Commercial Payors Implementing EHR Meaningful Use Criteria in P4P Programs

August 7, 2010October 31, 2011 Kathie McDonald-McClure Health care reform, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Stimulus, Meaningful Use, Physician EMR Stimulus commercial payer support for EHRs, Electronic Health Records, eligible professional incentives for electronic medical records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Act, hospital incentives for EHRs, linkedin, meaningful use of certified EHR

Update: On August 9, 2010, Humana, Inc. and athenahealth, Inc. announced their collaboration to provide physicians access to a practice management/EHR software system combined with a rewards program related to quality measures. For more information, click here.

On August 5, 2010, four major commercial health insurance payors participated in the Health Industry Forum in Washington, D.C., to discuss private industry collaboration with the United States Health & Human Services Department (HHS) to support providers in the adoption of certified electronic health records (EHRs). Leading the Forum’s panel discussion was David Blumenthal, M.D., Chief of the Office of National Coordinator of HIT. All four payors will include the Meaningful Use criteria in their pay for performance (P4P) programs.

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CMS Holds Training Teleconference on EHR Final Rules

July 23, 2010August 4, 2010 Kathie McDonald-McClure EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Eligible Professional Incentives, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Stimulus, Meaningful Use, Physician EMR Stimulus EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, eligible professional incentives for electronic medical records, Health Information Technology, hospital incentives for EHRs, linkedin, meaningful use of certified EHR, ONC

On Thursday, July 22, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a publicly available teleconference to give an overview of the 800+ page Final Rule on Meaningful Use (MU) under the HITECH Act, as well as an overview of the Final and Proposed Rules on Temporary & Permanent Certification Program and the Final Rule on the Standards and Certification Criteria for electronic health records (EHRs). CMS is making an “encore recording” of the 90-minute teleconference available until 11:00 pm, Saturday, July 24, 2010. Call toll-free, 1-800-642-1689 and enter the conference ID 87841621 to hear the encore recording. CMS will post an audio recording link to the teleconference on its EHR Incentive Programs website sometime in August 2010. The slides accompanying the audio are available on that same website, here (scroll to Downloads and click on the links for the July 22, 2010 Training materials).

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HHS Releases Final Rule on “Meaningful Use” of Electronic Health Records

July 14, 2010January 10, 2011 Kathie McDonald-McClure EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Health care reform, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Stimulus, Meaningful Use, Physician EMR Stimulus, Privacy & Security 75 Fed Reg 44314 July 28 2010, 75 Fed Reg 44590 July 28 2010, EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, eligible professional incentives for electronic medical records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Act, hospital incentives for EHRs, linkedin, meaningful use of certified EHR, privacy and security of health information exchange

Update: On December 29, 2010, HHS published in the Federal Register a “Correcting Amendment” to its Final Rule on Meaningful Use, which can be viewed here.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wasted no time in putting the brand new CMS Director to work on July 13, 2010, in announcing the release of two rules under the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health Act (HITECH), including the Final Rule on Meaningful Use and the Final Rule on Initial Set of EHR Standards and Certification Criteria. Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, was sworn in as Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday afternoon, July 12, 2010, and by the next morning was primed to discuss the important role of health information technology (HIT) in America. In addition to Dr. Berwick’s participation at the press briefing, other participants included David Blumenthal, MD, the Chief Coordinator for the HHS Office of National Coordinator of HIT (ONC), Regina Benjamin, MD, U.S. Surgeon General, and Regina Holiday, an individual who shared a personal experience involving access to health information and how such access impacts the care of patients.

Quick Reference: The CMS Fact Sheet on both Final Rules is available here.

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Learn about regulatory requirements to qualify for HITECH incentives

June 28, 2010August 4, 2010 Kathie McDonald-McClure EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Eligible Professional Incentives, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Meaningful Use, Physician EMR Stimulus Electronic Health Records, eligible professional incentives for electronic medical records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Act, linkedin, meaningful use of certified EHR

On Thursday, July 29, 2010, physicians, physician practice managers, and others interested in learning more about the regulations governing incentives under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH Act) are invited to a free education session (by Kathie McDonald-McClure) and networking event hosted by MedX12.

Date: July 29, 2010. Time: 6:00 pm (EST).

Place: Suburban Plaza 3, 4121 Dutchman’s Lane, Louisville, KY.

Call for a reservation due to limited seating: 502-339-7175 ext 225

For more information, click here: MedX12 EHR Brochure.

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ONC Releases Final Rule on EHR Temporary Certification Program

June 18, 2010August 4, 2010 Kathie McDonald-McClure EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Act, HITECH implementation, linked, meaningful use of certified EHR, ONC

From the Office of National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC HIT):

“On June 18, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology issued its temporary certification program final rule, which establishes a way for organizations to become authorized by the National Coordinator to test and certify electronic health record technology.”

To read more information and to read the rule, click here.