Information technology
As wearables in the workplace spread, so do legal concerns | Wall Street JournalMany employers are incorporating wearable devices like Fitbits and Apple Watches into workplace wellness, as tools to track employee activity and health habits. But the legal and ethical implications of employers having and using such data are murky.
New York to discard prescription pads, and doctors' handwriting, in digital shift | New York Times
On March 27, providers in the state of New York will move to entirely electronic prescribing. The shift is the second phase of the state's 2012 I-Stop legislation to curb prescription drug abuse and fraud. The first phase established a statewide electronic prescription database.
Physicians
SOS: Puerto Rico is losing doctors, leaving patients stranded | NPRA decade-long recession and lower-than-mainland Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates are driving physicians, nurses and other health workers from the island. That's leaving hospitals and clinics understaffed and creating long waiting lists to see providers.
Safety, quality and clinical practice
Overlapping surgeries to face U.S. Senate inquiry | Boston GlobeThe chairman of a powerful U.S. Senate committee has asked 20 hospital systems, including the parent company of Massachusetts General Hospital, to provide detailed records about the controversial practice of allowing surgeons to operate on more than one patient at a time.
Report highlights errors caused by copying, pasting in medical records | Houston Chronicle
The vast majority of physicians surveyed--89%--admitted they often copy and paste patient notes in electronic health records, according to a report from advocacy group Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety. The practice can raise risk of patient harms like missed diagnoses or the introduction of errors into patient records, the group warns.
