Edition Nineteen (6/09/09)

Decision Makers Differ on How to Mend Broken Health System
Washington Post, 6/9/09
For more than a decade, researchers have documented the inequities, shortcomings, waste, and dangers in uncoordinated medical services that consume nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy. Industry leaders, policymakers, consumers, and business executives envision a health care system that guarantees a basic level of care for everyone, shifts the emphasis to wellness and prevention, minimizes errors, and reduces unnecessary and unproved treatment. Such a system would coordinate care, track patients and doctor performance electronically, and reward good results.

CCHIT Slates Web Seminars
Health Data Management, 6/9/09
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology will present two free Web conferences June 16 and 17 to gather comments on plans to refine its certification of electronic health records software.

Data Challenges on the EHR Agenda, By John Glaser
H&HN Magazine, 6/8/09
While preparing to adopt or expand electronic records, providers shouldn't overlook the quality of the data these systems will contain. The health care information technology portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have led to heightened interest in the adoption and effective use of electronic health records. Given the importance of improving many facets of care and the magnitude of the stimulus funds, this attention is appropriate.

HIPAA 5010 Certification Prepared
Health Data Management, 6/8/09
The Data Interchange Standards Association is partnering with two firms to launch an on-line data certification service for providers, payers, and vendors preparing to migrate to the HIPAA 5010 standards for electronic claims and related transactions.

QIOs: Right Groups to Lead HIT Extension Centers?
Modern Healthcare, subscription needed 6/8/09
Quality improvement organizations, or QIOs, appear to be ahead of the curve when it comes to defining “meaningful use,” and that could prove to be an advantage in the next few months, as the federal government rolls out its plans for health information technology regional extension centers.

What Will Meaningful Use Mean?
Health Management Technology, June 2009
As health care providers scramble to review budgets to capitalize on the incentive opportunities for EMR deployments of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there remains the question: What will qualify as “meaningful use” in the eyes of the secretary of Health and Human Services ?

Meaningful Use: Beyond Clinical Outcomes
Health Management Technology, June 2009
The water cooler debate about what was said—and not said—in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has health care stakeholders buzzing. Leading health care I.T. organizations such as CHIME and HIMSS have released their official recommendations and interpretations of what “meaningful use” could mean as potential economic incentive applicants mull over their next steps.

ONCHIT Tests Guidance for Health Records
Federal Computer Week, 6/5/09
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is testing an on-line template to guide health technology providers in understanding and developing electronic personal health records. The coordinator’s office will be doing in-depth interviews with several dozen consumers about the template through October.

Chopra Will Use CTO Position to Advocate for Health I.T.
Government Health IT, 6/5/09
The Obama administration’s top technology official said he will actively support the efforts of Dr. David Blumenthal to advance the adoption of health information technology, one of the president’s priorities for health reform. Aneesh Chopra said he would use his position in the White House as the country’s chief technology officer and assistant to the president to support Blumenthal, the national health I.T. coordinator, by concentrating on innovation, digital security, and “pushing the levers of government.”

One Door Closes on EHR, Wiretapping Case
Modern Healthcare, subscription needed 6/5/09
A federal judge tossed out more than three dozen lawsuits filed against the nation's telecommunications companies for allegedly taking part in the government's e-mail and telephone eavesdropping program that was done without court approval. The decision also may close one door to legal discovery that could determine whether electronic health records were included in the information the government was accessing in the electronic surveillance program, but it leaves other doors open.

Feds Plan More Health I.T. Services, Fewer Networks
Government Health IT, 6/5/09
The federal health information technology community plans a significant upgrade to its NHIN Connect software in the coming year, including adding tools to manage patient identification and health documents via the Nationwide Health Information Network. New enterprise services planned for Connect, a software gateway that gives federal health agencies access to the NHIN, include a master index for managing patient identities, policy engine to handle health records authorizations, and registry to organize patient health documents.

HIT Policy, Standards Committees to Meet
Health Data Management, 6/4/09
The HIT Policy Committee will hold its second meeting on June 16 in Washington. The meeting will include presentations from committee workgroups. The HIT Standards Committee will hold its second meeting on June 23 at a time and place to be determined. Meetings of both committees will be available via Web cast.

Comparative Effectiveness Advisors to Meet
Health Data Management, 6/4/09
The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research will hold the final of three meetings on June 10 to get public input on how to spend $1.1 billion appropriated in the economic stimulus law. The money is for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various medical treatments.

Summit Offers Stimulus Advice
Health Data Management, 6/4/09
Experts will offer in-depth advice on strategies for earning federal incentives for electronic health records at Health Data Management’s Health I.T. Stimulus Summit. The conference will be held Sept. 17-18 in Boston.
A wide variety of speakers will address such timely topics as: developing a “big bang” approach to adopting EHRs in a hurry, linking EHRs and personal health records, and creating a hospital strategy for helping community physicians implement EHRs.

