MEDITECH - Home Care Portal

		2012 Message from Brian Doyle Thank you for another great year! In 2011, MEDITECH welcomed over twenty existing and new customer Home Care 6.x agreements and this year, we are looking forward to even greater growth and success as an industry-leading, integrated Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendor. After acquiring our long-time ambulatory partner LSS, MEDITECH now serves the full healthcare spectrum. This positions us favorably as an EHR vendor because we are able to offer a unified solution to all care providers so they can deliver the highest level of quality patient-centered care. As providers prepare for Meaningful Use and as new healthcare models such as medical homes and accountable care organizations begin to emerge, it's clear MEDITECH expanded it's mission at the right time. That said, Home Care plays a vital role in the patient care spectrum and I continue to be encouraged by our prospects and the positive shift in perception that is taking place in the industry today. The growing elderly patient population prefers to receive care at home than elsewhere. Legislators are realizing services rendered in the home are more economical and can produce higher quality outcomes. Our healthcare delivery systems are now witnessing the value home care has in eliminating unnecessary re-hospitalizations and emergent care visits. With this in mind, MEDITECH is pioneering a brand-new chapter in the evolution of patient-centric care. We are working to extend our EHR to include improved transitional care features, a reduction of redundant documentation practices, improved patient experiences, and the ability to promote our clients’ service offerings. MEDITECH will continue to design, develop, implement, and support technology that aligns with the progression of patient, provider, and payer models. I am optimistic and confident that as a company, we will continue our advancements in healthcare technology with home care playing a pivotal role in our future. These are exciting times for us. In the next two weeks, I'll be sharing even more news about MEDITECH's Home Care initiatives. Sincerely, Brian Doyle, Home Care Director

		Register for MEDITECH's Maestro Clinical Standards Seminar Don't miss MEDITECH's upcoming Maestro Clinical Standards Seminar! The seminar will be held Tuesday, March 3rd through Thursday, March 8th at our Atlanta Facility. Similar to our inSync seminars, this seminar is a unique educational opportunity designed to provide participants with the information they need to develop a well-tailored, easy to implement, comprehensive set of standardized protocols. Click here for seminar details and register today! If you have any questions, contact your Applications Specialist.

		You Had Me at HIMSS MEDITECH is returning to HIMSS and we hope to see you there! In this video, Jay Frails, senior marketing support representative, will share details about the latest Nursing and Home Care enhancements and functionality we will be showcasing at our booth. ::more::

		Registration is Open for MEDITECH's Nurse Conference: Leadership, Informatics, and Home Care Early registration is now open for MEDITECH's Nurse Conference: Leadership, Informatics, and Home Care! As a nurse executive, informaticist, or home care professional, this conference is designed specifically for you. Learn the importance of collaboration and how to maximize your MEDITECH system to positively impact all aspects of care delivery. Take advantage of our speaker presentations, networking opportunities, and three distinct audience-specific educational track sessions and reserve your seat by registering today! Stay tuned for a complete listing of our main program and breakout sessions.

		MEDITECH is delighted to announce the following sites have recently joined our Home Care community: Pennock Homecare and Hospice (Hastings, MI) United Hospital District Hospice (Blue Earth, MN) Concerned Care (Montevideo, MN) Boone County Home Care Services (Boone, IA) Fitzgibbon Home Health and Mary Montgomery Hospice (Marshall, MO) Congratulations to the following MEDITECH customers who are advancing to our 6.0 Home Care solution: Pardee Home Health (Hendersonville, NC) Augusta Home Health and Hospice of the Shenandoah (Fishersville, VA) Wilson Home Health and Hospice (Sidney, OH)

		New Seminars Available: Learn More About Your System! Start the New Year off in the right direction and attend MEDITECH's home care seminars at our Atlanta, GA facility. Don't miss out on our newest educational program, designed to review and refresh you on different aspects of your system. The first seminar, held in October—inSync Billing Basics—proved to be very popular and received excellent reviews from attendees. Customers especially enjoyed the one-on-one time during breakout sessions, and found the comprehensive review of the system to be well worth their time and money. Our next seminar, inSync Admissions and Scheduling Basics, is on February 14-16 in Atlanta. We will cover additional aspects of Business Manager not previously addressed within the Billing Basics session, such as the basics of Admissions, proper dictionary setup within Scheduling, and MIS advisory functionality and background jobs. Daily breakout sessions will enable you to spend one-on-one time with a specialist for more detailed discussion of training topics. Additionally, we will conduct an operational assessment for your agency related to the Admission, Scheduling, and MIS products and discuss the results. Take advantage of this opportunity, register, and check out the detailed seminar agenda! In case you missed it! We're holding another inSync Billing Basics Seminar March 20–22, covering basic billing concepts for the the Business Manager Billing/Accounts Receivable (B/AR) product, such as billing terminology and dictionaries, proper billing for daily operations, system flow and advisories, important B/AR reports, and handling changes with patient accounts. One-on-one breakout sessions include a billing operational assessment run-through, as well as a discussion regarding any outstanding agency concerns. Check out the agenda for more information, and sign up! We hope to see you there!

