Now that medical professionals finally know who will be taking the reins from Dr. Farzad Mostashari as the National Coordinator of Health IT, another important question looms. What challenges can this successor expect to face in 2014?

As we reported previously on this blog, Dr. Karen DeSalvo — current Health Commissioner and Senior Health Policy Advisor to New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu — will be taking over as National Coordinator on January 13, and has already garnered the endorsement of industry associations including  the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). 

So, what will be DeSalvo's first order of business once she officially takes her place at the ONC? EHR Intelligence notes that the new appointee "will barely have time to unpack her pencils and shake hands with her new colleagues on January 13 before having to dive into the thorny issues facing the healthcare industry in 2014."

Two key quandaries come to mind: The imminent onset of ICD-10 and meaningful use stage 2. We've discussed the ramifications of these changes both within the scope of chiropractic EHR and beyond. While it's clear that they stand to improve patient care dramatically, physicians across the country will likely experience some growing pains – particularly if their chiropractic EMR software isn't up to snuff. 

In addition to these challenges, DeSalvo will be tasked with delineating the guidelines for meaningful use stage 3 and generally trumpeting the cause of health care IT adoption and the exchange of medical records via digitized documents, with a substantial focus on the concept and enforcement of interoperability and usability. Much of this work may well be focused on simply educating physicians about the benefits of EHR and dispelling some of the unwarranted but understandable skepticism expressed by physicians of all specialties. 

The New Year is fast approaching, and if you've been hesitant to introduce chiropractic EHR in your practice, there is no time like the present to start exploring your options.