EHR Adoption Advice
Neurologists considering the purchase of an electronic health record product can get some practical tips in a new report from the American Academy of Neurology. AAN conducted a year-long study to evaluate the best EHR products for neurologists working in groups of 25 physicians or fewer. An AAN work group evaluated more than 70 vendors based on a number of factors, such as functionality, end-user satisfaction, the company's financial viability, and the total price tag including implementation and maintenance. Of the vendors evaluated, only seven met the criteria for a comprehensive EHR product. The AAN work group also researched EHR costs and estimated that vendor prices can vary from $1,000 to $50,000 per provider over a 3-year period. Neurologists should create a side-by-side comparison of vendor costs using a 3- to 5-year total cost of ownership of the system, the report recommends. The full EHR product report is available at
www.aan.com/professionals/patient/ehr.cfm
CDC Launches Autism Study
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are launching a multistate study aimed at pinpointing the risk factors for autism spectrum disorders. The $5.9 million study will include about 2,700 children aged 2–5 and their parents. The study will be conducted over 5 years and will look at possible associations with factors such as infections or abnormal responses to infections, genetic factors, the mother's reproductive history, family history of medical and developmental problems, and abnormal hormone function. “We hope this national study will help us learn more about the characteristics of children with [autism spectrum disorders], factors associated with developmental delays, and how genes and the environment may affect child development,” according to Dr. José F. Cordero, director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.
Alzheimer's Disease Research
The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, a consortium that includes sites in the United States and Canada, will spend $52 million over the next 6 years to test new drugs to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The consortium, which is coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the University of California, will also look into new methods of conducting dementia research. For example, the consortium will investigate whether intravenous immunoglobulin can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease and also will test whether home-based assessments can be used in primary prevention trials with older individuals. “We have learned a great deal from basic and observational research about how Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases develop,” Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, said in a statement. “The consortium's work will translate this knowledge in clinical trials of interventions that target the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease.”
McClellan Accepts Think Tank Post
Former Medicare Chief Mark B. McClellan has accepted a new post as a visiting senior fellow with the AEI (American Enterprise Institute)-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies in Washington. The new job will keep Dr. McClellan involved in health care policy issues. He also will remain as an associate professor of both economics and medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University. Dr. McClellan had been on leave from Stanford for several years while working in the federal government. Before taking the post as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. McClellan served from 2002 to 2004 as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. He also served as an economic and health care advisor to President Bush from 2001 to 2002.
NIH Adds Advisors
Officials at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have appointed six new members to its advisory panel of neurologic disorders and stroke. The new members of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council will review grant applications and advise the NIH. The members, who include patient advocates, scientists, and physicians, will serve through July 2010.