Stage 2 of Meaningful Use Moved to 2014

Posted by AMS at 27 DEC 10:49 am

The Department of Health and Human Services has moved the start date for Stage 2 of the electronic health records meaningful use program from 2013 to 2014.

The initial HHS announcement did not make clear which providers were eligible to wait until 2014. The department clarified its position to Health Data Management.

Federal officials this summer had voiced support for a proposal to delay Stage 2 one year to 2014 for providers who attest to Stage 1 in 2011. The rationale was that Stage 1 pioneers who attest in 2011 should not be penalized by tight timeframes next summer for getting ready for Stage 2. Now, that proposal is adopted, and since providers who begin Stage 1 attestation in 2012 could wait until 2014 to start Stage 2, now everyone will start Stage 2 in 2014. Pioneer providers in 2011, however, can get three years of Stage 1 incentive payments. Following is a statement from HHS explaining the decision:

“Input from the vendor community and the provider community makes clear that the current schedule for compliance with stage 2 meaningful use objectives in 2013 poses a nearly insurmountable timing challenge for those who attest to meaningful use in 2011. With the anticipated release of the final rule for stage 2 in June, 2012, the current timetable would require EHR vendors to design, develop, and release new functionality, and for eligible hospitals to upgrade, implement and begin using the new functionality by the beginning of the reporting year in October of 2012.

“In response to significant input on this matter from multiple stakeholders, expert testimony, and countless hours of review, analysis and deliberation, HHS publicly announced its intention to delay the start of Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs for a period of one year for those first attesting to meaningful use in 2011. We intend to propose such a delay in the Stage 2 meaningful use Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which is scheduled to be published in February 2012. Not only do we believe that this will give vendors added time to develop certified EHR technologies for Stage 2, we also believe this delay will give providers additional time to implement new software and meet the new challenges of Stage 2. We also intend to propose maintaining the current expectation for those first attesting to meaningful use in 2012, so that all providers attesting to meaningful use in 2011 or 2012 will begin Stage 2 in 2014.

“Perhaps most importantly, we want to provide an added incentive for providers attesting to meaningful use in 2011. We encourage any providers who have been waiting until 2012 to attest to Stage 1 meaningful use now. Under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, providers who attest early receive greater incentives. And now those providers who first attest in 2011 can get three payment years for meeting the Stage 1 expectations, while those first attesting in 2012 can only get two payment years under Stage 1 criteria.”

American Hospital Association President Rich Umbdenstock applauded the HHS decision:

“America’s hospitals welcome today’s announcement that HHS intends to delay the start of Stage 2 meaningful use. Hospitals are committed to implementing electronic health records to support high quality patient care, but the rushed timelines and complex regulatory requirements of meaningful use have made the process difficult.  While the flow of meaningful use incentives to date has been slow, the delay will better align EHR adoption policy with market realities, such as limited vendor capacity to work with providers.  Giving hospitals another year to implement these changes before the bar is raised on the meaningful use requirements is good news, especially for small, rural and safety net facilities.”

Source: www.healthdatamanagement.com; Joseph Goedert; November 30, 2011

Patients Want More Access to, Control of Medical Records

Posted by AMS at 20 DEC 7:58 am

December 19, 2011 — Patients are more enthusiastic about reading what their physicians are writing about them than physicians are about allowing patients to access their electronic health records, according to a study published in the December 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition, American military veterans are highly enthusiastic about sharing their medical information with family members, caregivers, or physicians outside the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), according to a second study published in the same issue.

“We believe that the direction is clear: Technology is a powerful tool that can improve transparency in health care,” Thomas W. Feeley, MD, from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and Kenneth I. Shine, MD, from the University of Texas System, Austin, write in an accompanying editorial. “Electronic health records should be used to engage patients, their caregivers, and others in the health care delivery system.”

In the first study, researchers led by Jan Walker, RN, MBA, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, surveyed patients and primary care physicians in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The 3 study populations included patients of BIDMC and associated clinics in the Boston area; patients of the mostly rural Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania; and adult patients and patients with HIV from the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. There were 114 participating primary care physicians, and 37,856 patients completed surveys.

The researchers surveyed physicians and patients before their joining a voluntary program that allowed patients access to physicians’ electronic notes. The researchers asked physicians and patients about their views on patient access to personal health records that included physicians’ notes about visits, which patients accessed through a Web portal. The records also contained such information as prescribed medicine lists, appointment schedules, and secure messages.

