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Posts Tagged ‘EHR’

Thanks to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus), passed by Federal Government in 2009, healthcare professionals can get to benefit through various incentive programs, associated with EHR adoption.

 

For all care facilities/professionals that are meaningfully using electronic health records, this is their time for these financial incentives (Medicaid, and Medicare); if you have not yet digitized your healthcare setting with an electronic medical record, then you have the time to go for it.

Adopt an EHR, and get to enjoy a safe and effective work-space for improved productivity/efficiency, to better quality of care and treatment; decide, you want incentives through EHR adoption, or prefer to get penalized by?!

Please not, penalties and incentives vary for both the programs – Medicaid, and Medicare that a medical professional is eligible for. You cannot qualify for both the programs, at a time, as can go with any one.

Under Medicaid (care for the needy) program, there is no penalty, and maximum incentive payment is $63,750 (over 6 years), per eligible professional; besides, with the Medicare program, be prepared with the penalty of payment reductions (1%-5%; 1% increase every year), if are not found meaningfully using EHRs by 2015; on the other, the maximum incentive for eligible professionals under this program is $44,000 over 5 years.

So, what are you thinking about? Do not delay, and just go for it – digitize your care unit, for incentive benefits, and to better health outcomes!

For details about various EMR Companies that you could go for, stay connected with MedicExchange!

A native EMR application for the iPhone to run on the iOS platform has recently been previewed over by Practice Fusion at the Health 2.0 conference, in San Francisco.

 

Practice Fusion is one of fastest growing EMR systems in the U.S.; this native application has opened new avenues for medical professionals that use iPhones extensively, for everyday purpose; the native mobile application from Practice Fusion will be provided completely free, same like its EMR system.

At present, Practice Fusion has Android and iPhone applications in private beta testing (external user acceptance); public release of native iOS and Android applications is scheduled for early 2012.

With Android and iOS applications, care providers can have free and secure mobile access to their EMR accounts, any time they feel like. Whether access to patient charts, laboratory results, replies to prescription refill requests, and secure communication and messages to/with the patients (in conformance with HIPAA), they can do everything at ease, like never before.

Users of Practice Fusion EMR systems can even decide to connect to their EMR accounts through tech gadgets (tablet and mobile devices), with available LogMeIn solution, for safe and reliable access to the health records. (Check this out even: Mobile Medical Apps)

Real-time access to health information has become an easy affair through Practice Fusion’ web-based EMR; stay connected with MedicExchange for more news and stories about web-based EMR, and other native applications for mobile gadgets.

Right selection of software technology vendor is a problem that many healthcare organizations face today; and, it is nothing different with the segment of Electronic Health Records.

 

Yes, appropriate selection of EHR vendor for your practice can save you ‘headache’, as it is not only about the software that you go after, but also the vendor, which matters a lot.

With plethora of EHR vendors available in the market, it may be difficult for health organizations to select one to meet their requirement; to find the right system for the right purpose perhaps is not easy for many out there.

Many organizations go for incorporated EHR and practice management systems; higher level of support and service is what everybody is looking for; many of usually go for companies that are investing hugely in R&D projects for new and innovative product technologies.

Proper understanding of the healthcare business serves the purpose for most of the EHR vendors, to win over health organizations.

Varied health specialties – their size, medical/health practices that use company’s system, the transition rate of company’s customers to other technology vendors are some of the deciding factors most health organizations consider prior deciding for an EHR vendor.

Higher cost of technology acquisition, and staff training can be worrisome for many health facilities, but there are companies that could help you on both EHR implementation and training program, in a cost-effective way that you are looking for.

We are here to help you out; for more details about EHR vendors, software solutions and services they have on offer – stay connected with MedicExchange!

Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology addressed the healthcare community again, this time on the ascending curve of Electronic Health Records! There has been an increased level of adoption of Electronic Health Records and health information technology that has been taken place in the marketplace, recently, as healthcare community is showing higher level of interest in adoption of electronic health records for their medical practice units, for the meaning use, and to avail incentives from Medicare and Medicare programs!

This review was done by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the group of Health and Human Services, working on Disease Control and Prevention!

Dr. David Blumenthal wrote, physicians over the globe are vigorously putting secure/private electronic structure to attain long-term improvements in healthcare costs, quality of care and efficiency of healthcare providers, and added further that just the presence of an Electronic Health Record does not imply that a physician/doctor is a significant or a meaningful user!

He said, the electronic health record, described in the review can be just basic/essential electronic health record, which the healthcare providers utilize for to stock up patient demographics, patient/healthcare problem lists, imaging/laboratory results and reports, clinical notes, and medical orders for e-prescriptions, and continued saying that these basic Electronic Health Records are not able enough to provide meaning use to healthcare organizations!

Luckily, the data set by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), executed out in route of yearly observation by the American Hospital Association (AHA), and NCHS provide enough support that electronic health record adoptions is all about gaining enough speed in working up with daily healthcare organizational routines, than just with basic communication!

The survey conducted by NCHS showed up that around 41% of physicians (medical office) are at present planning to adopt EHRs, and to submit for inducement payments! Out of this slot, around 32.4% physicians are planning to adopt EHRs, only this year!

