Many small physician practices may be relying on health information technology (HIT) loans from their state to adopt electronic health records (EHRs) in their practices. Before a physician can seek such a loan, the state must have such loans available. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides grants to states to make such EHR loans available to health care providers. However, states must competitively bid for the ARRA HIT grant money to be made available for such loans.
Author: Kathie McDonald-McClure
CMS Website on ARRA’s Health Information Technology Includes Fact Sheet with FAQs
On June 16, 2009, on the same date the ONC HIT Policy Committee released the first draft of “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the CMS Health Information Technology Website to address health information technology (Health IT or HIT) under the ARRA’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). The CMS HIT website focuses on the following three areas of ARRA Health IT:
- Health IT incentives and support for adoption
- Establishment of Health IT standards and infrastructure
- Privacy and security pertaining to Health IT
These are the three main areas pertaining to Health IT in which CMS will be involved under the HITECH Act.
Comment period on first draft of “meaningful use” closes Friday, June 26, 2009
As I previously reported in my June 17, 2009 post, the Meaningful Use Workgroup of the Office of National Coordinator’s HIT Policy Committee presented its initial draft of “meaningful use” at the Committee’s June 16, 2009 HIT Policy Committee meeting. The complete Meaningful Use Matrix setting out the objectives and measures for 2011, 2013 and 2015, can be reviewed on the HIT Policy Committee webpage. To submit comments on the draft, go to the HIT Policy Committee homepage and click on the Meaningful Use Comment Instructions in the box in the top right-hand corner of the page. Public comments are due by June 26, 2009.
ONCHIT Policy Committee Releases Draft Definition of Meaningful Use to Qualify for HITECH Act’s Medicare Incentives
Article Summary: The Meaningful Use Workgroup of the Office of National Coordinator’s HIT Policy Committee presented its initial draft of “meaningful use” at the Committee’s June 16, 2009 HIT Policy Committee meeting. As the National Coordinator and Chair of the HIT Policy Committee, David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., reminded the meeting’s participants: “This is an initial draft, which has a long way to go.” Health reform clearly is a cornerstone of the Meaningful Use criteria. The Committee established five key Meaningful Use goals with criteria that will be stengthened every two years based on that year’s specific objective.
The FTC’s Identity Theft Red Flags Rule: Catching the uninsured in the act of medical services theft
Article Summary: The Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule for identity theft applies to most health care providers according to the FTC’s current guidance. The FTC makes a clear attempt under the Rule to regulate medical identity theft, as opposed to credit identity theft. The result is that the FTC will have regulatory authority in an area that the Department of Health & Human Services, since the issuance of the Red Flags Rule in late 2007, has seen fit to strengthen under the HITECH Act of 2009, through both enhanced security protections and breach notification requirements. Further, the HITECH Act put into motion aggressive health information technology reform that also will likely address medical identity theft. Do we really need another federal agency regulating the privacy and security protections that health care providers provide for medical records? This article summarizes the key components of the Red Flags Rule that will draw most health care providers into its reach and discusses how current health care reforms may impact favorably on preventing medical identity theft.
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