EHRs

Cerner is rolling out various policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including remote work and prohibiting "non critical" employee travel, according to a March 15 company blog post.

Allscripts on March 12 announced its "full support" of HHS' final interoperability rules, which were released earlier this week.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Epic is implementing work-from-home policies and canceling its annual Experts Group Meeting in Verona, Wis., next month. However, the EHR giant will continue to send employees on "essential" business trips.

Six former ONC leaders congratulated HHS on the final interoperability rules, which dropped March 9, and outlined several critical features of the regulations.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' recent decision to further delay its Cerner EHR go-live indicates that the agency's feedback and review process is working, according to former VA secretary Anthony Principi.

As COVID-19, the infection caused by the novel coronavirus, continues to spread across the U.S., hospital and health systems' EHRs will be tested by evolving workflows, data demands and cyber threats, according to Erich Huang, MD, and Eric Perakslis, PhD.

United Community Family Services is implementing a $1.8 million Epic EHR, which will allow the Norwich, Conn.-based medical center to access health information from other Connecticut providers such as Hartford Hospital and Yale New-Haven Hospital, The Bulletin reports.

Despite increasing levels of electronic availability of patient medical records from outside sources, most hospitals still use physical methods such as mail and fax to share patient health information, according to ONC data.

Salesforce recently launched several new capabilities for its healthcare cloud platform, according to a March 9 news release.

Four of the top vendors hospitals use to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program are Allscripts, Cerner, Epic and Meditech, according to 2018 ONC data.