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Florida leading the rush for EHR implementation, survey says. - February 26, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Florida docs grow more bullish on EHRs, survey finds
Physician use of electronic health records continued to grow in Florida last year, with younger doctors and primary-care physicians leading the charge with indirect access specialists—such as anesthesiologists and emergency medicine doctors—lagging behind, according to the survey.
The survey also found that purchase, training and implementation costs are dropping and that almost 60% of the respondents reported interest in qualifying for the EHR subsidies included in the under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus law.
Forty-three percent of the survey of 370 physicians said that they use an EHR, compared with 33% in 2007 and 27% in 2005. The number of respondents wanting to implement an EHR system was virtually unchanged: 41% in 2009 compared with 40% in 2007. But the number of physicians who said they had no plans to implement a system fell to 16% in 2009 from 25% in 2007.
According to the survey, 60% of respondents under 40 years old are using an EHR compared with 48% in 2007 and 37% in 2009.
The survey found that, among respondents currently using an EHR, the median purchase, training and implementation costs fell to $18,000 in 2009 compared with $25,000 in 2007; and monthly maintenance cost decreased to $350 from $425 during the same period.
When asked what they liked the most about their systems, 76% of EHR-using respondents said electronic charting, while half cited awkward or time-consuming data input as what they liked the least about their systems.
Among physicians who plan to implement an EHR, 14% are in some stage of implementation (up from 11% in 2007); 16% plan to do so within six months (compared to 17% in 2007); 22% plan to implement in six to 12 months (down from 24% in 2007); 35% are planning to implement in one to two years (37% in 2007); and 13% said it will be more than two years before they do so (up from 11% in 2007).
the Top pick for the three year in a row, Misys MyWay, now part of Allscripts. Of the respondents who said they had no plans to implement an electronic record system, 72% cited prohibitive costs—up from 63% in 2007. Among all respondents, 59% said they will try to quality for federal EHR subsidies by showing that they are putting their systems to meaningful use.
The survey was conducted in October and November 2009, and it had a 4% response rate from more than 10,000 physicians who received the survey in either e-mail or paper formats.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases,
we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription
e-Rx CareTracker
Meaningful Use Eligibility Standards for EMR incentives propose by ONC and CMS - February 26, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) establishes financial incentives for hospitals, physicians,[1] and other health care providers that meaningfully use certified electronic health records (EHR) technology between 2011 and 2015 (through 2016 under the Medicaid incentive program), and penalties for hospitals and physicians that fail to meet such standards beginning in 2015. The incentives are significant. Hospitals are eligible for millions in incentive payments, and physicians are eligible for up to $63,750 each.
Although the HITECH Act specifies the incentives and penalties associated with meaningful use of a certified EHR, Congress left it to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to define “meaningful use” and to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to create specifications that EHR technology must meet to become certified. On January 13, 2010, CMS published proposed regulations defining meaningful use of EHR technology and ONC published an interim final regulation concerning the specifications that must be met for EHR technology to become certified. Given the significant sums at stake, health care providers and EHR technology vendors are encouraged to scrutinize CMS’s proposed rule and ONC’s interim final regulation and to consider their impact.
The Proposed Definition of “Meaningful Use”
Although a single definition of “meaningful use” will apply across the Medicare and Medicaid programs (states, however, may impose additional standards on eligible physicians (“EPs”) and hospitals seeking incentives under the Medicaid program), CMS has proposed a three-staged approach to the standard, with more robust use of EHR technology required at each stage. The proposed regulations set forth only the Stage 1 criteria. Stage 2 criteria will be introduced in 2013, and Stage 3 criteria will be introduced in 2015. Providers that implement EHR technology in 2011, the first year the incentives become available, must meet Stage 1 criteria in 2011 and 2012, Stage 2 criteria in 2013 and 2014, and Stage 3 criteria in 2015 and beyond. The later a provider adopts EHR technology, the more quickly it will have to progress through the three stages of criteria.
Generally the standards criteria can be broken down into four categories:
1.Standards requiring the basic elements of a medical record to be incorporated into an electronic health record;
2.Standards requiring the use of EHR technology to promote efficiency such as requirements to incorporate clinical lab-test results into EHRs as structured data, to check insurance eligibility electronically from public and private payers, and to submit claims electronically to public and private payers;
3.Standards requiring the use of EHR technology to promote quality of care and public health such as requirements to report clinical quality measures to CMS or, as applicable to the states, and to perform medication reconciliation at relevant encounters and each transition of care; and
4.Standards to ensure patient access to their electronic health information and to promote patients’ control of their own medical care such as requirements for physicians to provide clinical summaries to patients for each office visit and for hospitals to provide patients with electronic copies of their discharge instructions.
The Interim Final Regulation Concerning EHR Certification
The ONC interim final regulation generally tracks the CMS rule in that it provides that EHR products that enable providers to meet the criteria set forth in the CMS rule are eligible to become certified.[2] The ONC rule also incorporates existing technical specifications concerning nomenclature, code sets, transport, and privacy, and security from a variety of recognized standard setting organizations.
Importantly, the rule provides that both complete EHR systems that perform all the required functions set forth in the CMS rule, and EHR modules that perform only a subset or a single function may become certified. Providers who use a combination of different EHR modules, however, bear the burden of ensuring that their EHR system will allow them to meet all of the meaningful use criteria.
In addition, providers should note that the fact that an EHR product is certified does not automatically qualify the provider for incentive payments. Rather, the provider must also meet the meaningful use criteria established by CMS.
Conclusion
Eligible physicians and hospitals have an opportunity to receive significant financial support from the Medicare and Medicaid programs if they implement EHR systems. Moving quickly is advisable for a number of reasons: incentive payments are only available to providers who implement EHR technology over the next several years; providers who begin using EHR earlier will receive significantly higher incentive payments; and providers who fail to implement and meaningfully use EHR will be subject to increasing reductions in reimbursement beginning in 2015.
The long list of meaningful use standards is daunting, but robust EHR products should allow providers to meet these requirements. Providers should obtain assurances from vendors that the vendor will update or modify the product being licensed as necessary to enable the provider to meet the eligibility standards for incentive payments, because the eligibility standards for incentive payments are not yet final, and will evolve over time.
