On Monday, November 23, 2009, Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under the Department of Health & Human Services, announced the launch of the Health IT Buzz blog. The blog is envisioned as a way to reach out to the healthcare IT community and public at large in order to create an open dialogue about the wishes and concerns of the many constituencies that the Office of National Coordinator serves. The blog will address the wide range of topics impacting the “secure and seamless exchange of electronic health information” across the United States and will include discussions about the “meaningful use” rulemaking and incentives for adopting electronic health records. We’ve added the Health IT Buzz to our blogroll.
Electronic Health Records
“HITECH for Physicians” Presentation at MedX12 in Louisville, Kentucky
I will be giving a presentation on “HITECH for Physicians” on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, from 7:30 am to 9:00 am. The presentation will take place at MedX12 offices, Ormsby III, 10200 Forest Green Blvd. (just off of North Hurstbourne Lane) in Louisville, Kentucky. The presentation will focus on those aspects of the HITECH Act that provide stimulus payments to physicians to adopt and make a “meaningful use” of “certified” electronic health records. The HITECH Act employs a “carrot and stick” approach to the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) by giving stimulus payments for the adoption of EHRs and by reducing Medicare reimbursements to those who do not adopt EHRs by 2015.
This presentation will cover the HITECH Act’s basics tenets (interim final rules are not due out until year-end) and recent developments towards development of “meaningful use” and “certification” standards by the HHS Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. In addition, I will be highlighting compliance strategies for physician practices related to the HITECH Act’s new Data Breach Notification Rule and “Business Associate” obligations.
The presentation is being offered at no charge. A continental breakfast will be available. This presentation is open to anyone interested in the topic. Please RSVP by Friday, October 9, 2009. Contact Kim Farmer, at (502) 339-7175 ext. 240 or kfarmer@medx12.com.
HHS HIT Policy Committee discusses privacy & security standards for “meaningful use” of Electronic Health Records
On Friday, September 18, 2009, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, the HHS HIT Policy Committee discussed the standards under development for the 2013 and 2015 “meaningful use” criteria related to privacy and security. The Committee’s webpage gave the following overview of the purpose of the meeting:
Protecting health data through comprehensive privacy policies and security functions are foundational requirements for appropriate management and exchange of individuals’ health data. It constitutes one of the five categories of criteria in the meaningful use criteria matrix. The HIT Policy Committee is holding an initial informational public hearing on September 18, 2009, as input to further deliberations regarding recommendations for 2013 and 2015 meaningful use criteria. Initially, the Committee is seeking testimony in four broad categories: 1) individual choice/control, data segmentation; 2) use, disclosure, secondary use, data stewardship; 3) aggregate data use, de-identification/re-identification, models for data storage; and 4) transparency, accountability, audit.
The Agenda and other materials supplied for this meeting are available on the HIT Policy Committee webpage (scroll down to Meetings and September 18, 2009). For information on how to access future meetings, go here. For more information about the HIT Policy Committee, a list of its members, and to access previous meeting transcripts and documents, visit the HIT Policy Committee webpage.
State surveyors not to determine whether EHR meets HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules; Providers and Suppliers must provide access to EHR to Surveyors
In a letter to State Survey Agency Directors dated August 14, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gave state surveyors guidance regarding surveys of facilities that use electronic health records (EHRs). CMS first stated its support and commitment to the goal that, by 2014, most Americans “will have access to health care providers who use EHRs.” CMS notes that the expanded use of EHRs will cause surveyors to encounter more and more situations where there is no paper-based record immediately available for review. In addition, there may be concerns about the scope of responsibility of State Survey Agencies in enforcing the Conditions of Participation (CoPs), Conditions for Coverage or Conditions for Certification (CfCs) applicable to the surveyed provider or supplier. The CoPs and CfCs include requirements respecting confidentiality of clinical information stored in an EHR.
HIMSS Summit of the Southeast: Tennessee Commissior Gives Overview of State Grant Process
I attended HIMSS Summit of the Southeast in Nashville on September 9, 2009. As is probably no surprise, this was a well-attended conference with some good speakers and engaging panel discussions. Among the excellent speakers was David Goetz, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, who gave a “state of the state” address regarding Tennessee’s preparation to implement electronic health records.
Mr. Goetz highlighted the recent decision by HHS to allocate money to the states rather than use a competitive application process with regard to the award of grants for HITECH “cooperative agreements” that, per CMS, “focus on developing the statewide policy, governance, technical infrastructure and business practices needed to support the delivery of HIE [health information exchange] services.” Mr. Goetz indicated that using an allocation process rather than competitive applications probably is more fair to those states who are not as far along with e-Health and are dealing with a budget crisis. States still must file a letter of intent by Friday, September 11, 2009 to participate in this funding. The actual application is due by October 16, 2009. Not much time!
Many more details about the grant application process are available here.
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