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Written by Kaitlyn Dmyterko
ATLANTA--The government's plan for meaningful use with EHR implementations are helpful but might not be entirely feasible, said Michael J. Mirro, MD, of Fort Wayne Cardiology in Indiana, during a discussion of the pros and pitfalls of EHR adoption yesterday at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.
Written by James Tcheng, MD
In December 2009, CMS released a proposed rule that aims to change the practice of medicine. This rule, if finalized, will codify a $17.2 billion dollar program that provides large financial incentives to practices that adopt EHRs. The finalization of this program represents an unprecedented commitment to health IT and to transitioning physician practices from paper to EHRs.
Written by Neil Versel
A common misconception about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 is that the U.S. government will write checks to thousands of physician practices to purchase EHRs. The reality is that practices will have to acquire, install and then demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs before applying for Medicare or Medicaid incentive payments—meaning the practices will either have to front the money or find a lender.
EHR provider NextGen Healthcare Information Systems has begun its NextGen Certified Health IT Consultant Program, in order to provide NextGen certification training to the health IT consulting community and to regional extension centers on NextGen EHR, NextGen EPM and ancillary modules.
Written by Gina Narcisi
The 2009 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards report, released Dec. 14, found that the highest-performing software market segment was enterprise scheduling and the lowest was ambulatory EMR. In professional services, the highest-performing market segment was planning & assessment and the lowest was IT outsourcing.
The Certification Commission for Healthcare IT (CCHIT) has formally responded to the recommendations presented June 16 by the Meaningful Use Workgroup to the HIT Policy Committee, and expressed concerns about time windows required under the current proposed definition.
Members of the Health IT Standards Committee, established to advise the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), said it would create three work groups to pursue that agenda in the areas of clinical operations, clinical quality and privacy and security.
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Sunday, March 14, 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
As part of a four-hour practice administrator’s program, Cathleen D. Biga will deliver a lecture titled: “Emerging into 2010, Preparing for 2011: EMR Stimulus and Meaningful Use Criteria/Quality Initiative.” The title is a mouthful but Biga is known for her practice management skills and she will no doubt deliver the goods.
The administration of President Barack Obama is requesting $911 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in its 2011 federal budget proposal, with an additional $110 million requested for continued health IT efforts.
As part of the effort to make the meaningful use proposal process transparent, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the ongoing comments submitted on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s interim final rule and notice of proposed rulemaking on an open-access Web site.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) are encouraging public comment on the two regulations issued Dec. 30 that lay a foundation for meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The regulations will help implement the EHR incentive programs enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Written by Randy Bardwell
As the definition of “meaningful use” begins to solidify, it becomes apparent that there is also a need to define more innovative methods of managing the mountains of clinical data collected every day. Resources are pinched, reimbursements are a challenge and the added responsibility of outcomes measurement shines an especially bright light on the cardiovascular service line as it is often the primary revenue generator for the hospital.
The ultimate goal of an EHR that exemplifies meaningful use is to enable significant and measurable improvements in public health through a transformed healthcare delivery system, according to the Meaningful Use Work Group, which presented its first recommendations today on the evolving definition to the Health IT Policy Committee.
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Middle age introduces itself in many ways; one is atrial fibrillation (AF). My onset of AF seems to have coincided with a mountain bike accident in the woods of North Carolina that resulted in some cracked ribs.
The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).