Providers also should review CMS’s proposed quality reporting measures carefully. Although CMS has not included the quality reporting measures in the proposed regulation itself, proposed measures are included in the preamble to the rule (available here: 75 Fed. Reg. 1874-1900). The proposed measures represent a significant step forward in the federal government’s effort to regulate quality of care. They require physicians and hospitals to report on their compliance with medical best practices (as determined by CMS) and a variety of detailed recommendations concerning the proper course of treatment of a particular condition. As an example, one quality reporting measure requires physicians to report whether they have prescribed tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor for female patients with Stage IC through IIIC, ER or PR positive breast cancer. Another requires physicians to report whether patients with new low back pain have received an imaging study on the episode start date or within 28 days. There are hundreds of similar measures. CMS will be accepting comments on the proposed rule (including the proposed quality reporting measures) until March 15, 2010.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases,
we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription
e-Rx CareTracker
Allscript introduction of MyWay For Small-Practice Physicians, HIT Benefits Now Are Within Reach - February 26, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Historically, adopting health information technology (HIT) has been a challenge for physician practices with 10 or fewer doctors. Cost and complexity have been formidable barriers to small group practices that already operate on thin margins. What many physicians fear most when considering HIT implementation is the potential of disrupting the operations of the practice and, ultimately, the impact on patient care.
Fortunately, recent trends and innovation from HIT vendors have begun to reduce the costs of billing and electronic health record (EHR) systems, putting them within reach of smaller practices. The ubiquity of the Internet means these tools can be implemented, updated and accessed more simply and easily. And today, there are significant financial incentives to encourage physicians to adopt HIT, whatever their practice size.
Technology and ARRA spur fresh look at EHRs
Primary care practices – even those with five or fewer doctors – have several new reasons to reconsider their past EHR decisions. Payers are raising the bar with pay-for-performance and other measures that require doctors to track or demonstrate compliance with clinical guidelines, which cannot easily be done with paper records.
In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocates $19 billion for health care information technology to help physicians modernize their practices.1 This includes Medicare incentive payments of up to $44,000 over five years to eligible physicians who meet “meaningful use” criteria for integrating EHRs into their practices.
If physicians fail to adopt and demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs, they will be subject to reductions in Medicare reimbursements at the end of the five-year period. Even though the funds being offered under ARRA are not enough to pay for legacy solutions, they are more than adequate for the implementation of a Web-based EHR system.
In the past, few small-practice physicians have had much interest in legacy vendor solutions because of the cost – typically an upfront investment of products like Ingenix and eCW of $60,000 to $100,000 – and significant annual maintenance and upgrade fees. Legacy solutions also require physicians to install and maintain network servers, an expensive and challenging situation.
Compounding the issue of cost, many physicians who implemented legacy solutions actually saw decreases in productivity and income. However, the availability of low-cost, Web-based EHRs now makes implementation less daunting and less expensive.
To take advantage of federal ARRA funds, physicians should reexamine the EHR systems available now in order to demonstrate meaningful use by the end of 2010 and be eligible for incentive payments in 2011.
Problem recognition is first step in EHR strategy
One of the first things physicians should consider is whether HIT tools will make their practices more efficient and result in better patient care. Many practices believe their paper systems are already effective, which can be a tough mental barrier to overcome. For example, a practice may have built a systematic way of moving through a work day by handling information like ‘stat’ lab results via paper ‘sticky notes’. That process could be improved measurably by applying technology to speed workflows. Practices can be so entrenched in their current processes that they fail to recognize the opportunity provided by ARRA funding. Products like Allscripts-Misys Myway are being adopted almost 3 to 1 over they closest competitions in a recent survey by the HIT Group of Boston Mass. One of the reason for MyWay's sucess is it's easy to use, feature rich software and fewer hours of training, says Brian McCarthy CEO of Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, LLC in Orlando Florida.
A lack of familiarity with ARRA provisions may also be a missing piece of the EHR puzzle. A recent survey of physicians and practice administrators showed that more than half of the respondents have “little or no” familiarity with the ARRA and only 42 percent of respondents have “some” familiarity with its provisions. This finding is significant because federal funding under the act goes a long way toward relieving the burdensome cost that 82 percent of respondents cited as their top concern regarding EHR adoption.
In the face of increasing costs and decreasing reimbursement, primary care physicians cannot afford to pass on funding or to suffer from reduced reimbursement amounts in five years because they did not adopt an EHR system.
Modernization of the nation’s health care system depends on physicians taking action now with regard to EHRs. Although small physician practices provide nearly 75 percent of all ambulatory care in the United States, just 13 percent of small and solo practices have implemented an EHR system, compared with 57 percent of physicians in practices with more than 50 doctors.
These statistics underscore the need to offer extra assistance to small-practice physicians. To determine precisely what physicians are up against, Sencilo is developing a blueprint for what a successful EHR transition looks and feels like. By creating a replicable guide to help small physician practices navigate through otherwise complex processes for selecting, installing and adapting new technologies, Sencilo intends to illustrate the best-case scenario for HIT implementation. Through case studies and both qualitative and quantitative data, Sencilo aims to show how physicians can use EHRs, evidence-based medicine and e-prescribing to provide better patient care and satisfaction, and better access to critical healthcare information.
Sencilo has partnered with select small physician practices for a pilot program, providing them with licenses to Sencilo EHR, a CCHIT-certified,Local server or Web-based EHR application that allows physicians to access patient records and review medications, patient history, recent orders and test results with speed, agility and efficiency.
In addition, Sencilo has introduced a package that includes interest-free financing, health information technology (HIT) services and performance guarantees to help physicians integrate HIT into their practices. The program enables qualifying physicians to implement Sencilo Allscripts' MyWay EHR, a low-cost, full-functioning electronic health record (EHR), with no out-of-pocket costs and no payments until 2011 when American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) reimbursements for EHRs begin. Sencilo guarantees that Allscripts' MyWayEHR will support “meaningful use” requirements physicians must meet to be eligible for the maximum Medicare reimbursements allowed under the ARRA.
Primary care doctors, especially those in small practices, want to be successful, remain independent and deliver excellent patient care. Sencilo has a vision for the future and we are actively investing in ways to transform health care in a positive way for physicians and their patients.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases,
we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription
e-Rx CareTracker
Allscripts-Misys MyWay Dominating Small Practice Market - February 26, 2010
“Our Largest Ambulatory Survey Yet!
