ARRA News

CMS clarifies quality requirements for meaningful use

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted a frequently asked question and answer regarding the attestation statements that providers must agree to in order to successfully demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records and receive an incentive payment under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Among other things, hospitals must attest that the information submitted for 15 clinical quality measures was generated by certified EHR technology and that the information is “accurate and complete for numerators, denominators, exclusions, and measures.”

However, the FAQ goes on to explain that “CMS considers information to be accurate and complete for CQMs insofar as it is identical to the output that was generated from certified EHR technology” and notes that, while quality measures must be reported, CMS is not assessing the results of the measure data at this time. The American Hospital Association called on CMS to address the attestation language because hospitals have experienced considerable difficulty in generating the required CQMs from their EHRs due to technical problems with the measure specifications provided by CMS and other issues.

Up-to-date e-Rx guide includes new rules, incentives

Guidelines for providers moving to e-prescribing have been updated to include rule changes and information on incentives. The American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, Medical Group Management Association, eHealth Initiative and Center for Improving Medication Management collaborated on the guide.

Read more here.

CMS unveils MU attestation calculator

The CMS has rolled out an online tool designed to help hospitals and providers tell whether they satisfy meaningful use standards for EHRs before they begin the process of verifying compliance. However, the Meaningful Use Attestation Calculator does not cover clinical quality standards, which are reported separately.

Read more here.

MU lesson: Watch data capture

Heart & Vascular Center in Arizona thought it was on course to meet medication reconciliation criteria because its patient portal enables access to a clinical summary of care, including a medications list. But because the meaningful criteria specifically addresses transitions of care, all providers had to be trained to use a specific code to identify a post-op visit as a “transition of care” event.

“That was a hurdle for us,” administrator Barbara Watkins says. “We had to stop what we were doing and make sure everyone was doing it the same way.”

Learn more here.

New ONC head discusses health IT

Health information technology is moving into an “intense phase of implementation” that will require a period of hard work and collaboration with all stakeholders including hospitals, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, M.D., said April 26 at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C. “We are hitting our mile markers, but it’s a marathon,” Mostashari said, discussing ongoing efforts to coordinate and implement health IT with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, (D-SD), co-leader of the center’s Health Project, and former Sen. Bob Bennett, (R-UT), a senior fellow at the center.

As the U.S. enters a new era of health care financing that requires better information, Mostashari said the focus must remain on using health IT to improve patient care in a secure way that protects the patients’ privacy. Mostashari was named national coordinator earlier this month when David Blumenthal, M.D., stepped down to return to his teaching post at Harvard University.

[ via AHA News Now ]

CMS opens registration for calls on Medicare EHR program attestation

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid has opened registration for a May 3 teleconference for hospitals that will walk through the attestation process for the Medicare electronic health record incentive program, and a similar May 5 call for physicians. Hospitals and physicians eligible to participate in the Medicare EHR incentive program can, if they choose, begin attesting that they meet the program's meaningful use requirements.

Hospitals need not attest to meaningful use in fiscal year 2011 to benefit fully from Medicare EHR incentive payments. Hospitals wishing to attest in FY 2011 must report on the meaningful use measures for a 90-day period during the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

For more information, visit www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms.

ONC to fine tune technical guides for standards in Stage 2

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT intends to fine tune standards involved in realizing stage 2 meaningful use recommendations and fill in where missing details exist during the next four months. ONC plans to “refresh and reload” adopted certification criteria and new or updated technical descriptions to guide vendors to establish standards, said Doug Fridsma, MD, ONC director of standards and interoperability. He described it as ONC’s health IT “summer camp.”

Learn more here.

Usability key to EHR adoption, AHA tells HIT panel

Making electronic health record products easier to use will facilitate their adoption and use by hospitals, the AHA yesterday told a federal panel formulating recommendations on EHR usability. “Put simply, if a system is not easy to use, it is less likely to be used,” Chantal Worzala, American Hospital Association director of policy, told the Adoption and Certification Workgroup of the Health Information Technology Policy Committee at a hearing on EHR usability.

From the hospital clinical perspective, Worzala said attributes of a usable system include speed, reliability, efficiency, accuracy, intuitiveness, stability of design, and support for workflow: “‘Make the right thing to do the easy thing to do.’ This phrase from a hospital chief information officer pretty much sums it up.” She said developers of EHRs and related products should consider ease of integration part of usability, noting that hospitals “must integrate dozens of disparate information systems to bring all relevant patient information together at the point of care.”

CMS announces May calls on Medicare EHR program attestation

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid on May 3 will hold a national call for hospitals that will walk through the attestation process for the Medicare electronic health record incentive program, and a similar May 5 call for physicians. It said information on registering for the calls will be available soon. Hospitals and physicians eligible to participate in the Medicare EHR incentive program can, if they choose, begin attesting that they meet the program's meaningful use requirements.

Hospitals need not attest to meaningful use in fiscal year 2011 to benefit fully from Medicare EHR incentive payments. Hospitals wishing to attest in FY 2011 must report on the meaningful use measures for a 90-day period during the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

For more information, visit www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms.

Exchanges giving states migraines

The online exchanges that are being created by the health reform law are often described as a new “Travelocity for health insurance.” But the people who are charged with setting up the exchanges say it’s not going to be as easy as buying a plane ticket. “People have talked about this as a ‘Travelocity’ experience,” said Bruce Caswell, president and general manager for health services for Maximus, an information technology company that handles Medicaid managed-care enrollment in 13 states. “It’s probably going to be more like applying for a mortgage.”

Read more from Politico here.

Mostashari And More Health IT In Health Affairs

One of the biggest challenges to realizing the full benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) has been moving their adoption beyond large integrated systems to safety net providers and physicians in small and solo practices. The new National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Farzad Mostashari, may be particularly well prepared to deal with that challenge. Before coming to the Office of the National Coordinator, Mostashari headed the New York City Primary Care Information Project, where he undertook to promote EHR adoption in community health centers and hundreds of primary care offices across New York City.

Read more from the Health Affairs blog here.

At ONC And CMS, Resources For Incentive-Eligible Professionals

On January 3, 2011, registration for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs opened for America’s health care providers. Eligible professionals and hospitals that register may qualify for significant incentive payments under Medicare and Medicaid when they switch from paper-based medical records to certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. Congress established the Medicare and Medicaid Incentive Programs to encourage widespread adoption of EHRs so that patients, providers, and the nation can realize the improvements that EHRs can support in quality and efficiency of care.

According to government-supported surveys, 81 percent of hospitals and 41 percent of office-based physicians intend to apply for the incentives, with the majority of them planning to participate in Stage 1 of the program (2011-2012).

Read more from the Health Affairs blog here.

Key dates for HITECH

CMS recently reported it has paid out $37.6 million and registered 25,217 physicians in its EHR incentives program. On April 6, it will host a national call for hospitals about registration for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Looking ahead, some key dates:

April 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.

May 2011 – EHR Incentive Payments expected to begin.

July 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.

September 30, 2011 - Last day of the federal fiscal year. Reporting year ends for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals.

October 1, 2011 – Last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.

[ via Deloitte | Health Care Reform ]

Waiting until 2012 to apply for meaningful use may not be a good idea

Achieving meaningful use requires, for most organizations, a profound number of cultural and workflow changes. Rushing to meet meaningful use might result in a lack of firm cultural foundations and poor adoption of new workflows. However, if an organization already has a solid plan for EHR adoption and is close to meeting meaningful use requirements, moving forward in 2011 might help prevent a loss of momentum and provide public relations benefits.

Read more here.