Recently, I decided to do a little investigation. We all keep hearing about and thus talking about the new levels of mandated compliance. Not only hospitals have to adhere to the changes, but clinics and physicians offices as well. Of course, my impetus for this was self serving. Once again, I wanted to look at an aspect of our industry and profession that was going through changes. I wanted to evaluate those changes and determine what, if anything, it would do to affect my livelihood. I am afraid it is too late to marry for wealth and riches.

So I started doing some research into some of these new compliance issues, just so I could get a grasp on some of the ins and outs. Evidently, this all began with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009. There are terms such as meaningful use (not used in the same negative way I describe the PlayStation 3) and phase approach. One can find articles written by everyone and their barber giving their own take and definition of meaningful use. But when you cut away all the smoke and mirrors, here is what is left. If a provider implements an electronic health record (EHR) system and incorporates it into their office, they can receive a financial “reward” for their investment. If implemented fairly soon, that reward can be upwards of $68,000 per provider. So a clinic with 10 physicians equals $680,000. You get the picture — it’s a decent chunk of change. This financial reward goes until 2015. Now in 2015, the mandate goes from the reward phase to the punishment phase. And any provider who has not complied can potentially lose up to 3 percent of their Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements. Again, a decent chunk of change.

Now there are some stipulations in the way the system is implemented, and the software has to be certified, etc. But it will ensure bidirectionality of information across all healthcare lines after that. And in theory, it should even meet the HITECH Act’s goal of improvement of patient care and hopefully bring some efficiency back into our healthcare system.

Anyway, I wanted to look into current EHR packages and determine their fit to my vocation. After a quick perusal into some companies, I have determined that — like so many of our mandated changes — there is no clear cut list of technology providers or a clear cut list of all they are supposed to accomplish. It seems that most are geared primarily toward the larger clinics and hospital systems.

Recognizing the time difficulties at these larger facilities will make all of us realize that there will always be a place here for us. There are just too many documents that have such quick turn around times that will almost make it a necessity that we come in and either transcribe these reports or edit them. And on another even more positive note, demographics populating as they are supposed to will smooth out as well. Information will be truly bidirectional and we will no longer have a surgery list faxed to us in the afternoons.

The smaller to midsized providers have a smaller list of people to choose from, but they are there. And they all must comply. Currently, there are many smaller facilities that went back to handwriting years ago. Others still that went to forms where SOAP information is circled and x’d like a crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper. But these processes (and processes like these) will no longer be acceptable forms of documentation. They will not comply with ARRA funding or HITECH in the slightest. So this way of documentation has until 2015 to conform or at that point potentially lose a sizeable amount of money for noncompliance.

So what does that mean for me? Is my better half safe or do I need to send him packing for a new job? So far my expectations are right on track. No one knows how to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or how to even get there. But the pot of gold has been defined. And I think there will be a place for us, as MTs, to help smooth over the transition and cement a place for us in the new systems. So looks like the better half gets to stick around for awhile. At least for another week, this is his week to cook!

Marisa Read is a medical transcriptionist with TransTech Medical Solutions.

Source: health-information.advanceweb.com