Orlando Florida -- What else did they say about Allscripts?
· "Allscripts' solutions are clearly dominating the small practice setting"
· "An Allscripts product is being considered by about one-third of practices evaluating new EMR & EPM systems."
· "Allscripts was the vendor most frequently selected as most likely to use."
· "Allscripts was the clear leader in this survey, and we expect the company to benefit from increased EMR sales to the small practice market."
· “According to the survey, most respondents indicated that they were evaluating an Allscripts product most often, when considering which practice management system to purchase. Allscripts was also selected most frequently as the vendor they were likely to choose, showing up in more than 35% of responses, in several cases with customers evaluating multiple Allscripts products”
· “Allscripts was also well represented in the EMR space and continues to be the leader in a fragmented market.”
· “Most prospective customers in the survey were now looking at more than one Allscripts product, we believe implying strength across the product set.”
What were some of the conclusions about other companies?
· "Athenahealth Suffering from Lack of Consideration: Somewhat disappointing, only 5% of respondents indicated that they were evaluating Athena's collector product; 3% of respondents indicated that they were likely to select Athena."
· "NextGen Has Less Traction Down-Market: As expected, QSII's NextGen segment has less traction in the smaller practices, as the company is focused more up-market."
· "Inpatient Focused Vendors Lagging: With their focus on hospitals, none of the inpatient systems vendors we cover fared particularly well in the small practice survey."
What is the background on the survey?
· Leerink commissioned a MEDACorp survey of 103 small and mid-sized physician practices to get a glimpse into upcoming Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Practice Management (EPM) spending trends
· The survey was weighted toward small independent practices sizes (1-4 docs), but included some practices up to 20 physicians in size.
How can I use this report?
· We have approval to use this report, but it should be used in its entirety (not parsed out into pieces).
· This is a perfect report to use to make the point that Allscripts is the clear choice, the safe choice and the best choice.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources
that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can
get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Ingenix “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription
e-Rx
EHR Adoption - Will Your Office be Ready? - January 24, 2010
Despite $17 billion in incentives for adopting electronic health records, many physicians remain unconvinced that better care will be the payoff
Orlando Florida -- Dr. Larry Garber has been preparing for Washington’s $17 billion booster shot for the adoption of electronic health records for months, if not years. Now that the money is about to pour forth, his practice in western Massachusetts expects to be one of the first in line to apply for a portion of the stimulus law funding.
The big question is whether his colleagues across the country will follow his lead. Although technology and innovation have transformed medicine and pharmacology in the past 20 years, doctors remain late adopters of tools such as e-mail and digital records. Many are not convinced that data collection always leads to better care or that the federal government can help them do their jobs better by requiring collection and analysis of their patient data.
For Garber, who is medical director for informatics at the Fallon Clinic of Worcester, Mass., meeting the administration’s just-released requirements for meaningful use of electronic health records should be a snap because the 250-doctor practice he helps manage has been using EHR systems for several years. “We are on top of this,” Garber said. “We are very close to becoming meaningful users in 2011.”
The Health and Human Services Department’s goals in fostering EHRs are to reduce costs and improve efficiency and quality of care. The quality goals contained in the new regulations are the most ambitious element because they set the stage for creation of an unprecedented new infrastructure to collect clinical data from doctors, rate doctors’ quality of care and provide feedback to spur improvements.
The future of that strategy now lies in physicians’ hands. Doctors must decide whether they want to adopt health information technology systems and become meaningful users according to HHS’ rules, which is a condition for accepting money from the stimulus pot. As part of HHS' requirements, doctors must begin sharing some of their clinical data by 2011 for the purpose of improving overall quality. That's a tall order for doctors who have not done the early groundwork that Garber has done at the Fallon Clinic.
Physicians are making those buying decisions now. They are weighing the cost of purchasing the systems and judging the ease of installation and use. Quality is a potential benefit, to be sure, but the regulations bring new administrative requirements and — many physicians fear — a possible loss of autonomy as caregivers.
“Physicians want to satisfy the ethos of their profession,” said Dr. Stephen Sergay, a neurologist in Tampa, Fla. “Influencing people to provide quality through regulation does not necessarily bring out the best in people.”
Congress Sweetens the Pill
The federal government has been pushing doctors and hospitals to adopt EHRs since at least 2004, but it was not until Congress passed the economic stimulus law a year ago that incentive payments sweetened the deal. HHS is ready to inject at least $17 billion into the health care system to reward doctors and hospitals that buy and use the systems. It might be the impetus the medical profession needs to push it into the Digital Age.
But did the Obama administration go too far too fast when it linked health IT adoption with a large new system of data collection and exchange to help meet health care quality goals? It is too soon to say, but the early reaction from doctors is ambivalence.
Family doctors are considering many factors, said Dr. David Kibbe, senior adviser to the American Academy of Family Physicians. “For physicians with busy practices, this is not on their radar,” he added. “This new system is very confusing. The busy family physicians will look at this with real concern and with real caution.”
Much of the attention in Washington has been focused on the potential cost savings that EHRs could bring to an exceedingly inflation-challenged industry. Quality of care has received less attention.
There is evidence that digital records can reduce medical errors, especially in drug interactions, and that the availability of electronic data could lead to improved quality. The idea is to collect and analyze patient data to identify the best treatments based on outcomes and deliver that information to doctors when and where they need it most, especially the examining room. That is possible only with electronic systems.
“Simply put, health professionals will be able to give better care,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, HHS’ national coordinator for health IT, at a recent conference about linking stimulus dollars to higher-quality care.
Blumenthal and other policy-makers are hopeful of immediate quality rewards — a reduction in medication and prescription errors, a drop in the number of allergic reactions, and the avoidance of transcription problems caused by poor handwriting.
