May 7, 2013 David Raths
news
In his opening remarks to the May 7 Health IT Policy Committee, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health IT, spoke about work flow and business process changes that must accompany payment reform and technology infrastructure. Mostashari chose not to use the policy committee forum to address the recent suggestion by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) that Stage 2 of meaningful use be extended for an extra year. “We are halfway through the process of computerizing and digitizing healthcare settings, but only 5 percent of the way through redesigning work flows,” he said.
May 2, 2013 David Raths
blog
Like country singer Willie Nelson, regional extension centers (RECs) in rural states are on the road again. Several RECs, which are helping primary care physicians achieve meaningful use, are undertaking statewide road shows to explain the benefits of connecting with health information exchanges to help meet Stage 2 of meaningful use.
April 28, 2013 David Raths
blog
Judy Murphy, R.N., deputy national coordinator for programs and policy at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, said criticisms of the EHR incentive program because it hasn’t yet led to widespread interoperability are misguided. Interoperability “is going to be a progression, a journey," she said.
April 26, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
Eighty-four million people―nearly half of all working-age U.S. adults―went without health insurance for a time last year or had out-of-pocket costs that were so high relative to their income they were considered underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2012 Biennial Health Insurance Survey.
April 23, 2013 Jeff Smith, Director of Public Policy at CHIME
article
Six Senators sent letters to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and health IT stakeholders questioning the effectiveness of HITECH implementation. In response to the report, Secretary Sebelius said, “We haven’t gotten to implementation of Stage 2 yet,” Sebelius said in a recent Senate Finance Committee budget hearing. “You might be reading the final chapter before we launch it.”
April 16, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
Six Republican Senators have released a whitepaper that argues Congress and the Obama administration need to reboot the Health Information Technology and Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and the efforts to deploy health IT, because the current program is deficient.
April 16, 2013 Jeff Smith, Director of Public Policy at CHIME
article
The HHS Inspector General Office and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently unveiled proposals to amend the safe harbor regulation concerning electronic health records (EHRs) items and services. The proposed amendments include an update to the provision under which EHR software is deemed interoperable; removal of the electronic prescribing capability requirement; and extension of the sunset provision to Dec. 31, 2016.
April 11, 2013 David Raths
blog
AHA expresses concern about "significant burden placed on providers who are trying to meet multiple, often non-aligned quality measurement and reporting requirements."
March 19, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
article
Lawmakers in the House Energy & Commerce Committee announced three separate hearings to be held this week on the subject of health information technology. The Energy & Commerce subcommittees will look at a host of issues related to health IT, mHealth and the current regulatory framework at HHS.
March 1, 2013 David Raths
blog
HIMSS and other industry associations have started reminding regulators that it would be a good idea to postpone or eliminate this sunset to allow more health systems to donate health IT.
February 20, 2013 David Raths
blog
The latest negative article finds that sales are up for EHR vendors who lobbied for the incentives, and it implies that increasing those sales and the salaries of its executives was the real purpose of the exercise.
February 17, 2013 David Raths
blog
I have been dismayed over the past year to see how many articles in the New York Times seem to start with the notion that the nationwide transition to EHRs is being carried out under faulty premises about financial savings or leading to negative outcomes, because the implied conclusion is that we are throwing our money away and just making things worse. Finally, an article in this week's paper suggests otherwise.
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