News about Healthcare IT Solutions & Services Industry

EHR Software - Labeling To Signify Certification

The federal Health IT Policy Committee has recommended that health IT vendors use labels to clarify that their EHR Software is certified to satisfy first-stage requirements for meaningful use in order to ward off potential confusion among buyers about whether systems they are considering will qualify them for the incentive program.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has recently asked for comments about its plan to offer "temporary" certification of health IT products and systems which is designed to qualify health IT systems for first stage of the meaningful use plan, which begins next year. A permanent plan will be developed to certify health IT products for future phases of meaningful use.

Under the proposed rule, vendors would be directed to label their products with the date the product was certified. The committee also recommended that technology that is certified during 2010 should contain a label specifying that it has been certified for Stage 1 requirements only. 

To help providers keep track of certified products, the committee also urged ONC and certifying organizations to maintain a Web site listing the names of vendors and their product version numbers that have received certification.

Meaningful Use of EHRs Defined by HHS

HHS issued two sets of much-anticipated federal regulations that significantly further the government's healthcare information technology adoption agenda. The first set of regulations lists the "meaningful use" criteria that healthcare providers must meet to qualify for federal IT subsidies based on how they use their electronic health records. The second set of regulations lays out the standards and certification criteria that those EHRs must meet for their users to collect the money.

The meaningful use regulations are proposed regulations subject to a 60-day public comment period after which HHS would issue final regulations. The EHR certification regulations are interim final regulations that take effect in 30 days with a 60-day public comment period. HHS said final regulations will be published in 2010.

Under the proposed meaningful use regulations, eligible healthcare providers must use their EHRs to: improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare services; reduce healthcare disparities; engage patients and their families; improve the coordination of care; improve population and public health; and ensure the privacy and security of personal medical information.

Under the interim final EHR regulations, EHRs must be able to securely exchange information among providers and between providers and patients using standardized data elements and technologies. The regulations outline standardized formats for such things as clinical summaries; medical descriptions of clinical conditions and test results; and how that information is exchanged over the Internet.

Source: Modern Healthcare

 

"Push Technology" To Help Organizations Use EHR In Meaningful Manner

There is a push going on for push messaging, a likely first step in rolling out a proposed national health information network in time for healthcare organizations to use electronic health record systems in a "meaningful manner" and qualify for federal EHR subsidy payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In late October, David Blumenthal, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS called for pause in the planning of the NHIN.

Earlier this week, in testimony before a federal healthcare IT advisory panel, on blogs and postings to online discussions, what is beginning to emerge is the outline of what the healthcare IT world was put on hold to wait for, an outline of a "lighter" NHIN than has been the focus of much planning and development work in the past.

It is an NHIN still based on the Internet but with, in the short run at least, a reduced scope. The new, revised NHIN will focus on ready access and ease of use by healthcare providers who will be under the gun to purchase, implement and then "meaningfully" use by 2011 EHRs in time to receive the first subsidy payments under the Medicare portion of the program.

The stimulus law, defines meaningful use rather simply. To achieve meaningful use, providers must use a "certified" EHR for electronic prescribing, reporting quality-improvement measures and performing health information exchange "to improve the quality of healthcare, such as promoting care coordination." 

Read full report here.

EHR Improves Patient Safety

In a study published recently by "The Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association", computerized provider order entry (CPOE) has been shown to improve patient safety by reducing medication errors and subsequent adverse drug events (ADEs).

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has long been a proponent of electronic health records (EHRs), making the link between EHR implementation and potential improvements in quality and safety.

CPOE systems are computer applications that allow direct, electronic entry of orders for medications, laboratory, radiology, referral, and procedures. CPOE systems for ordering medications are sometimes called electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems. CPOE systems are often implemented with clinical decision support (CDS) alerts to guide ordering.  Early research demonstrated the benefits of CPOE/CDS systems in reducing medication errors by as much as 55–86% and subsequent adverse drug events (ADEs), although the latter occur less frequently and are more difficult to identify.

Frequency of errors declined from 18.2% to 8.2%-a reduction in adjusted odds of 70% (OR: 0.30; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.40). The largest reductions were seen in adjusted odds of errors of illegibility (97%), use of inappropriate abbreviations (94%) and missing information (85%). There was a 57% reduction in adjusted odds of errors that did not cause harm (potential ADEs) (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.38 to 0.49). The reduction in the number of errors that caused harm (preventable ADEs) was not statistically significant, perhaps due to few errors in this category. 

EMR and Practice Management Software - Best in KLAS Vendors for 2009

KLAS Enterprises LLC has issued its 2009 Best in KLAS Awards based on customer satisfaction with health information technology vendors and consultants.

The awards are based on survey data the Orem, Utah-based vendor research firm has collected during the past year from thousands of hospitals and physician practices.

Following is the highest scoring product and vendor in Ambulatory EMR and Practice Management Software category for the 2009 Best in KLAS rankings:

Ambulatory EMR Software

1. 2-5 physicians         : PrimeSuite Chart from Greenway Medical Technologies
2. 6-25 physicians       : PrimeSuite Chart from Greenway Medical Technologies
3. 26-100 physicians    : eClinicalWorks EMR from eClinicalWorks Inc.
4. Over 100 physicians : EpicCare Ambulatory from Epic Systems Corp.

Practice Management Software

1. 2-5 physicians         : Athenahealth
2. 6-25 physicians       : PrimeSuite Practice from Greenway Medical Technologies
3. 26-100 physicians    : Horizon Practice Plus from McKesson Corp.
4. Over 100 physicians : Resolute/Prelude/Cadence from Epic Systems Corp.
   