Other quality-of-care improvements will emerge after doctors broadly collect and share information, which is happening on a small scale in select practices, hospitals and state Medicaid programs. Health IT already has generated some quality improvements. For example:
•About 4,200 doctors are participating in the Community Care of North Carolina Medicaid incentive program. It focuses on quality in seven areas, including care for people with diabetes and congestive heart failure. The providers feed standardized data into the system and receive timely, actionable information in return, said Dr. L. Allen Dobson, president of Community Care. The results have been positive, including lower rates for asthma-related hospital admissions. Providing feedback to the physicians — including immediate actions for specific patients — is especially important because it gives the doctors a direct benefit for their effort, Dobson said. Overall, the quality ratings are helping to boost “a new level of competition based on quality,” he added.
•In San Diego, officials at the Veterans Affairs Department and Kaiser Permanente said at a press event Jan. 7 that their program to share patient data electronically has been successful in boosting quality. Instead of paperwork taking weeks, records can be shared in seconds. One of the first patients to benefit was a veteran Kaiser Permanente diagnosed as having severe allergies. When the veteran sought care from VA, his allergy records were available immediately. That increased the patient’s safety and reduced the risk of a prescription error, said Dr. Stephen Ondra, VA’s senior policy adviser for health affairs.
•Computer Sciences Corp. helped the Defense Department set up an e-prescribing system called the Pharmacy Data Transaction Service in 2005, with more than 9 million eligible participants. The system automatically checks new prescriptions against a patient’s medical history to avoid potentially life-threatening drug interactions. The system has helped DOD reduce prescription errors, said Dr. Robert Wah, chief medical officer at CSC. “There is a huge role for technology to improve quality,” he said. "Health IT is just a facilitator."
Doctors Remain Skeptical
In physicians’ offices, the quality regulations are likely to have a more complex impact. Although doctors generally support quality goals, they are skeptical of the way those goals are being pursued — in the form of data collection by regulation. The HHS-proposed meaningful-use regulation, published Jan. 13, outlines 29 data collection measures, of which 27 concern quality.
Even health IT’s strongest supporters, such as the Fallon Clinic's Garber, concede that HHS’ framework of quality regulations is getting a lukewarm reception.
Doctors believe they are providing the best quality care to meet patients’ unique needs, Garber said, and they tend to be wary of statistical generalizations about quality of care, which in the past have been drawn mostly from insurance claims data. From his viewpoint, doctors want digital systems to ease their administrative burdens and reduce medication errors from drug interactions. But for most doctors, a chance to take part in the national quality infrastructure will not persuade a doctor to invest in the systems, Garber said.
Physicians are also concerned that the government could eventually use the quality data to raise or lower payments for services performed for Medicare and Medicaid patients. In the past, some medical professionals have warned of unintended consequences — such as avoidance of the sickest patients — if physicians and hospitals are judged and paid based on the government's quality measures.
For example, one proposed quality measure is tracking the percentage of a doctor’s patients who are obese. Doctors are concerned that their future incomes might drop if they depend on whether obese patients follow advice to exercise, eat properly and lose weight, which doctors consider to be beyond their control, said Dr. Steven Waldron, director of the Center for Health IT at the American Academy of Family Physicians.
“There is a concern that the quality incentives won’t have adequate data about case mix and patient noncompliance,” Waldron said.
But appropriate rules could ease those concerns. For now, HHS is focusing on collecting the relevant data from participating doctors. Rules for sharing and using the data for quality purposes will come later. “In introducing any new technology, you need a thoughtful approach and strong incentives to counter unintended consequences,” said Janet Corrigan, president of the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit group that supports data collection to improve health care quality.
Another point of contention is that many physicians would like HHS to require that EHR systems include space for physicians' narrative notes. Those are the notes a physician writes when meeting with a patient, describing — often in the patient’s own words — why he or she has sought care and how the patient characterizes his or her symptoms. Digital systems typically do not have a place for such notes. Instead, they offer doctors a list of items to check off to describe a patient’s situation.
In a December 2009 survey by Nuance Communications, 94 percent of the 17,000 doctors interviewed said physician narratives are important to have in digital records and 96 percent were concerned about the consequences to patient care if those narratives are absent.
“I strongly believe that the quality of care is based on a meaningful dialogue between the physician and patient,” said Sergay, the Tampa neurologist. “Talking to people is so much better than filling in boxes.”
Some doctors also have doubts about receiving the stimulus law payments because they have not yet been reimbursed for their participation in the federal Physician Quality Reporting Initiative that began in 2006 and ended in 2008.
“The good news is that everyone has the same goal of high-quality care,” said Rob Tennant, senior policy adviser at the Medical Group Management Association. “What is problematic is that the way HHS has crafted the rule may be a deterrent.”
Doctors and policy-makers are also weighing other concerns about the link between health IT systems and improved quality. Studies have suggested that some systems might create new errors, such as choosing the wrong name or medication from a long list of choices. And a recent study at Harvard Medical School found that hospitals' health IT adoption has so far not led to higher quality.
Other studies have shown that the process of transitioning to EHRs brings multiple headaches and that dependence on an electronic system could lead to vulnerabilities. For example, the Government Accountability Office recently chided VA because a power outage-related computer glitch had a negative effect on patient care at VA facilities in Texas.
Although former President George W. Bush urged doctors and hospitals to go digital by 2014, the adoption rate has been slow. A recent survey showed that only about 17 percent of doctors and 8 percent of hospitals are using at least a single type of EHR application. The systems span a number of applications, including computerized physician orders for drugs and of tests, decision support, and physician notes.
Moreover, large parts of the health quality data infrastructure have not yet been conceptualized. Standardizing the data so that it has common elements and can be securely exchanged among users is a challenge. “We have not thought this through yet,” Blumenthal said. “The vision is there, and the path is beginning to be conceived.”
How long it will take to realize the vision and get physicians to buy into it remains the $17 billion question. “We have to work on refinement of the clinical care improvements,” said Richard Moore, chief information officer at the nonprofit National Committee for Quality Assurance. “It will take a lot of time to go from a fragmented system to an integrated one. But is it three years or 10 years?”
In the end, quality improvements through health IT must be accompanied by bigger changes. “It’s not just buying a system; you have to redesign the delivery of care,” said Dr. Anne-Marie Audet, vice president of quality improvement and efficiency at the Commonwealth Fund.
As physicians wait to see the outcome of health care and payment reforms, one of their strategies might be to delay adoption of health care records until they have a fuller picture, Kibbe said. Ultimately, though, many doctors are amenable to the idea of receiving rewards for high quality, even though data could be used to reduce income for some doctors, he said.
