LAS VEGAS—For the first time in more than a decade, staffing shortages overtook concerns over lack of adequate financial support as the No. 1 barrier to implementing IT in this year’s 23rd annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) leadership survey. The results, released Feb. 21 at HIMSS12, include the input of 302 healthcare IT professionals who represent more than 600 U.S. hospitals.

Every second counts—at least in emergency medicine. This year, HealthGrades has reported 263 hospitals performed in the top 5 percent nationwide in terms of superior emergency care.

LAS VEGAS—Amidst the evolving timeline for a transition to ICD-10, the prospect of postponement is a plus, Robert S. Gold, MD, CEO of DCBA in Atlanta, said during a Feb. 20 session focused on documentation improvement at the 2012 Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference.

LAS VEGAS—A drive toward more clinical decision support (CDS) is “intensifying and consolidating," said Dean F. Sittig, PhD, professor at the University of Texas School of Biomedical Informatics in Houston, who served as the moderator of a clinical decision support panel discussion at the 2012 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference on Feb. 20.

LAS VEGAS—The change in payment from the government and private payors has already forced thousands of providers to convert to a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, and providers need to forsake the concept of owning the entire care continuum, said Paul Grundy, MD, MPH, president of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, and director of healthcare transformation at IBM, during a Feb. 20 presentation at the 2012 CIO Forum.