   

Source: Health Data Management

EHR Users More Likely To Report Adverse Events

Physicians are more likely to report drug safety information when using an electronic health record system, according to a recent survey.

The New York-based Pfizer pharmaceutical company released the survey, which was conducted by Ipsos, an independent market research company. The survey polled 300 primary care physicians in the United States who are categorized as basic EHR users, fully functional EHR users or paper health record users.Two-thirds of respondents used some form of an EHR system and one-third used a paper-based system.

Half of all respondents and 60 percent of fully-functional EHR users reported that they would be much more likely to submit information about adverse events using an EHR system. Of those still using paper-based systems, 80 percent cited cost as a deterrent to investing in an EHR system.

"Patient safety continues to be a top priority at Pfizer," said Freda Lewis-Hall, MD, Pfizer's chief medical officer. "This survey furthers our understanding about how we can best use electronic health records systems to collect critical information about the safe and appropriate use of our products so that we can improve patient safety."

Nearly 60 percent of physicians who responded to the survey said adverse event reporting through an EHR system would improve patient care.

Source: Healthcare IT News

New Certification Programs in Early 2010

David Blumenthal, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology, on December 7, 2009, posted a stimulus-related update on ONC's blog, called Health IT Buzz.

He announced that meaningful use criteria (from CMS) would be coming within weeks, with electronic health records certification plans in early 2010. Those rules had been expected along with meaningful use rules by the end of 2009.

Original Text from the Blog:

At ONC, we're making tremendous progress to achieve our goals and today, I wanted to provide a quick update and an important new announcement.

Although I'm often out front in communicating our goals and progress, there is an entire organization - plus numerous collaborating agencies, our federal advisory committees, and other stakeholders - behind me working harder, and faster than ever, to get the right pieces in place to meet very aggressive timelines.

You have seen evidence of that work already with our announcements of major grant programs to help establish health information exchange and grow the health IT workforce. And you'll see even more in the weeks and months ahead as we roll out new projects.

Already, we're on the way to getting the Regional Extension Centers and the State Health Information Exchange program established early in 2010. In fact, on a technical assistance call on Friday about the extension center program, we announced that, due to a strong response for applications, there will be approximately 30 extension center awards made in January and the remainder in March. This should assure support is in place for providers looking to become meaningful users of EHR systems leading up to 2011.

Of course, this isn't all we're doing. You will see meaningful use criteria (from CMS) in a matter of weeks. We also anticipate publishing in early 2010 our proposed plans for establishing a new certification program, which we believe will enable most vendors to have their products certified by 2011. And there will be a number of other awards and programs rolling out between now and the end of the first quarter. This past week's announcements of the Beacon Community Program and additional workforce training grants continue to build the needed foundation for electronic health records throughout the nation.

We're working hard and we're working fast, but we're also working smart and ensuring that the necessary programs and standards serve as a sound foundation.

90% Users Satisfied with EHRs

At a policy conference sponsored by the National Committee for Quality Assurance in Washington, David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology at HHS, said that a recent study of physician practices showed that 20% were using electronic health records in 2008. Of those users, 90% said they were satisfied with the technology "and could point to quality improvements" as a result of using electronic records.

Even for those physicians who had complaints about using the technology, "it's clear that very few physicians would go back to paper-based records," he said.

Blumenthal reiterated his commitment to issue proposed rules on the so-called "meaningful use" of EHRs last month, as well as offer grants to establish 70 health IT regional extension centers nationwide that will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate providers' efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs.

Source: Modern Healthcare News

Use EHR Software Effectively - Blumenthal

In a blog published on 30th November, David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. - National Coordinator for Health Information Technology writes that he believes that "policy should be based on the best available information, carefully analyzed and considered. However, recent studies raising questions about the benefits of EHRs are informative, but limited in their applicability to our HIT program. To the extent that they accurately capture past experience with EHRs, these studies illustrate something that the Congress and the President understand and have allowed for: namely, that having an EHR alone is not sufficient. Doctors and hospitals have to use this technology effectively, have to employ its extraordinary power to improve clinical decisions, in order to achieve its potential benefits. The federal government's new programs of incentives and penalties are totally focused on encouraging the meaningful use of EHRs. The resources set aside by the Congress to encourage the adoption of EHRs will go only to physicians, hospitals, and other providers who meet carefully designed new requirements for the use of EHRs that will translate into health improvements and cost reductions for the American people. And the plan passed by Congress includes new resources and support that will help make it possible for providers and hospitals to meet these requirements. We have already announced the availability of grants that will help providers adopt and use EHRs, and we will be making additional announcements in the weeks and months ahead."

Source: Health IT Buzz Blog on The Evidence for HIT

Don't wait until next year to implement EMR

Physician practices and hospitals that have yet to select or implement an EMR system should get a move on.

Those who wait until next year will face a "high risk" of failing to achieve "meaningful use" of health IT in time for the 2011-12 federal incentives, Mark Leavitt, chairman of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, warned at the annual AHIMA conference on Monday in Grapevine, Texas.

"You're dreaming if you think you can achieve it in less than a year," Leavitt said, referring to hospitals. Achieving meaningful use of an EMR system will take at least 18 months, if not two years, he warned.

HHS expects to publish its criteria for certification of EMRs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as well as its definition of "‘meaningful use" for qualifying for ARRA Incentives, by the end of the year. Both measures should be finalized by spring 2010 after a public comment period. All told, the federal government will pony up $34 billion in incentives for meaningful use of certified EMR technology--the equivalent of what the U.S. spent to send the first man to the moon, Leavitt said.

By wjohnson
Created Oct 6 2009 - 3:46pm

 

Source: FierceEMR