Edition Forty-Eight (7/7/10)
  
More I.T. Outreach
Needed: eHealth Initiative
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 7/2/10
Electronic health care initiatives have made headway over
the last several years, but HIT remains an undervalued
tool, a new report concludes. The National Progress
Report on eHealth, 2010 found significant progress
in health I.T. has been made over the past three years.
CHIME Analysis
Indicates Continuing EHR Certification
Healthcare IT
News, 7/1/10
CHIME'S analysis of the government's final rule on EHR
certification concludes that certification criteria will
change, necessitating the ongoing need to certify health
I.T. products for the foreseeable future. The permanent
certification program will replace the temporary program
as soon as Dec. 31, 2011, however, the analysis by CHIME
indicates certification criteria will continue to change.
ONC Now Taking EHR
Certifier Applications
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 7/1/10
The application window is now open for organizations
seeking government recognition as testing and
certification bodies for EHR systems eligible for
reimbursement under ARRA. So far, ONC has received about
40 inquiries regarding applications and had 14 requests
for applications, Carol Bean, an ONC standards
harmonization analyst, reported to a meeting of the
federally chartered Health Information Technology
Standards Committee.
Finances, EHRs Top
Member Concerns: MGMA
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 6/30/10
Rising operating costs, managing finances, and selecting
EHR systems are the top three challenges facing group
practice managers, the Medical Group Management
Association (MGMA) concluded in an annual survey of its
members. The MGMA said the results reflect the struggles
practices face in safeguarding their financial solvency
in a shaky economy.
ONC to Explain EHR
Certification Rule
Health Data
Management,
6/29/10
ONC will hold a series of conference calls to provide an
overview of the final rule to establish a temporary
certification program for EHRs. Specific one-hour calls
are set up for potential testing and certification
entities, EHR developers and vendors, providers who have
developed in-house systems, and other providers.
CIOs: We Won't Meet
Meaningful Use in Time
Health Data
Management,
6/29/10
A survey of 120 hospital CIOs finds only half believe
their organization will meet the first set of EHR
Meaningful Use criteria in time to get incentive payments
in 2011, and a full 80 percent worry about being able to
meet expanded criteria in 2015. Later stage criteria
which is worrisome includes using advanced decision
support, providing and populating PHRs, and improving
health outcomes through data exchange with outside
organizations.
ONC Advisors Tackle
Data Exchange
Health Data
Management,
6/28/10
The HIT Policy Committee has recommended ONC encourage
the use of models for exchanging personal health
information which do not expose any unencrypted PHI.
These models include direct exchange from message
originator to message recipient, or exchange using an
intermediary which only performs routing services and has
no access to PHI.
CMS to Integrate PQRI,
Meaningful Use
Health Data
Management,
6/28/10
The Affordable Care Act requires CMS to develop a plan by
Jan. 1, 2012 to move toward integrating the reporting
measures under the electronic Physician Quality Reporting
Initiative and the EHR Meaningful Use incentive program.
In a proposed rule setting payment policies under the
Medicare Part B physician payment fee schedule for
calendar year 2011, CMS starts the steps toward such
integration.
Kirkland: EHR Systems
are Important, But...
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required 6/28/10
Ronald Kirkland, Congressional candidate and former
chairman of the American Medical Group Association,
denounced the stimulus law's subsidies to help physicians
buy EHR systems and vowed to return any such subsidy,
should he receive one.
Health I.T. 'Tiger
Team' to Host Privacy-Tech Demo
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 6/23/10
A new federal advisory work group has scheduled a public
demonstration of new technologies designed to protect the
privacy and security of identifiable patient information.
The event is being run under the auspices of the
federally chartered Health I.T. Policy Committee's new
Privacy & Security Tiger Team, which has temporarily
replaced two earlier advisory panels working to set the
national agenda on HIT privacy and security.
Survey: CMIOs Expect
to Struggle with CPOE, Confusing Rules in ARRA
Fierce Health
IT, 6/21/10
Many CMIOs believe more federal funding will be needed to
assure the HITECH portion of the ARRA achieves its goals
of improving the quality of care while reducing medical
expenditures, according to a new survey. In a nationwide survey of 212 CMIOs, CMIO
Magazine reports 27 percent of respondents believe
achieving the required usage level of CPOE will be their
No. 1 challenge in meeting the goals of HITECH.
New CMS Site Offers
Info on EHR Incentives
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 6/21/10
In an effort to help providers navigate new HIT
requirements and qualify for Meaningful Use payments, the
CMS has launched a Web site detailing information about
its EHR system incentive programs, which are scheduled to
launch in 2011. Specifically, the site includes
clarification of terms such as “eligible
professional” and “certification,” both of
which appear in provisions of HITECH. In addition, users
can download fact sheets on proposed program requirements
and the proposed definition of Meaningful Use.
No Honeymoon for EHR
Certifiers
Health Data
Management,
6/21/10
The temporary EHR certification program being developed
this summer likely will be in existence for only about 18
months, but certifiers could get busy in a hurry. ONC
estimates approximately 93 commercial and open source
Complete EHRs, and 50 EHR Modules, need to be tested and
certified under the temporary program, according to the
final rule setting up the program.
