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Stage 2 Meaningful Use Standards Could be Challenging for Providers
As of Dec. 31, 2011, 61 percent of hospitals and 33 percent of eligible healthcare providers had registered for the electronic health records incentive program through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. While a large number of hospitals and providers have signed up for the program, a recent study released by the Computer Services Corporation (CSC) shows that there are still significant barriers for organizations and providers to meet Stage 2 meaningful use requirements.
CMS was expected to release initial requirements for meeting Stage 2 meaningful use in December 2011, but that deadline has been postponed, and the final rule is due to be released in July 2012.
“Stage 1 accepts partial implementation of many required capabilities and sets a fairly low bar...
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Report Advises How To Cut Risks for ICD-10 Switch
The report, ICD-10 Transformation: Five Critical Risk Mitigation Strategies, approaches the coming ICD-10 implementation "in the context of the healthcare economy, competing federal mandates and limited resources," according to an accompanying statement. The five areas that the report focuses on are:
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More Than 19 Million Patient Records Affected by Breaches Since Fall 2009
The breach report, conducted by IT security auditing company RedSpin, analyzes the full data set of breaches as reported to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, Act took effect in 2009. “Ultimately, improvements in healthcare IT security must be measured by the reduction of the number of breach incidents and people impacted,” RedSpin says in the report.
In 2011, an average of 49,396 patient records were affected per breach – a whopping 80 percent increase from 2010. Since August 2009, nearly 19.2 million patient health records have been affected by breaches.
At least one large IT data breach incident – one involving more than 500 individuals – has been reported in 46 out of 50...
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Typical EHR System 'Falling Short Of Its Potential,' Say Researchers
This is the opinion of researchers from the University of Michigan Health System, who are calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to incentivize the data exchange between EHRs and immunization registries, according to an article from the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. As meaningful use requirements currently stand, physicians are incentivized to have their EHRs enabled to send information directly to immunization registries. However, there are no meaningful use incentives in place corresponding to a revere data share -- that is, the ability for EHRs to receive information and updates from immunization registries. This is a problem for the 100,000-plus practices that so far have signed up for the... more | ||
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Contest Challenges College Students to Engage Patients With Health IT
Open to all post-secondary college students, the “Innovate 4 Healthcare Challenge” is based on the idea that “health outcomes can be improved through more fully engaging patients with self-management of their health and with their healthcare professional,” according to the contest’s website. The goal of the contest is to derive a solution – a set of tools, processes and technologies coupled with a business strategy – that can benefit the patient through a stronger connection with the healthcare provider and deliver demonstrable improvements in patient metrics.
Solutions may include some or all of the following components:
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Study: E-Prescribing Boosts Medication Adherence, Slashes Spending
In collaboration with pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers, Surescripts analyzed millions of data sets to compare the rates of first-fill medication adherence, which is defined as new prescriptions picked up by a patient, among physicians who prescribed drugs electronically, in part or in full, vs. those who used traditional methods. Researchers found a consistent 10 percent increase in medication adherence, regardless of the percentage of prescriptions that individual physicians prescribed electronically. With the majority of physicians studied electronically prescribing approximately 40 percent of the time, the research suggests... more | ||
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New Tool Helps Providers Find EHR Software to Fit Their Needs
Before purchasing electronic health records software, you should keep several factors in mind including practice management features, supported architectures and certification status. To be eligible for EHR incentives through Medicare and Medicaid, your EHR software must be certified by an Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (OTC-ATCB), in accordance with criteria adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While an electronic medical record contains only a patient's medical information from one organization, electronic health records have inoperability, or the ability to integrate with other systems. EHRs consist of health information compiled from multiple healthcare organizations, which is why finding a robust system is important for a physician practice.
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FAQ Series: What About Seeing Patients at Non-EHR Enabled Sites?
Question: If an eligible professional (EP) sees a patient in a setting that does not have certified electronic health record (EHR) technology but enters all of the patient's information into certified EHR technology at another practice location, can the patient be counted in the numerators and denominators of meaningful use measures for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs?
Yes, an EP may include patients seen in locations without certified EHR technology in the numerators and denominators of meaningful use measures if the patients' information is entered into certified EHR technology at another practice location.
However, EPs should be aware that it is unlikely that they will be able to include such patients in the...
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Bipartisan Policy Center: Barriers Still Remain for EHRs, Health IT Adoption
Headed by Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Bill Frist, R-Tenn., former Republican Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota and former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, the task force made recommendations ranging from realigning incentives and payments to support higher quality, more cost-effective care to increasing the use of electronic health records and health information exchange to improve care coordination by enabling doctors, hospitals, and patients to securely share health information when patients receive their care in multiple settings.
In its report, the task force highlighted several gaps in and barriers to achieving broader health IT adoption:
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FAQ Series: How To Provide a 'Clinical Summary' Under Meaningful Use
Well, it's time to give your head a rest and scratch no more -- this article denotes the first in a line of frequently asked questions that physicians ponder as they immerse themselves and their practices deeper and deeper into the wide world of electronic health information. As gleaned from official CMS correspondence, we begin with a closer look at what it means to obtain a "clinical summary" in order to meet one of many meaningful use requirements. FAQ: What information must an eligible professional provide in order to meet the measure of the meaningful use objective for "provide a clinical summary for patients for each office visit" under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive... more | ||
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Keys to EMR/EHR Success, 2nd Edition
This breakthrough book will help you minimize the costs, confusion and risks of choosing and implementing an EHR system. Get your copy today! |
Michael West, MD, PhD