“I hope we’ll see opportunities for hospitals and physicians to be rewarded for better quality, not just quantity,” Kibbe said.
Despite the complexity of the issues involved, many doctors and policy-makers agree that although it's not a foolproof strategy, striving to improve quality through health IT might be one of the best chances to bring the quality of health care in the United States up to a level that meets everyone’s expectations.
“You cannot improve what you cannot measure,” Waldron said. “There are risks to anything you do, but the benefits in this case outweigh the risks.”
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources
that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can
get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan
your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time
and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Ingenix “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare
EHR Measuring Meaningful Use for Medicare/Medicaid Incentive Reimbursements - January 24, 2010
Orlando Florida -- The new year marks the start of the “meaningful use” era of health IT. The bold attempt to transform the U.S. healthcare delivery system comes with a staggering investment: $30 billion- plus in funding set aside in last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to encourage providers and provider organizations to go digital.
The funds, in the form of Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments, will flow to providers who can “demonstrate” a significant EHR deployment. Therein lies the rub. With so much money in play, how will doctors’ offices and hospitals account for how they put their new EHRs to use—and how will government program managers authenticate those claims?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which will administer the incentive program, last month issued its much-anticipated plan for meaningful use. The policy clarifies what specific electronic services providers must offer to qualify for ARRA incentives.
But the actual means through which CMS will track whether providers meet the agency’s objectives remain vague. Health IT experts believe CMS is likely to use multiple electronic reporting systems to document how providers use EHRs. These systems will act as flight data recorders for the project, plotting the path of meaningful use and documenting what Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT, has called a “vast social project of change management.” Ultimately, the data will yield important clues as to whether IT can help meet the primary goals of health reform: to reduce costs and improve quality of care. The systems also will largely determine whether the $30 billion project rates as a good investment or a costly miscue, says Brian J. McCarthy CEO of Sencilo HealthIT Solutions in Lake Mary Florida and well known speaker of
Healthcare and IT.
Those questions are drawing interest from members of Congress. In an October 2009 letter to electronic health record system developers, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said, “Every accountability measure ought to be used to track stimulus money invested in health information technology.”
CMS lists the development of “systems to monitor and evaluate incentive payments” among its 2010 objectives. These systems— the practical plumbing of meaningful use—could involve repurposing existing mechanisms or creating new ones. Additionally, myriad third-party organizations might be called on to help account for meaningful use, including health information exchanges and value.
“I have a feeling that meaningful use is going to be well defined and the types of data that need to be reported are going to be well-defined, but the [reporting] processes are going to be open enough that multiple structures can fulfill those objectives,” said John Feikema, the chief information officer of VisionShare, which provides software that transmits Medicare transaction data.
State and federal paths
The electronic channels through which providers will report their EHR progress to the government will need to rollout concurrently with the multi-year meaningful use incentive plan. By and large, CMS will manage incentive payments to Medicare providers, while state Medicaid offices will oversee the program for practices that qualify for Medicaid incentives.
To give states an incentive of their own, CMS said it would reward those states which devise oversight systems. In a September 2009 letter to state Medicaid directors, CMS said it will cover 90 percent of a state’s administrative costs if they conduct “adequate oversight of the incentive program, including routine tracking of meaningful use attestations and reporting mechanisms, says McCarthy.” Those dollars are entirely separate from the EHR incentive funding.
On the Medicare side, CMS has developed and is developing reporting systems that allow providers to submit clinical data to health policy researchers tracking the quality and outcomes of certain programs and treatments. Existing data channels could influence the development of meaningful use systems, according to health IT analysts.
Kerry Weems, the former administrator of CMS and now senior vice president for health strategy at IT services firm ANS., said CMS will likely use at least three different reporting mechanisms for meaningful use. Those include CMS’s Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), clinical registries and EHR systems themselves, he said.
PQRI, established in 2007, provides incentive payments to physicians who report data on quality measures for services provided to Medicare patients. Providers may report PQRI data through the regular claims process to a Medicare administrative contractor, which in turn provides the data to CMS.
This approach requires providers to insert a G-code (Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System codes) that adds clinical data—say, a patient with A1c blood sugar levels in a specific range—to the usual administrative diagnosis and procedure codes used in billing. A practice’s accounts receivable enters the G-code on the patient’s bill before sending it to Medicare.
Weems said PQRI could be pressed into service for meaningful use reporting, which also will deal with clinical and quality data. But there are some drawbacks with this approach. CMS compiled a study on PQRI’s 2007 reporting year, Weems said, and found that only 109,000 out of the 700,000 eligible physicians participated and about half of those successfully reported data and received payment.
“If, in fact, they use [PQRI] it will need significant improvement to demonstrate meaningful use,” Weems said. The program saw some improvement during the 2008 reporting year. CMS in November reported a one-third increase in physician participation in PQRI that year compared with 2007. Still, Weems said he had hoped for a better result. The G-code is another difficulty with PQRI, since it compels providers to alter the billing process by throwing clinical data into the mix.
The role of registries CMS, however, has an alternative reporting channel for PQRI: designated clinical registries. A registry is a database that collects health information on particular patient populations. A mix of organizations operate registries, including hospitals, health IT vendors and health associations. Today, online registries enable providers to post quality data through a Web interface, which can then be submitted to CMS.
A registry makes quality reporting part of the clinical workflow, which eases the burden for providers. “I think the PQRI program is not only going to be transferable to meaningful use, it will be initially one of the core reporting mechanisms,” said Dr. John Haughton, chairman and chief medical officer of DocSite, a company that provides a CMS-designated PQRI registry.
CMS has anointed more than 70 registries to submit PQRI data on behalf of providers. The registries go through a vetting process that examines their ability to provide the needed data elements, according to CMS. CMS may permit registry reporting for meaningful use authentication, according to Weems, but it is not yet clear which registries will be qualified to do so. Though CMS has used registries for quality measures and clinical guidelines in the past, the approach is a “bridge” to a long-term solution, he said.
Standardized electronic reporting via an EHR—outside of the claims system— will ultimately become the long-term solution that verifies meaningful use, according to health IT experts.