Health Plans Consider
Adding Meaningful Use Criteria in Physician Contracts
American
Medical News,
6/21/10
As the government enters the final stages of defining
what it means for physicians to achieve Meaningful Use of
EHRs, it appears the financial implications for not
meeting the definition are likely to affect more than
Medicare pay. Private insurers are latching onto the
government's Meaningful Use definition to bolster their
own efforts to promote EMR use and possibly impose their
own financial penalties for nonuse among contracted
physicians, according to the author of a new study
looking at the challenges physicians face with meeting
Meaningful Use.
Provisions of the EHR
Certification Rule
Health Data
Management,
6/21/10
The new final rule establishing a temporary government-run
program for certifying EHRs becomes effective on June 24,
which is also the first day organizations can apply to
become an Authorized Testing and Certification Body, with
the goal to have such entities operational this summer
and certifying their first EHRs in the fall, according to
ONC. The final rule is the first of three coordinated
final rules, authorized under the HITECH Act. Expected
soon are final rules to establish the Medicare and
Medicaid incentive programs, including criteria for
achieving and demonstrating Meaningful Use; and adoption
of pertinent HIT standards and EHR certification criteria.
Gov. Parkinson
Creates Nonprofit to Aid Statewide Health Exchange
Wichita
Business Journal, 7/1/10
Gov. Mark Parkinson has established a nonprofit
organization to facilitate the Kansas Health Information
Exchange. to oversee the distribution of EHRs and ensure
patients’ privacy is protected. The latest step in
the state’s push to implement a health care delivery
system will allows providers to share information
electronically.
ACLU Sues Over Rhode
Island HIE
CMIO, 6/30/10
Claiming not enough has been done to protect the
privacy rights of patients, the Rhode Island chapter of
the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the
R.I. Department of Health, challenging the rules the
agency has adopted to implement a centralized database of
patient health care records in the state for its
statewide HIE. The HIE, established by legislation
approved by the R.I. General Assembly in 2008, will allow
medical personnel to routinely access a patient’s
entire medical file, including mental health records and
other sensitive medical information.
Building Health Info
Exchanges in the Heartland
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required 6/25/10
As shown by recent developments in Michigan and Minnesota,
activity in the world of HIEs is proceeding apace as
providers across the industry prepare to meet federal
mandates while attempting to realize the full benefits of
the free exchange of patient clinical data. In Michigan,
five health systems have banded together to form Michigan
Health Connect, and the Minnesota HIE is conducting a
pilot program with the state's Aging Services department
to exchange patient data on senior citizens.
Indiana Seeks Health
I.T. Proposals
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required 6/24/10
Indiana Health Information Technology is looking for help
spending a $10.3 million federal grant aimed at expanding
HIE. According to the RFP, projects should support four
"pillars" of the effort: they should let
providers link to existing HIT organizations, develop
infrastructure or standards which support
interoperability, improve clinical outcomes, and use HIE
to meet other state and federal initiatives.
HHS Studies Quality,
EHR Use at Safety Net Clinics
Government
Health IT,
6/23/10
HHS awarded George Washington University a $1 million
contract to study various health care reimbursement
incentive schemes used by large government and commercial
payers. HHS wants to find out whether similar incentive
might be successfully applied to improve the quality of
care delivered by safety net providers.
HIE Launches Regional
Extension Center
Health Data
Management,
6/23/10
HealthBridge, an HIE serving the greater Cincinnati
region, also now serves in partnership with other
organizations as a REC after receiving $9.7 million
federal grant authorized under the HITECH Act. The
organizations have launched the Tri-State Regional
Extension Center to serve southwestern Ohio, northern
Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana.
Connected Care Rural
'Telehealth' Project Launches
Denver
Business Journal, 6/22/10
The Connected Care network, linking Coloradans to urban
Front Range doctors via advanced teleconferencing, is
going into action after nearly a year in the planning
stage. Insurer UnitedHealthcare and hospital system
Centura Health officially will launch the system at four
rural facilities and three Front Range hospitals—St.
Anthony Central Hospital, Littleton Adventist Hospital,
and St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center.
3 Ways Health-Care
Reform will Impact Government I.T.
Government
Technology,
7/1/10
States are beginning to confront the technology
implications of federal health care reform. At first
blush, the new health care law holds big risks and
equally big opportunities for state governments, which
will shoulder most of the burden of implementing these
sweeping changes.
CMS OKs Updated e-Script
Standard
Health Data
Management,
6/29/10
CMS has approved the use of an updated standard for e-Prescribing
under the Medicare Part D drug benefit program.
Clinicians now can use version 10.6 of the National
Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT Standard to
prescribe electronically.
CDC Pilot Uses EHRs
to Trigger Alerts
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required 6/23/10
The CDC is running a public health pilot program in the
Chicago area in which 10 providers on the same EHR system
are supplying information which could be used to trigger
alerts on food-borne diseases. CDC officials said such a
system could eventually be used to monitor and provide
real-time public health information on a national level
for outbreaks of diseases such as H1N1 flu.
Orszag Played Key
Role in Health Care Debate
Modern
Healthcare,
subscription required, 6/22/10
If he resigns, Peter Orszag, director of the White House
Office of Management and Budget, will have made his mark
in reshaping the U.S. health care delivery system. News
reports have indicated the 41-year-old Orszag may step
down from his post in the coming months.
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