The American Hospital Association review showed that around 81% of non-federal (acute care) hospitals/healthcare organizations are planning to adopt EHRs, for the meaningful use, to submit for incentive payments only! Around 65% of healthcare organizations/hospitals are preparing to enlist during stage-1 of the inducement program, in year 2011-2012!

Dr. David Blumenthal added further that he is gratified, knowing the fact that many healthcare organizations/physicians are coming forward to adopt EHRs for the meaningful usage, and that too, without delaying further, as deciding to adopt EHRs early, with the stage-1 signify getting maximum funding through the Medicare/Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, as entitled healthcare professionals/physicians can qualify for incentive payments, amounting around $44,000, from Medicare, and about $63,750 from Medicaid! These healthcare organizations/hospitals can entitle for millions of dollars of incentive payments for adopting EHRs, for deciding to meaningfully utilize the EHR technology, and he said further that the registrations are on for healthcare providers to acquire vital incentive payments for meaningful usage/adoption of certified EHRs!

Dr. Blumenthal even recognized the fact that adoption of Electronic Health Records, and meaning usage of it require hard work and huge investment, specially for primary care practice units, where huge majority of doctors/physicians work, where the patient care is documented/coordinated, as many of these healthcare providers have to learn about this opportunity of EHR adoption, for the meaning use, and applying for incentives that they have, currently!

He stressed that this is the right time to gain from EHR incentive, and various supported technical assistance programs, under Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act that are available currently for healthcare providers! He pointed out to 62 Regional Extension Centers (RECs) over the nation that are equipped to provide tailor-made, full time support to these healthcare providers for adoption of EHRs! When the Health IT workforce development agenda is training talented healthcare professionals in managing and implementing their health IT system, medical and other professional healthcare organizations are nowhere behind in leading the path!

Mr. Blumenthal assured the healthcare community about the security of information that is stored up in an Electronic Health Record, as depicted out of applicable regulations to safeguard healthcare data, and continued saying that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy/security protection rules will be applicable to these EHRs, and urged the community to think quickly on adoption of EHRs, saying that they will never get to gain from this level of talent and resources, for to smartly switching on to health IT setting, for to go fully digital, avoiding on paper documentation!

Finally, he said this shows good promise in the community for the healthcare providers that are planning to go for swift EHR adoption, deciding to transform from paper-base-documentation to digital records, and assured full cooperation of ONC to support all these healthcare organizations that want to adopt EHRs, by all means!

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS ), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced on Apr-26th, 2010 that, Washington’s Medicaid program will receive federal matching funds for state planning activities required to utilize the electronic health record (EHR) incentive program formed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Washington is entitled to approximately $967,000 in federal matching funds.

EHRs are expected to serve the purpose of improving general health care for the people of Washington. These records are meant to fit in conveniently with various providers treating a Medicaid patient subject to care. Decision making comes in handy with EHRs. The Recovery Act provides a 90 percent federal match for state planning activities to administer the incentive payments to Medicaid assistants, to make sure of their payments through audits and statewide participation to promote “meaningful use” and work-structure within the block of EHR technology across Washington.

Washington intends to make full use of its federal matching funds for planning activities that include organising a detailed analysis to understand the recent situation of Health IT activities in the state. Data on issues such as existing barriers to its use of EHRs, provider eligibility for EHR incentive payments, and the creation of a State Medicaid HIT Plan, which will define the state’s vision for its long-term HIT use will taken into account.

We congratulate Washington for qualifying for these federal matching funds to assist its plan for implementing the Recovery Act’s EHR incentive program, Meaningful and interoperable use of EHRs in Medicaid will increase health care efficiency, reduce medical errors and improve quality-outcomes and patient satisfaction within and across the states.” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations at CMS.

Other States who recieved similar funding include:

• New Mexico will be assigned about $405,000 for the EHR planning work.
• Missouri will receive approximately $1.53 million in federal matching funds.
• Puerto Rico will receive approximately $1.80 million in federal matching funds.
• Oregon will receive approximately $3.53 million in federal matching funds.

President Obama signed a bill to law on 16th April 2010, to stretch the eligibility criteria of the EHR incentive program for physicians in hospital outpatient departments or in hospital-affiliated clinics, who would not have been otherwise eligible for the above mentioned incentives under the Centers for Medicare and Medic-aid Services’(CMS).

HANYS and HANYS’ HIT Strategy Group insisted on expansion of the EHR plan for the out-patient medical practitioners along with CMS, important members from the Congress board, committees of jurisdicition in partnership with AHA and President Obama’s Adminstration.

The bill is meant to expand unpaid or lapsed unemployment insurance benefits and higher subsidies for individuals buying health insurance through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Provisions to delay a Medicare physician fee schedule until the end of May is also proposed in this bill.

According to HANYS, “all-or-nothing” requirements must be flexed out for hospitals and physicians to fit the EHR incentive bill criteria. Failure to meet the requirements by 2015 may affect Medicare payment penalties. They further pressed on EHR incentive base payment should be made to all Hospitals, with or without a Medicare provider number with other institutions.