Weems said he envisions EHR vendors tweaking their existing reporting tools to comply with a yet-to-be-created federal reporting tool specification. The resulting interoperable interface would replace numerous vendor-specific EHR interfaces for reporting to CMS.
Trust, but verify
In the meantime, EHR systems’ proprietary reporting methods may provide a temporary solution. CMS perhaps foreshadowed that development in October, when it announced that providers would be able to use their EHR systems to report PQRI quality measures. At the time, CMS said the move would “provide both eligible professionals and CMS with experience on EHR-based reporting.”
“We have seen the beginning of that interim approach” with CMS’s announcement, according to Weems. Not all EHR systems deployed today possess reporting features, and still might not by 2011, the first year providers are eligible to receive the incentives. Jana Skewes, chief executive officer at Shared Health, a Tennessee-based health information exchange, said meaningful use reporting might rely on an honor system of sorts while EHR reporting is ironed out.
One interim option: an electronic survey, in which physicians could answer questions regarding EHR. This approach would ask providers to essentially vouch for their meaningful EHR usage, as opposed to reporting data directly from the EHR. Although a “less elegant report,” Skewes said, it could stand-in for the more hard-wired approach.
Dr. Bruce Taffel, chief medical officer at Shared Health, said surveys could address meaningful use requirements such as participating in health information exchange or e-prescribing. Random audits could then help authenticate the survey results. “Trust, but verify—that is going to be part of the initial systems,” he said. Micky Tripathi, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, a non-profit group that works to advance EHR adoption in the state, agreed that self-reporting may be the direction meaningful use reporting initially takes. But he emphasized the importance of audits in that scenario. “Self attestation is meaningless without a periodic audit to support it,” he said.
e-Prescribing model
While Medicare providers await CMS developments, Medicaid providers will watch as states rollout reporting struc-tures of their own.“States will need to engage in planning to ensure that they are able to track such use, consistent with the federal rules,” CMS acknowledged in a letter to state program operators last fall.
Few states have a blueprint for such tracking, but some may adapt existing systems designed for other types of reporting. New York State’s Department of Health is rolling out an e-prescribing incentive program—unrelated to meaningful use— through which it will offer Medicaid providers 80 cents for every e-prescription they write. The state’s experience accounting for e-prescriptions under the program may prove useful when it addresses the thornier requirements of meaningful use.
E-prescribing, part of the foundation for meaningful use, will be one of the simpler requirements to authenticate, since a network infrastructure to carry out the service already exists.
New York
plans to track the prescriptions by capturing the CMS-issued, 10-digit National Provider Identifier (NPI) number providers use to make pharmacy claims. Data authenticating the transaction will travel from providers to the state via electronic e-prescribing networks, such as SureScripts, or other intermediaries.
This approach has a dual purpose, according to Dr. James Figge, medical director of the department’s Office of Health Insurance Programs. It will help manage the state’s e-prescribing program, but it also positions the state for managing meaningful use.
“When we get to the meaningful use requirement, we can credit that prescription for meaningful use,” he said. To authenticate participants, NPI numbers may be linked to cryptographic keys, according to Figge. Keys could be assigned to authorized providers who pass security audits. Figge said the proposed approach is intended to stimulate discussion, noting that it is not known what techniques CMS will ultimately require. The use of NPI numbers could apply to not only the meaningful use’s e-prescribing requirement, but to other potential aspects of the program, including the use of HIEs and the quality metrics reporting, Figge added.
Medicaid systems
Medicaid reporting will also likely involve state Medicaid Management Information Systems, which process and pay claims. Integrators and consultants who work on Medicaid systems believe states will add to current systems, rather than build new ones to deal with meaningful use.
“Medicaid administrators are thinking about the implementation of systems to accept and use these new measures in time for (fiscal year) 2011 implementation,” said David Nelson, director of planning and strategy at Thomson Reuters, which works with 28 state Medicaid agencies to provide systems and consulting on data, data systems, and quality and cost analysis.
“Our customers are asking us how we can enhance their existing data systems with the addition of meaningful use data.” Dr. Kit Gorton, vice president of medical management at HP Enterprise Services, a leading manager of MMIS systems, said every one of the 22 states where the company provides claims administration services, “is talking to us about how to leverage the MMIS infrastructure to collect data and administer the meaningful use incentives.”
Gorton said he believes states plan to use either their emerging HIE infrastructures, if sufficiently advanced, or their MMIS systems to collect data and administer incentives. As for MMIS, Gorton said current vendor systems already “have the core functionality” that will enable them to flag providers who are doing meaningful use and push out payments.
A head start on meaningful use reporting can’t hurt. Policy makers will need any edge they can find to manage the largest ever investment in health IT.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources
that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can
get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan
your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time
and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health
record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare
IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records,
practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology,
Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals,
clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics,
Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-
prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor,
healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID,
SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-
clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft
Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Ingenix “transformative”
telemedicine medicaid medicare
Transforming the Medical Profession to "HealthPresence" Technologies - January 24, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Cisco, the world’s leading supplier of networking technology, is piloting what it is touting as a “transformative” telemedicine program at 15 sites in California, in partnership with several community centers, Molina Healthcare and the state of California.
Transformative because Cisco is claiming that the use of its “HealthPresence” technology provides a better experience than both in-person visits between doctor and patient, and previous video-enabled telemedicine.
The medical profession has not changed much in 60 years, John Chambers, chairman and chief executive of Cisco, told a press conference Jan. 15. But over the next couple of years, the new initiative will show how to provide medical care using “new world solutions.”
If it works, he said it could help bring comprehensive medical care to every citizen in California.
Cisco has been using this kind of technology to provide medical services to its own employees for several years, and has itself piloted HealthPresence in various clinical settings.
Cisco HealthPresence combines state-of-the-art medical diagnostic equipment with such things as high-definition cameras, electronic stethoscopes and high-speed networking to enable both primary doctors and specialists to confer with other doctors and patients at a distance, in real-time.
Current telemedicine technology also provides for remote consultations, but rarely for the real-time experience Cisco claims for its solution. Relatively slow network links between major city medical centers and remote hospitals and clinics limit the kind of diagnostic equipment that can be used, for example, and treatment often has to be spread over several telemedicine sessions.
