Yelling "fire" in a crowded theater is one way to start a riot. Yelling "free candy" at the concession stand is another. The chaos is just as disruptive.
Hence the potential for the mother of all chocolate messes as health care providers stampede to gobble up billions of dollars in federal sweeteners cooked up to promote greater use of health IT. "Federal officials are forcing health care systems to roll out disjointed technology just so they can qualify for federal reimbursements," writes Lucas Mearin, for Computerworld.
In a 4,000-word, two-part essay, Mearin and a collection of experts conclude that "the quality of e-health systems might be at risk because of unrealistic deadlines and confusion ... [that] sacrifice quality ... [and] lead to administrative complications, formatting problems, errors and interoperability glitches."
If Mearin is correct, sugar rushes and rushed IT both result in debilitating crashes.
John Pulley
John Pulley has written the Health IT Update blog since May 2011. Prior to becoming a regular contributor to Nextgov, he covered technology for Federal Computer Week and Government Health IT magazines. He has written about government for Federal Times and Air Force Times, as well. Pulley has worked in journalism for more than 20 years. He began his career covering local government for regional newspapers. In addition, he served as a writer and senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education for seven years. In 2006, he founded The Pulley Group, an editorial services agency.
Addressing the 3 Biggest BYOD Security Threats
Mobile Apps: New Ways to Connect Government with Citizens
Continuous Monitoring As a Service: A Shift in the Way Government Does Business
sponsored
3 Ways Data is Improving DoD Performance
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.