The Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program was implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pursuant to the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health Act of 2009 (HITECH). This Program provides incentive payments to Eligible Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals and Eligible Providers (collectively, “eligible providers”) who make a Meaningful Use (MU) of certified EHRs. Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) No. 9920 issued in November 2013 by CMS about the EHR Incentive Program deals with whether providers must participate in the Program every year in order to stay eligible for the incentives. FAQ 9920 clarifies that eligible providers do not have to meet MU in the prior year to be eligible for EHR incentives the following year. Continue reading
E-Patient: The Doctor May “See” You Now
Welcome to our newest contributing author, Elizabeth O’Keeffe, who prepared the following post
E-health, e-patients, social media, telehealth, telemedicine, mobile health care – what does it all mean to you as a patient? As an employee? As a CEO? “Telehealth” is booming and could substantially disrupt the old-fashioned health care model. In-person doctor appointments, hospitalizations, and follow up visits all occur, but through a new means – technology. The growth in technology and other competitive forces, including market differentiation, market segmentation, costs, efficiencies, and access, have created this new market and while it may all seem like just more “techie stuff,” it is not going away and as in banking (like that first time you used an ATM – what, no teller?), it will change how we approach health care. Continue reading
Who Accessed My Health Records? Recommendation for Quality over Quantity in Access Reports
By Kathie McDonald-McClure, Ann F. Triebsch and Margaret Young Levi
The Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Health IT Policy Committee voted in December 2013 to recommend that the United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) scale back its 2011 proposed rules requiring covered entities to provide patients with reports showing the name of every staff member who accessed their information in an electronic health record (EHR). As reported by Government Health IT, the committee’s Privacy and Security Tiger Team opposes a requirement that entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) give such broad “accounting of disclosure” reports to patients. Continue reading
The FTC: Watchdog for Privacy and Security of Sensitive Personal Data
Those who dwell in the world of health care privacy and security know well that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the federal agency that issues the regulations, provides guidance and ultimately enforces the complex requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic & Clinical Health Act of 2009(HITECH). But we also know, as citizens of the 21st Century, that privacy and security concerns extend far beyond insurance claims and health records in our doctors’ offices. With every new smartphone we indulge in, every online purchase we make, every retail loyalty program for which we register, we share valuable chunks and tidbits of data about ourselves that now can be used to tell others far more about us than we ever would have dreamed possible, or probably desire. The internet and astounding connectivity of so many technological devices, both consumer and commercial, allow extremely private and sensitive information to be accessed by parties we do not know and cannot imagine, for both our benefit and detriment. Continue reading
MU Deadlines for Eligible Professionals
UPDATE: 2/10/2014. On Friday 2/7/2014, CMS announced an extension until March 31, 2014 for Eligible Professionals to submit their 2013 EHR Meaningful Use (MU) attestation. In addition, Eligible Hospitals that had trouble submitting their 2013 MU attestation may be able to retroactively submit their MU attestation to avoid the 2015 payment adjustment but must contact CMS by March 15, 2014 at 11:59 pm to do so. Note that only the attestation deadline is being moved and not the requirement to meet meaningful use by September 30, 2013 for Eligible Hospitals and by December 31, 2013 for Eligible Professionals in order to avoid the 2015 payment adjustment. (We would provide you a link to the CMS announcement but it currently is not readily available on the CMS EHR Incentive Program website and, in fact, CMS has not yet updated its deadline on its home page for the Program.)
Eligible professionals, such as physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists and chiropractors, should be aware of two upcoming dates related to their participation in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. The reporting period ends December 31, 2013, and the deadline to attest to “meaningful use” ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on February 28, 2014. For additional information about the process of attesting to meaningful use, check out CMS’ Attestation Guide for Medicare EPs .
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