increasing problem of Business Spam – unsolicited, unconsented advertising that has grown in volume to the point that it constitutes more than half of my email .    In 2016, I’ve done an experiment – I’ve not […]

By John D. Halamka, MD, posted June 14, 2016 Earlier this week, the American Medical Association CEO called digital healthcare products modern-day “snake oil” As a provider and a technologist, I think we need a deeper dive to understand the issues, avoiding the kind of hyperbole that’s so common in politics today. Paul B. Batalden, […]

By John D. Halamka, MD In my 20 years as a CIO, my expertise has evolved to include infrastructure provisioning, software architecture, strategic planning, mobile application advocacy and cloud procurement.   However, in recent years, my focus has been guided by privacy and security risk mitigation. I’ve learned a great deal responding to incidents, educating […]

As I have written about previously, CIOs across the country are telling me that expectations for IT delivery are at an all time high.    More must be delivered faster, cheaper, and with greater usability. After a recent EHR rollout, a number of clinicians told me they were disappointed with the project.  I asked them […]

By John D. Halamka, MD ONC recently released the 2016 Standards Advisory.  I think this document is more important than Meaningful Use or Certification in accelerating interoperability.  Why? Many view Meaningful Use as no longer aligned with the work we need to do for population health, care management, and alternative payment models.   The more […]

By John D. Halamka, MD Sometimes an article inspires and resonates with me. Such was the case two weeks ago when I read about an alternative to the Peter Principle, that suggests you are promoted to your level of misery, not your level of incompetence. However, incompetence still exists. We’re reminded in the press on […]

By John D. Halamka, MD All the members of the ONC Federal Advisory Committees met in Washington to review delivery system reform and the Interoperability Roadmap. We began the meeting with a thank you to Jodi Daniel, who will be leaving ONC after 10 years of service. Elizabeth Holland presented a data update on the […]

By John D. Halamka, MD One of my most memorable experiences as an IT leader was working with with a dissatisfied customer.   I asked what requirements were unmet, what features were priorities, and what future state was desired.   The answer was “I’m not sure, but I know I’m not getting what I need”. […]

By John D. Halamka, MD I took my first job at age 13, building model planes and skateboards at Palos Verdes Hobby Shop. Over the past 40 years, I’ve reported to over a dozen people.   Some were inspirational and charismatic.   Others were more task delegation oriented.   Some were problem solvers.  Others shunned […]