Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The healthcare IT world was roiled this week by an article in Health Affairs, which claimed that physician practices using electronic medical records (EMRs) had higher usage of medical imaging than those that didn't. The study undercuts one of the main arguments for healthcare IT -- that it reduces healthcare costs.
But not so fast, according to Dr. Farzad Mostashari, national coordinator of the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). In a blog posting, Dr. Mostashari pokes several holes in the Health Affairs study.
He has reason to be concerned. The U.S. government is prodding healthcare providers to make massive investments in healthcare IT through its "meaningful use" program. But there are still nagging concerns over whether a fully wired U.S. healthcare system will achieve the expected efficiencies to make the effort worthwhile.
Read what Dr. Mostashari had to say by clicking here, and for the original article, click here. For more coverage of everything that's going on in healthcare IT, visit our Healthcare IT Digital Community at healthcareit.auntminnie.com.
Rad therapy volume rebounds
In other news, the radiation therapy market is experiencing growth in procedure volume again after a couple down years. That's according to a new market research report in our Radiation Oncology Digital Community.
Market research firm IMV Medical Information Division analyzed procedure volume in the U.S. market and compared it to previous years, finding that the number of radiation procedures in 2010 bounced back to the same level recorded in 2007.
The report also includes a number of other findings, such as strong growth in the number of radiation treatments for breast cancer, strong growth in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), and increased penetration of CT simulation over x-ray-based simulation.
Read the article by clicking here, or visit the community at radiation.auntminnie.com.
Disclosure notice: AuntMinnie.com is owned by IMV, Ltd.
