- California: The California Legislature rejected a bill (AB 186) that would have made the state the first to legalize safe drug injection sites—but proponents of the measure are hopeful it will be revisited next session, given the bill failed by just two votes and many lawmakers were absent for the vote. Under AB 186, Alameda, Humboldt, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Joaquin counties would have been allowed to approve facilities designed specifically for drug use (Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, 9/18).
- Indiana: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) has named Kristina Box, an ob-gyn, as the state's health commissioner. Box, who will assume the post Oct. 16, succeeds Jerome Adams, a physician who left the position to serve as U.S. surgeon general under President Trump. Box has been an ob-gyn with Community Health Network for over 30 years (AP/Sacramento Bee, 9/18).
- New York: The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has chosen NYU-Langone as a recipient of the 2017 HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award. The award honors hospitals and health systems for "excellence in health information technology," with a focus on those that have used their technology to improve patient outcomes. Officials at NYU Langone cited its paperless registration project—which shifted the registration process to tablets, saving patients an estimated 800 days in registration time—as a factor behind its success (Kim Cohen, Becker's Hospital Review, 9/18).
Why the EHR life cycle is just like raising a child
A successful EHR system requires budget, resources, and planning—not only before it goes live, but after as well.
In fact, the process of implementing, deploying, maintaining, and optimizing an EHR system is similar to that of raising a child—each stage of the process requiring a unique subset of people to ensure its success. Learn more about the seven stages of the EHR life cycle in this infographic.