The article about Pediatric Associates in CA has a nugget with a potentially outsized impact: the implication that VFC vaccines…
News 7/7/09
From: Handy Man “Re: Should CCHIT-certification be required for EMRs? Perhaps the analogy ought to be that when I hire a contractor to build a house, I don’t mandate what tools they use…. Do I really care whether they use Craftsman hammers or 10 oz or 16 oz hammers? Or, do I care that the house stands up straight and level? I.E, let’s focus on goals of medical care, not just having technology to say we have technology.”
Executive Solutions for Healthcare, a developer and manager of ambulatory surgery centers, selects ProVation MD and EHR solutions for two of its facilities. Trinity Plaza Surgery Center and The Endoscopy Center of Lodi (CA) will utilize the ProVation solutions from Wolters Kluwer Health.
JL Software announces the release of The Handbook of High-Risk Obstetrics for use on Phones and iPod Touches. The $49.99 application covers all aspects of perinatal practice.
The Tennessee Medical Association sues a collection agency, alleging the company is fraudulently trying to take back reimbursements paid to doctors. Health Research Insights is demanding repayment from physicians, on behalf of its insurance company clients. The collection agency is demanding repayment for claims that in some case date back several years. The company accuses the physicians of coding visits at too high a level, a charge based on claims data and not actual medical records.
Metropolitan Health Networks (FL) selects eClinicalWorks for its nine internal medicine clinics.
A New Hampshire nurse files a class-action lawsuit against three Obama administration officials, claiming that the health IT provisions in the ARRA violate patients’ rights to privacy and violates HIPAA privacy rules. The suit seeks an injunction to prevent the distribution of the $22 billion earmarked for HIT.
The 12 providers at North Oaks Obstetrics and Gynecology (LA) select Sevocity EHR.
David Brailer says that the government’s lack of specificity about how stimulus money will be paid out to providers is hurting EMR adoption as potential customers wait and see. He also predicts that meaningful use criteria will be loose even if that dilutes the whole point of having them. “They’ll go for the big tent as opposed to a narrow solution. That’s not good policy, but that’s the politics of the matter.” The CNN article mentions EMR licensing expense and the potential use of VistA, quoting Medsphere CEO Mike Doyle in comparing the $9 million the State of West Virginia paid it for eight hospitals vs. the $90 million West Virginia University (which he incorrectly called the University of West Virginia) paid Epic. “If Obama is serious about this, he won’t be able to do it $90 million at a time.”
The AMA offers some strategies for practices wanting to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, turning off computers when not in use, offering follow-up consults via phone to reduce driving, and replacing film x-rays with digital.
Omega Medical Solutions (SC), a medical billing and consulting agency, selects Allscripts Practice Management and Payerpath solutions for its physician practice clients.
A St. Louis-area practice launches a program aimed at helping the uninsured and stimulating the local economy. The seven employees of Baker Medical Group were given $300 work of $2 bills they could spend on anything. Employees can also give a $2 bill to an uninsured or unemployed patient, who can then redeem it for a free office visit. By the end of June, 20 patients had taken advantage of the program.
Handy Man “Re: Should CCHIT-certification be required for EMRs? I am disturbed at the sophomoric comment regarding CPOE and meaningful use. The parallel you feebly drew between the tools needed to build a house and the tools needed to build an effective CCHIT certified EHR were made clearly – but totally missed the mark. The author clearly missed the boat – heck the whole dock – the whole ocean for goodness sake. It isn’t about the “tools,” it is about the functionality – the certified functionality. Clients want to know that their purchase is eligible for ARRA funding and catapults their practices to at least a modicum level. Why would physicians purchase a product which fails to meet the meager standards set by CCHIT? Some of the driving forces behind this federal legislation are to safeguard this country and their citizens against medical error, the availability of important medical histories and provide for the most basic – continuity of care. If you can’t exchange basic patient data to others in the community, especially in cases of emergency, which need it for continuity of care, you are seriously missing the boat. Just for once, I’d love to see IT vendors REALIZE that CCHIT is not about another ticket punch and simply dismiss it as that. This is about truly effective cross functional care. Take Hurricane Katrina. Without such requirements such as CCD, the poor people affected by this tragedy are left to be treated by medical professionals who haven’t a clue as to their past medical histories.
As a small EHR/EMR vendor, if you can’t afford to be CCHIT certified, face it…it’s time to sell your company. While you “fought the good fight,”a valiant effort, it’s time to put your greed behind you and think more about the good of your clients’ patients. After all, every company in this space SHOULD be in this business for the betterment of healthcare and patient safety – NOT padding their own pockets for less than quality products.