With the kind of technology and services HealthPresence provides, patients can also participate more directly in the consultations and treatment, Cisco said.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his state is a natural host for this program, as it’s been laying the groundwork for such initiatives since 2006 when it formed a group to map California’s broadband needs, and in 2007 created the California Telemedicine Network. It also set aside $200 million to help train doctors to use advanced communications technology.
All the sites involved in the pilot program are expected to be fully operational within the next six months.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu Data Domain, EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, HDS, IBM, Commvault, Xiotech and HP.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include BC DR planning Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHREHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Ingenix
Lack of Basic Security allows BlueCross and BlueShield to loses 500,000 members Health and Financial Records - January 19, 2010
Orlando Florida -- BlueCross and BlueShield of Tennessee has announced it has so far notified more than 157,000 members of the theft of identifiable data in early October that affected an estimated 500,000 members. The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based insurer announced the theft within days of its occurance. It started notifying members in early December as evidence that their information was on stolen files surfaced during an investigation that continues.
In October, 57 hard drives containing audio and video files were stolen from a leased facility that previously housed a call center and was in a transition stage with some employees still working at the facility. The files related to coordination of care and eligibility phone calls from providers and members. The video files were images from computer screens of customer service representatives and the audio files were recorded telephone conversations. The stolen material included an estimated 1.3 million audio files and 300,000 video files.
The files contained demographic information and BlueCross ID numbers. They also contained diagnostic information and Social Security numbers for many of the affected members. The files were encoded, which is a process of converting data by use of a code to make it unreadable, but not encrypted, which changes plain text into ciphertext, or characters, using algorithms and a key.
The plan hired New York security firm Kroll Inc. to review backup files and identify affected members, conduct forensic data matching to determine the data at risk for each member, and to assess BCBS of Tennessee's systemwide security. The plan "has taken several actions to strengthen these protocols," the company said in a Jan. 13 statement updating its progress. Among the changes is a requirement now that all data resides in properties that BCBS of Tennessee owns, according to a spokesperson.
The theft occurred on Oct. 2 and the plan learned about it on Oct. 5. Work to identify and match data began on Oct. 7. The plan and Kroll completed an audit of back-up files on Jan. 4 with analysis of the data continuing. Notification letters to affected members started on Dec. 7.
We have seen this all before, companies like Blue Cross and BlueShield thinking that it would not happen to them, well it did and it will happen again if they don't improve their in-house security, says Brian McCarthy CEO for Sencilo HealthIT Solutions. This will be more and more common place in the news, now that there are laws requiring sloppy firms that do not protect their clients informations, blasts McCarthy. Whether you are a large company or a small doctors office you are required by law to keep client information protected or face large fines and lawsuites. Just ask the CIO of BlueCross how much this will cost them, if their straight with you it will be in the tens of millions, says McCarthy.
As of Jan. 7, the insurer has identified 220,000 members at highest risk and has notified more than 157,000. These members had their Social Security number among the data that was stolen. The plan remains in the process of identifying and notifying additional members at lower risk because their Social Security numbers were not among the data. All affected members will receive free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for one year, with enhanced services for those with compromised Social Security numbers.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu Data Domain, EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, HDS, IBM, Commvault, Xiotech and HP.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include BC DR planning Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHREHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations
Health Net carelessly loses 1.5 million Health Records and violates HIPAA law in doing so - January 16, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a lawsuit charging Health Net of Connecticut Inc. with violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules following a large breach of identifiable medical records and Social Security numbers.
Blumenthal's office believes this is the first lawsuit by a state's chief legal officer since the HITECH Act last year gave state attorneys general authority to prosecute HIPAA privacy and security violations.
Parent company Health Net in Los Angeles last November reported to insurance officials in four states the disappearance in May of a hard drive with protected health information on 1.5 million members, including 446,000 in Connecticut. The data was not encrypted, but Health Net said it is invisible without the use of specific software. The company attributed the delay in reporting the breach to a lengthy forensic investigation to determine what information was on the hard drive. "Had Health Net used some basic data encryption products they would not of found themself about to get fines in the millions, says Brian McCarthy CEO and Data Protection expect for Sencilo HealthIT Solutions in Lake Mary Florida. Everyone of our clients over the past 6 years start off with "it can't happen to me" but we demostrate just how simple it is to steal both paper and digital records, and we always
win them over.
In the lawsuit, Blumenthal charges Health Net did not have adequate legal grounds to delay notifying members of the breach and that the delay constituted an unfair trade practice under state law. "Under information and belief, no law enforcement agency determined that the notification to affected Connecticut residents would have impeded a criminal investigation and requested that the notification be delayed," according to the suit.
Blumenthal is seeking a court order blocking Health Net from further HIPAA violations and requiring encryption of all protected health information on portable electronic devices. He also seeks civil fines.
New federal rules mandated under the HITECH Act require "timely" notification of certain breaches of health information. The rules were effective in September and have a compliance deadline of Feb. 22, 2010.
Health Net of Connecticut on Jan. 13 released the following statement within hours of receiving the lawsuit: "Protecting the privacy of our members is extremely important to us. Health Net's company policy states that data must be encrypted and secured. Health Net has just received a copy of the lawsuit and is in the process of reviewing it. We will continue to work cooperatively with the Connecticut Attorney General on this matter.
"To date, Health Net has found no evidence that there has been any misuse of the data. Health Net is offering two years of free credit monitoring services for all impacted members who elect this service. This service also includes $1 million of identity theft insurance coverage and enrollment in fraud resolution services for two years, if needed. Additionally, if members experience any identity theft between May 2009 and the data of their enrollment, Health Net will provide services to restore the member's identity at no cost to the member." I have heard this says a hundred times from companies "after" a breach, take my word for it, Health Net's client records are being sold and making the bad guys rich off their carelessness.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Technology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution
that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you
with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources
that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can
get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan
your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time
and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services
solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple
manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu Data Domain, EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, HDS, IBM, Commvault, Xiotech and HP.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include BC DR planning Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC
NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Network Backup appliance Data Recovery
Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act
PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHREHR
Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management
systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology,
Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and
medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP,
HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing,
athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance
management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing,
superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds
nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet
certified "meaningful use" violations
Give me my medical records, now! - January 15, 2010
Orlando Florida -- For five days as her husband lay in his hospital bed suffering from kidney cancer, Regina Holliday begged doctors and nurses for his medical records, and for five days she never received them.
