News 6/13/13

CMS releases the 2011 PQRS and e-Prescribing Incentive Program Experience Report, which includes the following highlights:

• The PQRS program paid 280,229 EPs a total of $262 million in incentives
• The eRx program paid 282,382 EPs a total of $285 million in incentives
• 135,931 EPs were subject to 2012 eRx payment adjustments because they did not meet the reporting requirements in the first half of 2011, or didn’t qualify for an exemption, or didn’t meet the exclusion criteria for the adjustment.

King’s Ridge Christian School (GA) becomes the first student health clinic to implement simplifyMD’s EHR software.

CureMD Healthcare will make Mitochon Systems’ clinical content platform available within its EHR. What is particularly interesting about this announcement is that last month Mitochon announced it was exiting the EHR market. The press release that Mitochon emailed me today suggests the company has a new business model, though its not reflected on its Website.

Physician compensation is increasingly tied to measures of quality and patient satisfaction according to an MGMA report on 2012 physician compensation. Quality metrics accounted for three percent of primary care physicians’ median compensation of $216,462 and two percent of specialists’ median compensation of $388,199.

Swedish Covenant Hospital (IL) selects eClinicalWorks EHR and RCM solutions for its 150 employed physicians with Swedish Covenant Medical Group.

The AHRQ publishes a guide for primary care practices connecting to RHIOs and addresses such topics as organizational readiness when connecting an EHR to a RHIO, clinician buy-in for information exchange, technical issues, and modifying clinician workflows.

EHRs have the potential to facilitate patient-physician communication and enhance collaboration according to an opinion piece published in JAMA. The physician-authors encourage clinicians to introduce the EHR in the exam room with a verbal explanation and invite patients to view the screen to review test results and other data:

“Self-motivated and empowered patients are likely to regard the invitation to view their electronic chart as an act of transparency that enhances the collaborative nature of the patient-physician relationship.”

As a “self-motivated and empowered” patient, I must agree. Last month I met with a specialist following a procedure. He spent most of the exam in front of the computer but I loved that he invited me to look at the photos he had taken of my esophagus (which confirmed my suspicion that my esophagus is not my best feature.)  I left feeling pretty good about my doctor and better informed about my health.

Piedmont Eye Center (VA) selects SRS EHR for its seven physicians.

Pulse Systems hires Samuel Ambrose (VeriTeQ) as chief marketing officer.

NextGen reseller ITelagen will market its support and services package with IMO Problem (IT) Terminology from Intelligent Medical Objects.

E-mail Inga.