News 9/11/12

Have pledged to let patients view/download/transmit by @himss: @eclinicalworks @athenahealth @soapware @greenwaymedical #ONCPledge #VDTnow

— Farzad Mostashari (@Farzad_ONC) September 8, 2012

National coordinator Farzad Mostashari asks EHR vendors to pledge to allow patients to view/download/transmit their data by HIMSS13 in March. Committed vendors include eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, Greenway, SOAPware, Allscripts, and Cerner.

Loyola University Health System (IL) selects Phytel’s population health management tools for its 75 primary care physicians.

digiChart, a provider of EHR/PM systems for OB-Gyn practices, will integrate the Dialog Health mobile engagement module with its digiChart PracticeSmart software, allowing physicians to communicate with patients via texts about appointments and procedures.

Yul Ejnes, MD, an internal medicine physician and former chair of the American College of Physicians Board of Regents, grades his EHR, which his practice implemented six years ago. In terms of  time (both his own and that of his staff), reliability, and safety, the EHR has met expectations. He rates the EHR “above expectations” for  practice finances and notes his staff is more efficient, claims are cleaner, and the practice has qualified for several EHR incentives. Ejnes gives a “below expectations” rating for quality of care, primarily because of the EHR’s lack of decision support tools. Finally, he says  information exchange has been below expectations, as the practice still must rely heavily on faxes and paper mail. Great exercise.

Navicure names Jeff Wood (MedAssets) VP of product management.

Medical technology and services company Millennium Healthcare announces that its acquisition of physician practice management firm Premier Healthcare Resources should be completed by October 3.

athenahealth identifies its top HIT priorities for the remainder of 2012, including its “More Disruption Please” initiative to connect HIT stakeholders to promote disruptive innovation in healthcare; Meaningful Use transparency on how its athenaClinicals providers are performing against MU standards; and its Leadership Forum initiative to create and nurture healthcare leaders.

I was looking at the latest Meaningful Use figures from CMS and am intrigued by the breakdown by specialty. Medicare reports that almost 60,000 EPs have been paid $1 million in incentives since the program’s inception. About 42% of those are family practice and internal medicine physicians. Family practice and internal medicine each represent three times as many EPs as cardiology, the third-highest specialty identified. Why are specialists not being paid MU payments at the same rate as primary care? Is it because the the specialists are not embracing EHRs for MU because they find workflow unfriendly and a hindrance to productivity? Do specialists find the incentives too small to justify making necessary changes to software and workflow? Or, are there really that many more practicing FPs and IMs providers, compared to cardiologists, OB/GYNs, and other specialties?  I suspect it is a combination of all these factors, but wonder what theories readers might have.

E-mail Inga.