“The enthusiasm of patients exceeded our expectations; most of them were overwhelmingly positive about the prospect of reading visit notes, regardless of demographic or health characteristics,” Ms. Walker and colleagues write. Although they observed “striking differences” between physician and patient attitudes, the physicians who participated in the study “were more optimistic” that access would improve benefits than the researchers expected. Physicians who declined to participate in the voluntary electronic records program cited possible adverse effects such as patient confusion, which could lead to longer visits.

In the second study, researchers led by Donna M. Zulman, MD, from the Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California, surveyed 18,471 patients who use the VHA’s “MyHealtheVet” Web portal to access information such as laboratory test results and provider notes. Using MyHealtheVet, patients can create their own personal health record and track self-entered health information and medications, and they also can communicate with their physicians through the portal. To track the system’s effectiveness, the VHA uses the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey. The researchers added custom questions to that survey from July 7 through October 4, 2010.

Almost 80% of the survey respondents would share their health information with designated individuals outside of the VHA, including relatives, caregivers, and other physicians. The most interest was in medication lists, laboratory test results, and appointment information, and many would name a person who could authorize refilling of prescriptions.

“Privacy concerns and compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 seemed to surface in all such discussions,” the editorial authors write. “However, patients have the right to view their own medical record and should be allowed to control who sees it.”

Source: www.medscape.com; Larry Hand; December 19, 2011

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 16 DEC 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of Audubon Pediatrics from Houma, LA to the AMS client community.

Audubon Pediatrics was extremely thorough in their search for medical software. After gathering information on several electronic medical records systems on the market, they decided to contact AMS and schedule an online, personal web demonstration. Multiple providers and staff sat through the demonstration watching our trained professional demonstrate the software from patient check-in to check-out. The providers at Audubon felt that the AMS software was very user friendly with quick access to each area of the system. They were also excited about the possibilities with the customizable macros and templates for the encounter notes. In the end, Audubon Pediatrics knew that AMS was the most affordable software on the market and would fit all of their practice’s needs.

Welcome to Audubon Pediatrics from all of the staff at American Medical Software.

EHR Use Cut Health Care Costs, BCBS Says

Posted by AMS at 14 DEC 8:23 am

PROVIDENCE – The use of electronic health records in a three-year pilot program lowered health care costs by an average of between 17 and 33 percent, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island announced Monday.

In addition, EHR use was found to have led to improved quality outcomes, with a 44 percent median rate of improvement in family and children’s health, 35 percent in women’s care, and 24 percent in internal medicine in Rhode Island.

The results of a three-year pilot program to promote the use of EHRs also laid the groundwork for the launch of patient-center medical homes in Rhode Island by providing physicians with the necessary tools to offer integrated, higher-quality care, officials at Rhode Island’s largest health insurer said.

More than 25 percent of the state’s primary care physicians currently practice in a patient-centered medical home, supported by EHR systems and onsite nurse case managers, according to Blue Cross officials.

As part of the pilot program, 79 primary care physicians received partial funding to buy an EHR system, along with monthly stipends during the first and second years of the program to compensate for implementation. In addition, participating physicians had the opportunity to earn bonuses based upon on improved preventive care and outcomes for 10 quality measures.

“We have believed for some time that using EHRs makes it easier for us to help members manage chronic conditions,” said Dr. Gus Manocchia, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross. “A lot of local practices just don’t have the resources to implement these types of record systems, which is what prompted us to establish the pilot program.” Manocchia said that Blue Cross was grateful that so many local primary care physicians agreed to join in this effort.

“Every provider believes that they deliver excellent care, but it wasn’t until we looked at the EHR data that we realized the reality of our profession wasn’t meeting the expectation,” said Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, board chairman of the Health Care Alliance and CEO of Women’s Care Inc. “You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and while paper is very forgiving, software never forgets. Implementing an EHR brought the entire practice to a level of collective responsibility for the care of our patients that until this time was implied, but never measured.”

Source: www.pbn.com; Richard Asinof; December 12, 2011

Another Client Joins the AMS Community

Posted by AMS at 9 DEC 8:00 am

American Medical Software is pleased to announce the addition of John Dirksen, MD from Evans, GA to the AMS client community.

Dr. Dirksen contacted AMS and scheduled an online, personal web demonstration to go over our fully certified electronic medical records. During the presentation the doctor spoke highly of our customizable encounter note templates. Considering the amount of manual, hand written documentation the doctor is doing, the transition to electronic medical records will be much easier thanks to our encounter note template customization. After then seeing the product of this customization with some sample psychiatric evaluation templates, the doctor knew that AMS would be the best choice for his practice.

Welcome Dr. John Dirksen from all of the staff at American Medical Software.