For my birthday: Just what the doctor ordered

Today is my birthday, and I'm moving into a new demographic: 55 - 64. So my birthday wishes are for something big. Not a Lamborghini; not supermodel Amazon Eve, but not a nice necktie, either.

Nope; rather: Just what the doctor ordered. That's what I want. I greatly respect doctors' judgment, so I want us to be able to know clearly what their orders are, via prompt printed doctor's orders after ambulatory visits. That was the subject of my five-minute radio segment on WBUR's Radio Boston yesterday; you can hear it here. It was also the subject of my blog post yesterday on WBUR's CommonHealth blog.

Wish #1: Sign the petition to Federal rulemakers, since they've asked for comments now.
Wish #2: Spread the petition widely to your friends.
Wish #3: If you don't agree with the idea, but feel compelled to give me a gift, make a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research in honor of my father, the late great Paul Farbstein.

See another blog post on why we should get health care information as good as our dogs get.

The window for public comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC HIT) about Stage 2, and implicitly, Stage 3, of the definitions of "meaningful use" of electronic health records by doctors who are "eligible providers" for Federal incentive payments is open until May 7.