		MEDITECH Brings a New EHR Mission to HIMSS See our new products, talk with our clinical outreach team, and learn about our direction for 2012! MEDITECH returns to HIMSS to introduce our expanded mission as the EHR vendor for new healthcare! Join us at Booth #774—our new, 40 x 40 conference space with 16 stations—where you can view demonstrations of our latest EHR offerings. To highlight the mobility of our technology, we'll be showing a number of solutions on mobile devices, including: our new web-based ambulatory EHR, the Patient and Consumer Health Portal, physician tools, and physician rounding. During the week, customers can take the opportunity to attend our education sessions and meet our physician team. In addition, you can hear firsthand from customers who have successfully attested for Meaningful Use Stage 1. Finally, mix and mingle with other MEDITECH customers and staff at our Customer Appreciation Event—located on the private, rooftop terrace of PURE at Caesars Palace, on Wednesday, February 22, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Check out our HIMSS webpage for more information.

		Whidbey Brings It Home Whidbey Island Public Hospital District Selects MEDITECH for Home Care and Electronic Health Record System Whidbey Island Public Hospital District (Coupeville, WA) has chosen to implement MEDITECH's Home Care solution, in conjunction with MEDITECH's electronic health record system throughout their General Hospital and clinics, to facilitate more efficient, high-quality patient care. Whidbey General Hospital has provided home health and hospice services to the Whidbey Island community since 1982, admitting around 600 patients annually. The integration between the Home Care and EHR system is part of the organization's effort to support the full continuum of care—both within and outside of the hospital walls. Whidbey aims to eventually have a 100% paperless environment, with all documentation and ordering being performed electronically. For more information about Whidbey's selection of MEDITECH, please see the hospital's recent news article.

		MEDITECH Announces Two Executive Promotions MEDITECH is pleased to announce the promotions of Chris Anschuetz to senior vice president of technology, and Scott Radner to vice president of advanced technology. The promotions reflect the achievements and abilities of two of MEDITECH's strongest technology leaders. "Expanding our executive leadership in the areas of technical and systems development allows our customers to remain at the forefront of technology," says Howard Messing, president and CEO of MEDITECH. "I am thrilled to recognize both Chris and Scott with these new and expanded executive positions. These promotions represent the latest direction our company is taking to help shape the future of health care technology and to ensure our customers' continued success." ::more::

		Save the Date for MEDITECH's 2012 Nurse Leader and Home Care Conference June 6-8, 2012 Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel Quincy, Massachusetts It's never too early to start planning, so mark your calendars now for MEDITECH's 2012 Nurse Leader and Home Care Conference! Please plan on joining us from Wednesday, June 6th through Friday, June 8th at the beautiful Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel. Conference details and registration information will be posted on www.meditech.com and on MEDITECH's Nurse and Home Care Portals in the coming months. Stay tuned! In the meantime, if you have any questions, contact Senior Program Coordinator Sharon Collins by email at smcollins@meditech.com or at 781-774-5387.

		Did You Know About MEDITECH's Quarterly inSync Question & Answer Service Calls? Did you know MEDITECH has recently initiated new quarterly Question & Answer conference calls with inSync customers? These calls provide a great opportunity for our home care customers to engage in open dialogue with MEDITECH staff, and are designed using the same format as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Open Door Forums. Our last Q&A session included 37 customer participants, who were able to send in questions ahead of time to be discussed on the call. Each session is one hour long, allowing time for MEDITECH to offer general company announcements and updates--including information on new support documents, upcoming seminars, and various regulatory issues. Frequently asked questions and common software issues are also addressed during the discussion time. MEDITECH's service department is sending an email invite to all inSync customers for future Q&A calls, and we hope you will join us for these useful support events! Please contact your service representative for more information or suggestions.

