News 1/14/10

From: Big Fan “Re: 100,000 readers. The reason you are about to hit 100,000 readers is because you are a great writer! And I am sure amazingly attractive with great shoes! And you’ve got the good stuff. That’s why 100,000 people have read HISTalkPractice!” As Mr. H can attest, I am pathetically insecure. However, these kind words are making me glow.

From: Money Squeeze “Re: Medicare versus Medicaid and ARRA. What’s your take on the major differences between the Medicare and Medicaid incentive plans?” Thanks to Allscripts who provided most of the above details. Bottom line is that the Medicaid incentive program provides more money for providers that qualify. And if you are a mid-level provider, Medicaid is the only plan to offers a chance to earn funds.

Here are a couple more FAQs on the latest EHR incentive guidelines:

Q: If an eligible professional (EP) meets the criteria for both the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs, can they choose which program to participate in?

A:  Yes. EPs who meet the eligibility requirements for both the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs must elect the program that they wish to participate in when they register. The current recommendations allow EPs to change their program selection one time during payment years 2012 through 2014.

Q: Who is responsible for demonstrating meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology, the provider or the vendor?

A: To receive an EHR incentive payment, the provider (eligible hospital, critical access hospital or eligible professional) is responsible for demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology under both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs.

This last question puzzles me a bit. Why would a provider think it was up to the vendor to demonstrate meaningful use, unless the vendor perhaps misled them – ?

A New York Times article mentions an upcoming study that concludes that the Danish HIT system is the most efficient in the world, saving doctors 50 minutes per day and the country $120 million per year. They have advantages for that kind of adoption, however: high taxes, free medical care, and different attitudes toward privacy (one Dane official suggests that privacy concerns all but disappear once you are sick.)  Mr. H doesn’t like the model because it leaves little room for greedy capitalists.

Practice Fusion, a company already offering a free EHR, launches its free e-prescribing product.

Flagstaff Bone and Joint chooses the SRS hybrid EMR for its 13 providers.

The VA opens its first “tele-health” clinic in Colorado. The facility will primarily use videoconferencing technology to allow veterans to communicate with doctors in another regional outpatient clinic. The VA has plans to open another nine tele-health facilities across the country.

MEDENT teams up with Cardiac Science Corporation to provide users the ability to connect diagnostic monitoring devices with MEDENT’s EMR.

ITelagen partners with medical distributor Bell Medical Services to promote ITelagen’s EMR and medical billing services.

University Medical Center at Princeton partners with QuadraMed to provide e-MDs EHR to its affiliated physicians.

Kaiser fires an employee who took home an external drive without authorization. The drive, which contained medical information on 15,500 patients, was stolen from the employee’s car. Is it me or does it seem like every time we hear about stolen computers with medical information, the employees weren’t suppose to take the hardware from the office in the first place?

E-mail Inga.