On the sixth day, her husband needed to be transferred to another hospital -- without his complete medical records.
"When Fred arrived at the second hospital, they couldn't give him any pain medication because they didn't know what drugs he already had in his system, and they didn't want to overdose him," says Holliday, who lives in Washington. "For six hours he was in pain, panicking, while I ran back to the first hospital and got the rest of the records."
Despite a federal law requiring hospitals and doctors to release medical records to patients who ask for them, patients are reporting they have a hard time accessing them leading to complications like the ones the Holliday family experienced.
'What part of "Give us our damn data" do you not understand?'
Dave deBronkart, co-chairman of the Society for Participatory Medicine, put it this way in a recent blog post: "What part of 'Give us our damn data' do you not understand?"
While there are no statistics on how many patients have trouble accessing their own records, there have been "repeated" complaints to the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a senior health information privacy specialist at the department's Office for Civil Rights, which enforces the federal law that gives patients access to their records.
"It's crazy ridiculous when you can't walk out of a doctor's office or hospital with a copy of your medical records if you ask for them," says Deven McGraw, director of the health privacy project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
"Lack of information kills people," she says. "Having your medical records can save your life."
Elizabeth Lietz, a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association, says she can't speak to any specific case where a patient had trouble getting records from a hospital.
"Every patient has a right to get their medical records," Lietz says. "Our goal is to work with patients to get their records while at the same time protecting their privacy rights."
DeBronkart encourages patients to get their records before they're admitted to the hospital.
He points to an incident in 2008 when a Minnesota hospital was supposed to remove a patient's cancerous kidney -- but instead removed the healthy kidney, leaving the diseased one in the patient's body.
The hospital, Park Nicollet Health Services said the "tragic error" occurred because "the side of the effected kidney was incorrectly identified in the medical chart several weeks before the surgery took place."
"If that patient had had their medical records before the surgery, they could have caught this error and corrected it," deBronkart says.
'You have to be a jerk'
As her husband writhed in pain, Regina Holliday drove to the first hospital with her husband's power of attorney in hand.
"I had to get nasty. I had to say, 'You did a bad job, and I'm angry, and the second hospital is angry,' " she says. An hour-and-a-half later, she had the records in hand and took them to the second hospital, where after looking at the chart, they gave her husband more pain medication.
CNN contacted the first hospital for comment and received this reply: "HIPAA rules don't allow us to talk about a patient."
Fred Holliday died two months later from his kidney cancer at the age of 39. He was the father of two children and an assistant professor of film studies at American University in Washington.
After he died, Holliday, an artist, painted a scene on the back of a jacket depicting her husband in a hospital robe and handcuffs with the words "Data Prison" above him.
She sold the jacket to Jen McCabe, CEO of Contagion Health, who wears it to medical conferences, where she says it's attracted many comments.
"Almost everyone I talked to had a horror story about a medical error ordifficulty getting access to medical records to take to a new doctor or hospital," she says.
One of those people was Alan Viars, a CEO of a high-tech company in Baltimore, Maryland. Viars says he learned of the importance of looking at your own medical records when his father went for an annual physical last summer and his doctor told him an EKG test the year before indicated he'd had a heart attack.
He says no one had ever told his father he'd had an abnormal EKG. "His physician didn't bother to look at the result of his EKG or failed to inform my father of his condition," Viars wrote in a blog. "Unbelievable, I know, but true."
Viars' father went to a hospital near his home in West Virginia, where a cardiac catheterization showed two arteries were so severely blocked he needed open heart surgery. Online, Viars found another hospital with better success rates for bypass surgery, and arranged to have his father transferred there.
His sister, Leslie Cryster, tried to get their father's medical records. In particular, she wanted a copy of a CD showing the results of his cardiac catheterization, an invasive procedure where a tube is inserted through an artery to the heart. Cryster, a nurse anesthetist, knew that if the CD didn't get to the next hospital, they'd have to do procedure, which has risks, all over again.
"We started with the nursing staff and they said, 'We don't normally give patients their records,' " she says. "Then I talked to a clerk at the hospital, who told me I had to go to an offsite storage facility to get the records. Then that facility told me I had to ask the hospital."
Finally, Cryster talked to someone else at the hospital and threatened to call her sister-in-law, who's an attorney. After talking it over with a cardiologist, she received her father's records, and he had his bypass surgery a few days later at the second hospital.
"I hate to think that I threatened to call an attorney, but I did. I hate to think that's what it takes to get somebody to listen to you, but I feel like that's what it takes," she says.
'It's your data'
To make sure you get your medical records, follow these tips.
1. Know your rights
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which governs access to medical records, gives hospitals and doctors 30 days to respond to a request for medical records, although some state laws provide for a shorter time frame, and in urgent situations, such as a transfer to another hospital, it's customary for hospitals to move more quickly.
Be prepared to make your request in writing, McCabe says. You can bring it in person, or fax the request in, but make sure you confirm that the hospital's received it.
One way to get your medical records more quickly is to seek out providers who use electronic medical records so the records can be e-mailed to you, she says. Some providers have an electronic portal so you can read your records anytime you want on a secure site on the Internet.
2. Get the new hospital or doctor to help you
Lietz says if you need your records because you're switching hospitals or doctors, ask the new office to make the records request.
"Have the provider make the request," she says. "To be honest, it's going to be faster."
3. Remember the limits of the law
Your doctor doesn't have to give you access to everything in your record. For example, your doctor doesn't have to give you access to information he or she thinks might cause you or someone else substantial harm, says the senior health information privacy specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Some states allow even more information to be kept from a patient. For example, the New York Department of Health Web site says doctors may deny you access to "personal notes and observations" they've made in your record.
4. Get angry
"Sadly, you might have to get angry in order to gain access to your medical records," Viars wrote in his blog. "Don't let them tell you no. It's your data."
5. File a complaint
If you have trouble getting access, you can file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For more information please call (407) 641-5199 or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Tecnology"
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology
With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money ÂÂand lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu Data Domain, EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, HDS, IBM, Commvault, Xiotech and HP.
Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City
solutions include BC DR planning Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHREHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use"
