Enjoy our first episode of Medical Economics Weekly above. In this episode we talk about EHR adoption, talks between Cerner and McKesson, CMS' proposed rule to abandon obsolete regulations, and more. Below are links to articles mentioned in the episode as well as the Tweet of the Week. For questions or suggestions on Medical Economics Weekly, please email bglenn@advanstar.com or kstout@advanstar.com. And subscribe to our YouTube channel here, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook to get more Medical Economics Weekly.

Family physicians lead the way on EHR adoption

Family physicians lead all specialities in adoption of electronic health records according to data from the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) and the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS).

Cerner, McKesson cooperating for HIE, interoperability's sake?

Industry leaders in electronic health records products, Cerner and McKesson, are in discussions to make their EHR patient data exchange interoperable.

CMS proposes abandoning obsolete regulations, saving $700 million annually

According to a new rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), abandoning obsolete regulations could save $700 million annually.

Should Doctors and Patients Be Facebook Friends?

Explores instances of doctors finding roles for social media in their practices as well as the results of a survey about patients sending friend requests on Facebook to their physicians.

Physician groups applaud new legislation to repeal SGR

Health costs have been rising faster than Medicare rates would under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), so Congress keeps passing temporary patches to fill that funding gap rather than reworking the SGR entirely or dropping it.

Social media, online access creating a 'perfect storm' in healthcare

"Patient-centered healthcare, social media and the internet are beginning to come together, with powerful and unpredictable consequences…they have the potential to create a major shift in how patients and healthcare organizations connect."

Physician pooling, care diversion: Answers to PCP shortage?

A new study reveals that greater use of non-physicians in primary care and increased adoption of healthcare technology could eliminate any physician shortage completely.

Watson supercomputer offers medical expertise

The Watson supercomputer, famous for beating the best human Jeopardy players a few years ago, is now being offered commercially to doctors and health insurance companies. IBM has made two applications available already.

Tweet of the Week

@medeconomics Neither corrects the undervalued payment to PCPs which has eroded our primary care physician base; our historic diagnosticians

- Robert T Bailey, MD (@robertbaileymd) February 7, 2013