		HIPAA 5010 Compliance Date is Approaching Fast! As you all know, all covered entities are required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to start using the Version 5010 format for electronic transactions by January 1, 2012. MEDITECH encourages our customers to participate in National 5010 Testing Week, scheduled for August 22 - 26, 2011, to test sending claims. To assist with this preparation, please see the details of Maestro's 5010 release (Priority Pack 2.2.04), and our Getting Started flyer, which outlines testing set up instructions (both customer password protected). Keep an eye out for more 5010 information published on this Portal over the next few weeks!

		Did You Know About MEDITECH's 6.0 Home Care Billing/Accounts Receivable Reimbursement Functionality? If you are currently using MEDITECH's Home Care Manager/MEDITECH's Hospital Billing/Accounts Receivable (B/AR) Interface and plan to upgrade to Home Care 6.0, you'll be able to easily process your financial activity through MEDITECH's 6.0 Home Care financial workflow. We've designed this workflow specifically for home care reimbursement methodologies and operational requirements, such as built-in Home Health PPS algorithms and home care-appropriate billing conditions. When home care reimbursement followed a fee-per-visit formula, you could process your records through MEDITECH's hospital (B/AR) application. However, since the advent of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Medicare Interim Payment System, and the onset of Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) of 2000, Medicare's coverage and reimbursement methodologies have changed drastically and home care clinical assessment and performance now play a far greater role in financial output. For questions or further assistance, please contact your Sales Representative or Service Coordinator.

		A New Health Care Reality Hits Home Home care leader Patricia Kelleher outlines the challenges her industry is facing, and urges agencies to advocate for themselves using the power of social media. As the health care industry prepares to serve millions more patients as a result of health care reform, the importance of keeping those patients out of the expensive acute care setting longer has never been more evident. Home care is one area which expected to grow in response to these demands, but according to Patricia Kelleher, MS, and executive director of Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, there are still many challenges that home care agencies and providers will face in the years ahead. "We're experiencing a time of tremendous growth, but we're also seeing many contrasting visions about how our health system will work in the future," she says. ::more::

		MEDITECH Connects with Customers during Home Health & Hospice Advisory Committee Meeting MEDITECH recently hosted a Home Health & Hospice advisory committee meeting at our Atlanta office, where customers and staff had the opportunity to discuss system functionality and upcoming releases, as well as enjoy some face-to-face networking time. "Meeting with clients in a setting like this really helps us to broaden our view of how clinicians actually use our software to improve patient care," says Alice Black, supervisor of development for MEDITECH's Home Care division. ::more::

		MEDITECH Prepares Customers for ANSI 5010 Requirements The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently adopted ANSI version 5010 to replace the 4010 standard health care providers must use when conducting electronic transactions. MEDITECH is in the final stages of developing our ANSI 5010 software and is planning delivery to our customers. ::more::

		Message from Brian Doyle: MEDITECH Home Care in 2011 Believe it or not, it has been just over a year since the merger of PtCT into MEDITECH, and the creation of the Home Care Portal! 2010 was a strong year for us and our customers, as we now have 40 sites using MEDITECH's 6.0 Home Care products, 14 currently installing, and 21 lined up to begin their journey. ::more::

		MEDITECH Acquires LSS Data Systems MEDITECH, the leading vendor of health care information systems, announced today it has completed the acquisition of its long-time partner LSS Data Systems, a leading provider of ambulatory information system solutions for physician practices. ::more::

		MEDITECH Spotlight: John Youngblood Coming from a long line of teachers—namely, a mother who was an English professor; a father, sister, and cousin who teach students with special needs; and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who are also teachers—it's no surprise John Youngblood grasped the importance of education from an early age and has been an ambitious trailblazer ever since. ::more::

		Executive Video Series: Vice Presidents Leah Farina and Helen Waters In 2010, MEDITECH announced the re-organization of our Client Services division. The promotions of Leah Farina and Helen Waters to Vice President represents MEDITECH's company-wide emphasis on efficiency, patient safety, and physician outreach. ::more::

		Q & A with Hoda Sayed-Friel and Brian Doyle What does the full merger of PtCT into MEDITECH mean to our customers? We sat down with two key players—Vice President of Marketing Hoda Sayed-Friel and Director of Home Care Sales Brian Doyle—to dig deeper into the future of our home care products and to learn more about "Care Without Walls." ::more::

		Merger Announcement from Lawrence A. Polimeno On December 21, all of our Home Care customers received this letter from Lawrence A. Polimeno, Vice Chairman of MEDITECH and previously CEO of Patient Care Technologies. Larry welcomed everyone into the MEDITECH family and outlined the details of the merger. ::more::