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'Meaningful Use' Briefing Available

Federal regulators will host a “national provider call” on Monday, March 12, to provide an overview of the proposed Stage 2 “meaningful use” rule for the HITECH Act electronic health recordincentive program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which drafted the proposed rule, will offer the free informational session 12:30 to 2 p.m. Eastern. Registration will be available until noon, or when available space has been filled. Comparison Available Meanwhile, The Advisory [...]

 

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Top 5 green health IT trends

If properly executed, green IT can mean healthcare organizations see fewer bills, contribute lower levels of carbon emissions, and enjoy an easier transition into mandated practices. But it has to be done right. Noble and potentially cost-efficient, but embracing the “go green” trend isn’t simple. Jerry Buchanan, account director Healthcare Technology and Services at eMids Technologies, shares five powerful green IT practices for healthcare. 1. EMR: Paper trails have met their match with [...]

 

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New Meaningful Use Rules for Electronic Health Records: No Reason to Cheer

(Editor’s Note: The following is a response to a July 15, 2010 posting by Leslie Kane about the ease of demonstration of “EHR Meaningful Use — So Easy, Even a Caveman Could Do It?”. The Kane Scrutiny blog on Medscape.) As President of Geriatric Practice Management, Inc., I have more than 30 years’ experience running regional Medicare Part A and Part B providers. Complying with these rules will be a monumental systems-engineering [...]

 

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Biden touts impact of HIT stimulus on economy

The Obama administration used about half of a 50-page report on innovations targeted by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to underscore the importance of health and medical IT to the nation’s economic future. The stimulus legislation, passed in February 2009, was designed to jumpstart the economy. In presenting the report, Vice President Joe Biden, who was put in charge of seeing that billions of economic stimulus dollars reached its [...]

 

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The Future of Payer-sponsored Electronic Health Records

Health Industry Insights’ Lynne Dunbrack examines the current state of electronic health record technologies used by US payers and presents key findings of two surveys regarding payer deployment of and data contribution to various forms of EHRs. “The slow progress in payer-sponsored EHR initiatives is reflective of the highly fragmented US healthcare industry” -Lynne Dunbrack of Health Industry Insights Undeniably, payers have more electronic health data than any other healthcare [...]

 

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DEA issues interim final rule on e-prescribing of controlled drugs

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has released its long awaited interim final rule for electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The new rule became effective on June 1, 2010, and could be revised later on the basis of public comment. The current rule is based on proposals published in June 2008. “In general, we are pleased,” said Ronna Hauser, vice president of policy and regulatory affairs for the National Community Pharmacists [...]

 

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CMS Recognizes Updated E-Prescribing Standard for Medicare Part D

In an interim final rule released Tuesday, CMS “recognized” the use of version 10.6 of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT Standard for electronic prescribing under the Medicare Part D drug benefit, Health Data Management reports. According to CMS, “recognition” means the agency approves the use of the updated standard for e-prescribing; however, it is not yet formally adopted as the new standard. New features in the version [...]

 

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Prescription drug-related deaths spike in Florida

Fatalities caused by prescription drug abuse are quickly rising in Florida.A new report from the state’s medical examiners shows deaths from the prescription painkiller oxycodone jumped 26 percent in 2009 from the previous year. Florida is a leading source for the illicit purchase of prescription drugs, with addicts and dealers from across the Southeast flocking to pain clinics. Prescription drugs continued to outpace illegal drugs as a cause of death [...]

 

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Pharmacy Groups Call for DEA To Clarify New Rule on E-Prescribing

Four pharmacy organizations say they support the Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts to allow electronic prescribing of controlled substances but called for further clarification on the new e-prescribing rule, Modern Healthcare reports. On March 31, DEA published in the Federal Register its interim final rule on e-prescribing of controlled substances. According to DEA public affairs officer Barbara Carreno, the rule took effect June 1. NCPA Letter On Tuesday, the National Community Pharmacists Association [...]

 

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First Bifurcation Stents Implanted in Israel

Tryton Medical Inc. announced that the company’s Tryton Side Branch Stent System has been used in three cases in Israel for the first time. Yaron Almagor, M.D., director of the Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, performed the first implants. “I am very pleased with the Tryton Stent System,” said Almagor. “Recently I had successful outcomes treating two patients with cases of [...]

 

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Surescripts Announces That Eight Software Vendors Have Achieved Gold Solution Provider Status for E-Prescribing

Surescripts, the Nation’s E-Prescription Network, today announced that eight vendors representing nine physician software products have completed Gold certification. The resulting Gold Solution Provider status is granted to vendors with software products that have surpassed Surescripts’ baseline product certification to meet criteria that demonstrate a higher level commitment to e-prescribing. The following vendors have achieved Surescripts Gold Solution Provider status for their respective products: Allscripts — Professional EHR Version 8.3 [...]

 

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Health industry finally moving toward computerized records

The health care industry is trying to catch up when it comes to technology. “Other businesses have been able to figure out how to make it work, such as the finance business. You can get money wherever you go. Health care is really behind,” said Helen Connors, executive director for Kansas University Center for Health Informatics. Connors said it is unreasonable to ask patients to recall their medications and past [...]

 

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How to determine an EHR's "usability"

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. When it comes to electronic health records, functionality has had its time in the spotlight. Now, the buzz term is usability. What’s the difference? Functionality is what a system does. Usability is how easily you and your staff can operate the system. Usability is coming into the spotlight as vendors and consultants are learning that a lack of it has been a major reason [...]

 

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High-tech healthcare benefits patients, study finds

Electronic medical records are the wave of the future, and Chicago area hospitals are already on board. Hospitals with more advanced record-keeping technology have fewer complications, lower mortality rates, and lower costs, according to a study released last week by Johns Hopkins University. The study looked at more than 40 hospitals with digital record systems and more than 160,000 patients in a six-month period. “It’s the right thing to do [...]

 

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Electronic Systems Shown to Reduce Dangerous Errors; A Cure for Poor Penmanship

With a host of new incentives, doctors are finally beginning to scrap pen and paper in favor of electronic prescriptions. Medicare this month began paying doctors a bonus if they switch their patients over to e-prescribing. Some private health plans also have begun offering extra payments along with free equipment, such as digital handheld devices. And a coalition of technology companies is giving doctors free software to encourage them to [...]