We are really excited to ring in 2021!
2020 was ... well, a lot for many people. Obviously, there were highs and lows just as there are every year. However, there's no mistaking the overarching influence COVID broadly had on people, the economy and, more specifically, our healthcare IT community. (What should have been The Year of the Final Rule instead became The Year of COVID.)
We still mourn with those whose lives the virus and its fallout have impacted. At the same time, we are heartened by the speed with which scientists were able to develop a vaccine that already has started to make its way across the country.
And in our healthcare IT space, we are hopeful that some of the lessons learned in 2020 will carry forward: that we do need to implement the ONC's Final Rule; that telehealth has its place in the spectrum of care delivery; that care coordination (including the consideration of social determinants of health) is a necessity and not a luxury; and that standards-based interoperability is the way forward for the best patient outcomes without overwhelming caregivers.
Cheers to a happy, healthy 2021!
