News 10/18/12

National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari, MD says the HIT Policy committee will examine whether EHRs are leading doctors to overbill Medicare. He says repeated copying and pasting of patient information is “not good medicine” and wants to determine if EHR functions that prompt doctors to inflate their bills should be “off limits.”

The Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) offers its members discounted pricing for athenaClinicals EHR, athenaCollector, and other athenahealth offerings.

The Association for Regional Centers for HIT(ARCH-IT) , which is the umbrella advocacy organization for RECs, defends the EHR Meaningful Use program. Despite recent criticism from several legislators, the ARCH-IT says that withholding MU payments would “financially damage” small practices that have already invested in EHRs and that the meaningful use of EHRs is necessary for a variety of other federal healthcare initiatives, including payment reform.

McKesson integrates RelayHealth’s procedure and test results functionality into its Practice Choice EMR and financial management software. Practice Choice will also use RelayHealth’s e-script software and messaging portal for HIE readiness.

MedAptus adds an ICD-10 software suite to its Professional, Technical, and Infusion offerings.

Please join me in welcoming the Carrollton, TX-based Aprima as the latest HIStalk Practice Platinum sponsor. Aprima has offered EHR, practice management, and RCM solutions since 1998 and serves physicians in over 30 specialties, from solo practices to large, multi-site clinics. All the company’s development, implementation, and support folks are based in the US and its experienced management team cut their teeth at such companies at Millbrook, GE, and McKesson. The Allscripts MyWay platform is based on a previous version of Aprima and the company is offering MyWay customers a free software license upgrade with the purchase of an annual support and maintenance agreement. They’ll be at MGMA, so be sure to mention you read about them in HIStalk Practice. We thank Aprima for sponsoring both HIStalk and HIStalk Practice.

The CBS Morning News profiles Natasha Burgert, MD, a Kansas City, MO pediatrician who uses texting, Facebook, and Twitter to connect with her patients. While sensitive to privacy and security concerns, Burgert notes that her use of social media does not involve practicing medicine online. Instead, her goal is to provide patients with online healthcare information.

If you are headed to MGMA in San Antonio this weekend, don’t miss our annual list of  Must See Vendors. The summary highlights HIStalk and HIStalk Practice sponsors who are exhibiting, as well as non-exhibiting sponsors who are available for one-on-one meetings. I’ll be in San Antonio Sunday morning and will pack in as many sessions, exhibits, and parties as I possible during the two and half days I am there. Look for my updates, including stealth photos of exhibitors ignoring prospects while typing on their smart phones and of course hot shoes. If I am lucky, I’ll get a few hours of sleep. Happy travels.

E-mail Inga.