GAO: FDA Needs I.T. Strategic Plan
Health Data Management, 6/4/09
The Food and Drug Administration, despite having 16 enterprisewide information technology modernization initiatives, does not have a comprehensive I.T. strategy to coordinate and manage these initiatives, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Hospital I.T. Spending Surge Predicted
Health Data Management, 6/4/09
U.S. hospital spending on information technology will hit $4.7 billion this year and grow to $6.8 billion by 2014, according to a new report from HIMSS Analytics, Chicago. Spending will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.5%, the report says.

Market for EMRs Pegged at $1.6 Billion by 2013
Healthcare IT News, 6/4/09
The market for electronic medical record data transfer equipment and applications, valued at $575 million in 2008, is forecast to reach $1.6 billion in 2013, according to a study by research firm Kalorama Information.
Driven by the growing use of EMRs in hospitals and physician offices, this segment of the patient monitoring market will grow 23.3 percent annually through 2013, notes the report, "High-Tech Patient Monitoring Systems Markets."

Obama: I.T. Is Still a Critical Part of Health Care Reform
Healthcare IT News, 6/4/09
In a letter to Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), President Obama reiterated his commitment to promoting the use of information technology as a means of reducing health care costs. Obama said the White House is also determined to go after "the key drivers of skyrocketing health care costs, including unmanaged chronic diseases, duplicated tests, and unnecessary hospital readmissions."

ONC’s Friedman Discusses Defining ‘Meaningful Use’
Modern Healthcare, subscription needed 6/4/09
A formal definition of “meaningful use” of electronic health records is in the works and should be released in the not-too-distant future, Charles Friedman, deputy national coordinator of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said at a health I.T. conference. Meaningful use is significant in that it “changes the focus from technology potential to ways in which clinicians actually use” electronic health records.

Understand ARRA Spending Allocations with HIMSS Analytics Market Intelligence
PR Web, 6/3/09
With more than $19 billion available for U.S. hospitals and ambulatory clinics to implement the electronic medical record, HIMSS Analytics cuts through the information clutter to clarify which technology applications are expected to receive more funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with its "Essentials of the US Hospital IT Market - 4th Edition"

Study: Core Transactions = Fast ROI
Health Data Managament, 6/2/09
Health insurers certified in the CORE Phase 1 rules for a standardized electronic eligibility/benefit determination transaction are seeing a return on investment within a year, according to a new study. Further, industrywide implementation of the transaction could save payers and providers more than $3 billion in three years. CORE is the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange within CAQH, a Washington-based payer advocacy group.

Competition Spurs I.T. Investment
Health Data Management, 6/5/09
A Catholic integrated delivery system that owns six New England hospitals is spending $70 million on information technology so it can better compete for patients against the major teaching hospitals in Boston. Caritas Christi Health System is paying startup costs for implementing electronic health records software for 1,300 physicians, with area payers picking up the tab for basic hardware. In addition, the system is gearing up its clinical automation efforts at all its hospitals.

States Explain Privacy/Security Agreements
Health Data Management, 6/5/09
The Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration has released a how-to guide for state cooperation in health care privacy and security issues. Under the collaborative, 42 states and territories have worked on projects to address and harmonize privacy and security issues related to health information exchange. Durham, N.C.-based Research Triangle Institute International has managed the collaboration under a federal contract. The 45-page manual is available by clicking on "Action and Implementation Manual" in the top right corner.

Minnesota Coalition Debuts Health Info Tool
St. Paul Business Journal, 6/4/09
The Buyers Health Care Action Group, a Bloomington, Minn.-based coalition of employers, is rolling out a Web-based application to help people manage their health information. The group’s application, called myHealthfolio, utilizes the Microsoft Corp. HealthVault platform to allow people to exchange the information they store with various health providers and services.

Electronic Health Records: Upfront Costs Now, $36 Billion Payback
Michigan Business Review, 6/2/09
Michigan health care providers are abuzz with anticipation over how much of the $36 billion in set-aside federal stimulus money the state will receive for implementing electronic health records. The stimulus package passed earlier this year also includes $1.25 billion for Michigan providers to cover services like prescription drug funding and health care for indigent patients.

New York City Paves Way on Health I.T. Extension Centers
Government Health IT, 6/1/09
Now that the Office of the National Coordinator has published a description of its plan to set up a system of regional health I.T. extension centers to help providers install and use electronic health records, a New York City technical assistance project already in operation could offer some best practices.

Mainstream Physicians Give Alternatives a Try
Washington Post, 6/9/09
Increasingly, doctors are looking beyond conventional care to treat their patients with alternative approaches such as herbs, acupuncture, and yoga. Studies also show that the number of Americans willing to try alternative treatments continues to increase. And health insurers are beginning to recognize and pay for some alternative therapies, including acupuncture and herbal remedies, although Medicaid and Medicare do not cover them.

How Safe are Medical Records?
Forbes.com, 6/3/09
Stealing medical data has become more attractive to hackers and identity thieves as banks and individuals have become more sophisticated about protecting credit-building information. Patients may feel like they have little control over information, but there are ways to safeguard data.

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