Cerner Incorporates Genomics Into EMR Digital HealthCare & Productivity | Molecular diagnostics laboratories that are doing clinical genomics “try to fit a round peg into a square hole, especially when it comes to workflow,” says Mark Hoffman, director of translational medicine at Cerner, the Kansas City-based health-IT player which has been targeting this market since 2005. “They try to use systems that were designed for traditional pathology and shoehorn those into a very unique and contemporary workflow, going into contortions to do that within their information system, especially with infectious disease testing.”

E-Prescribing Vendors Talk Back Digital HealthCare & Productivity | A month ago, acting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Kerry Weems said that physicians can no longer use cost as an excuse for not switching to electronic prescribing. “The business case is turned around,” Weems said citing the affordability of the technology and reasonably small workflow changes it requires.

Kolodner et al. Remain Optimistic for Health 2.0 Digital HealthCare & Productivity | SAN FRANCISCO—In a session about online clinician social networks, moderator Enoch Choi remarked that more than half the companies that presented on a similar panel a year ago were no longer in business. And yet the Palo Alto, Calif., urgent care physician and medical project manager at online health community MedHelp.org, remained optimistic that user-generated health care has a bright future.