MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'certification'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:55:55 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159282&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FU4K02LkFYNc%2F LinuxMedNews just posted the announcement that OpenEMR is now a certified EHR. Here’s the quote from their announcement: It’s official! OpenEMR has passed all ONC certification tests as a fully qualified emr that can be used to attest for incentive moneys. The official posting: http://onc-chpl.force.com/ehrcert/EHRProductDetail?id=a0X30000003mNwTEAU&retURL= appeared on the website 2011/08/19. Congratulations to all involved! OpenEMR 4.1 should be ready for download in a few weeks. This is a really big announcement for the open source ambulatory EHR community. A number of other open source EHR are certified, but they’re mostly for the hospital EHR space. So, it’s a great thing for OpenEMR to provide an open source EHR to the ambulatory space. Plus, I have to adm... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159282 Sun, 21 Aug 2011 05:32:11 +0100 5159282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118745&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fo3AjHrDVXpM%2F You’ve undoubtedly heard the argument before: EHR certification is about assuring that systems meet minimum requirements for functionality and interoperability, but the certification process falls way short in terms of usability, privacy and security. But have you heard the argument from one of the ONC-authorized certification bodies? This is an excerpt from an e-mail I received today: Meaningful Use criteria have become a massive EHR certification driver for healthcare organizations. Hospitals and other providers rely on the criteria to ensure that their health IT systems meet minimum government-specified functionality and interoperability requirements to support Stage 1 of Meaningful Use.  Achieving Meaningful Use also ensures a health care organization qualifies for reimbursement... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118745 Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:21:33 +0100 5118745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096462&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fopen-letter-onc-certification-program One of the foundational elements of the CMS EHR Incentive Program is the use of certified EHR technology. On June 18, 2010 HHS issued a final rule to create a Temporary Certification Program “for purposes of testing and certifying health information technology.” This rule also outlined how organizations can apply, meet stringent requirements, and become ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096462 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:20:32 +0100 5096462 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096206&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-problem-with-medical-licenses%2F2011.08.04 In one of those things I don’t really get*, Texas requires a separate license from an unrestricted medical license to prescribe narcotics. As the price of this extra license has always seemed to be more ‘cover the cost’, nobody has seriously objected. It’s $25, in case you’re interested. Since it’s a State license, it’s required if your job could even perceivably need to prescribe narcs in a hospital. (So, Radiologists and Pathologists are usually exempted). It’s never been an issue, as long as you don’t screw up. Until now. From the Austin American Statesman: (more…) *This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096206 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:00:59 +0100 5096206 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062324&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F22%2Ftop-5-ehr-contract-pitfalls-identified-guest-post%2F The decisions don’t end after deciding on an EHR system for your medical practice. An EHR contract is an important and legally binding document, and it’s absolutely essential to consider every line of fine print before accepting the terms. O’Toole Law Group founder William O’Toole strongly believes that contract terms should be one of the top criteria in the EHR selection process. Consulting with a lawyer before you sign is the best way to avoid difficult and expensive problems in the future. The following five issues arise frequently in EMR/EHR contracts, which are being rushed to execution by many practices that are aiming to qualify for federal funding under ARRA/HITECH. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it aims to shed light on a few of the most frequent contract issu... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062324 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:21:58 +0100 5062324 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997648&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fq_tng8IQnxo%2F HITECH Answers has just released the 3rd edition of Jim Tate’s The Incentive Roadmap® The Meaningful Use of Certified Technology: Stage 1 A Manual for Medical Practices. Version 3.0 of the manual that has been helping practices, consultants and vendors across the country understand the step-by-step process of achieving meaningful use is now available. Written by Jim Tate, a nationally recognized expert on the CMS EHR Incentive Program, certified technology and Meaningful Use objectives,The Incentive Roadmap® looks at what steps are needed to get ready for meaningful use and is downloaded immediately upon purchase. I consider Jim Tate one of the foremost experts on meaningful use and certified EHR. So, I was excited when he decided to publish a resource on the details of the EHR in... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997648 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:59:38 +0100 4997648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960144&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FFICtFi3luZE%2F For those of you that are relatively new to EMR and HIPAA, you might not appreciate this post as much as long time readers of EMR and HIPAA. A few years back, I admit that I was pretty harsh on CCHIT and their EHR certification. I remember one guy stopping me at a conference and after realizing who I was asked, “so what’s your issue with CCHIT?” I was happy to answer that I thought they misled the industry (doctors in particular) by saying that the CCHIT certification provided an assurance that the EHR was a good EHR. They never came outright and said this, but that’s what EMR sales people would communicate during the sales process. In fact, EHR certification was incorrectly seen by many doctors and practice managers as the stamp of approval on an EHR being of highe... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960144 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:33:18 +0100 4960144 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893451&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsuspect-nutritionist-certification%2F2011.06.03 The team of nutritionists at D’avignon Digestive Health Centre on Danforth Avenue in Toronto are an impressive bunch — just consider their qualifications: Louise Comtois – CNP, RNCP, Colon Therapist Heidi Horowitz – CNP, RNCP, Live Cell Analyst Marnie Ryan – CNP, Colon Therapist Natasha Audette – RHN, Colon Therapist Jane Sloan – CNP, NNCP, RhA CNP, RNCP, RHN, NNCP. I single out D’avignon only because they came up at the top of my Google search, but the story is consistent across the nutritionist community — there are an awful lot of letters next to the names of practitioners. So what exactly do they all mean? (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Skeptic North » Erik Davis* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893451 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:00:37 +0100 4893451 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921561&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F05%2F31%2Fmeaningful-use-and-certified-ehrs-impact-on-emr-user-interfaces%2F In a previous post, Anthony made this basically off the cuff comment which hit me: “many a time, the functional requirements take priority over UI” We see this all over the software development world. In fact, it takes a really unique company to be willing to keep UI over functionality. Ask any salesperson and they’ll tell you that new functions are easier to sell than a great UI. So, it makes sense why this happens. Unfortunate, but makes some sense. However, this comment also had me asking myself the question, “I wonder how many meaningful use and/or EHR certification requirements caused issues with an EMR UI?” I’ve already had a few EMR demos where I said, what’s that button/function doing there. The response was, oh that was to meet meaningful ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921561 Tue, 31 May 2011 18:46:54 +0100 4921561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4848027&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FpcIyYud0Iss%2F One of my favorite EMR people, Matt Chase from Medtuity, wrote this interesting comment over on EMR Update. Times are achanging. I think a recent install is a good example. The group purchased a decently well-known EMR and it failed. So they went with a second well-known EMR and it failed. Both were certified. Both had a very active sales team. The second one flew in some upper level sales people from the coast when there was talk of deinstall. After spending half of the national debt and a looming closure of the practice, they called in a consultant. He made his recommendation. They did their demo and they asked the really hard questions– show me how to create new clinical content, show me how to create a new template, edit an existing one, how to fax a single encounter to another p... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4848027 Wed, 18 May 2011 18:18:18 +0100 4848027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820764&cid=t_122345_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2011%2F05%2Froanoke-memorial-short-trauma-surgeons%2F Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia is having difficulty recruiting and retaining trauma surgeons and is facing an upcoming site review that may endanger their certification as a Level 1 trauma center. Interim director Carol Gilbert comments. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820764 Fri, 13 May 2011 13:44:26 +0100 4820764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4723995&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fattestation-experience This morning at 8am the CMS attestation website went live. At 8:30am, I completed the attestation for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Here's an overview of the experience. At the top of the Attestation page, you'll see the link "Click here to attest." No sticky read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4723995 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:11:54 +0100 4723995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4658433&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FS1b-P48WvTY%2F Chris asked the following question: Do modular certified EMR’s qualify for meaningful use and also qualify for full incentive payouts? Answer: Modular certified EHR software can qualify for meaningful use and the EHR incentive payouts. Although, they can’t do it on their own. Although, if you combine the modular certified EHR with other modular or full certified EHR software, then you can qualify. Clear as mud huh? The good thing is that you can go to the ONC CHPL website and select the certified EHR software which you use and it will tell you if combined it meets the criteria. So, for example, maybe you have a modularly certified EHR that is certified for everything but ePrescribing. You could then also purchase a certified ePrescribing software and together they would be considered a... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4658433 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:24:25 +0100 4658433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653411&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FQsQyZBFhTqE%2F ICSA Labs, one of six ONC-authorized testing and certification bodies, has announced its first three certified EHR products: Modular certified EHR systems for eligible providers Colonial Valley Software Inc.: Lectronic Practice Suite v2.02.0.1 Design Clinicals Inc.: MedsTracker v5 OEMR: OpenEMR v4 Modular certified EHR systems for hospitals Design Clinicals: MedsTracker v5 ICSA Labs is one of six ATCBs offering EHR certification services. In that regard, I guess this means the notion of providing competition to the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has succeeded. (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653411 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:03:04 +0100 4653411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540617&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FcP9YiHDQOlM%2F If you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you probably remember my many rants about the lack of value in EHR certification. In fact, Jim Tate asked me at HIMSS where my dislike of CCHIT came from. I think I told him that I probably got it from EMRUpdate. Certainly that’s where I learned a lot about EMR and EHR and certification in general. However, as I consider his question, my real distaste with CCHIT and quite frankly EHR certification is that it provides little to no value to doctors. Looking back at all the discussions I had last week with those attending HIMSS, I’m really happy to say that EHR certification was almost never a discussion. Pretty much everyone either was a certified EHR or was almost done with the EHR certification process (which is in line... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540617 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:40:57 +0100 4540617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540609&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FBzrO5Bv5yGM%2F Here’s an interesting one from the world of mergers and acquisitions: Human resources and payroll services and firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP) announced Tuesday that it has purchased EMR and practice management systems vendor AdvancedMD for an undisclosed sum. I’d say this is part of the expected consolidation that federally sanctioned certification was supposed to bring to the market, except that ADP’s only experience in healthcare to date has been in providing HR, payroll and benefits management services to approximately 13,500 physician practices. Those are the same types of services ADP offers to any business, so the AdvancedMD purchase represents uncharted territory for the company. ADP now bills itself as “uniquely positioned as an integrated, single-sour... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540609 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:54:48 +0100 4540609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536161&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FjawFHGRykQ0%2Fadvancedmd-sale-shows-new-side-of-consolidation.html Here’s an interesting one from the world of mergers and acquisitions: Human resources and payroll services and firm Automatic Data Processing (ADP) announced Tuesday that it has purchased EMR and practice management systems vendor AdvancedMD for an undisclosed sum. I’d say this is part of the expected consolidation that federally sanctioned certification was supposed to bring to the market, except that ADP’s only experience in healthcare to date has been in providing HR, payroll and benefits management services to approximately 13,500 physician practices. Those are the same types of services ADP offers to any business, so the AdvancedMD purchase represents uncharted territory for the company. ADP now bills itself as “uniquely positioned as an integrated, single-sour... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536161 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:54:48 +0100 4536161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4501650&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fw1cFiobjOKQ%2F Discussion of tactics for dealing with detractors. Listen to them, understand their motivation. Some will be right #CDS #HIMSS11about 22 hours ago via TweetDeckpsweetman_livePauline Sweetman and #bbpBox_39357644800000001{background:#C0DEED url(http://a3.twimg.com/a/1298064126/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) no-repeat !important;padding:20px;}#bbpBox_39357644800000001 p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px !important;margin:0 !important;min-height:48px;color:#333333 !important;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px}#bbpBox_39357644800000001 p.bbpTweet a {color:#0084B4 !important}#bbpBox_39357644800000001 p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px !important;padding-top:12px !important;he... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4501650 Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:17:50 +0100 4501650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424234&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdoctors-and-aging-5-things-to-help-good-doctors-stay-good-longer%2F2011.02.01 I asked my age-matched colleague the other day: “Do you think we’ll know when it happens to us?” He responded: “I know. I worry about that, too…a lot. I’m getting out before it happens to me.” We were talking about our fears of being labeled as an “old” doctor.  Not just old in years — our children and bifocals remind of us of that — but old in our mindset. We fear becoming one of the dinosaur doctors who get known for their excessive attachment to old dogma, premature dismissiveness of novel new approaches, fear of social media, and of course the tell-tail (pathognomonic) sign of agedness, ranting mindlessly in front of Fox news about healthcare reform in the doctor’s lounge. This transition can happen fast. One moment a doctor might be in their s... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424234 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:00:27 +0100 4424234 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419254&cid=t_122345_114_f&fid=34646&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthCareBlogLaw%2F%7E3%2F_FydaWD9aK4%2Fwvdhhr-transfers-ohflac-staff-and.html According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), the West Virginia Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification (OHFLAC) will be transferred to the West Virginia Office of Inspector General (OIG) effective February 1, 2010. OHFLAC oversees the state and federal licensure and certification process in West Virginia for hospitals, critical access hospitals, behavioral health facilities, home health agencies, hospice agencies, ESRD services, and other health care services.All personnel and positions currently assigned to OHFLAC will be administratively transferred. DHHR has states that this action is to further enhance the integrity of the regulatory unit of the Department of Health and Human Resources. (Source: Health Care Law Blog) Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419254 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:40:49 +0100 4419254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4414523&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-a-surgeons-note-has-to-begin-with-i-certify%2F2011.01.28 You know it’s bad when the attending surgeon has to write this at the beginning of his operative note: “I certify that the services for which payment is claimed were medically necessary and that no qualified resident was available to perform the services.” So there you have it. -WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist. *This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4414523 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0100 4414523 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411526&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-a-surgeons-note-has-to-begin-with-i-certify%2F2011.01.28 You know it’s bad when the attending surgeon has to write this at the beginning of his operative note: “I certify that the services for which payment is claimed were medically necessary and that no qualified resident was available to perform the services.” So there you have it. -WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist. *This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411526 Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0100 4411526 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399525&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-older-doctors-continue-to-treat-patients%2F2011.01.25 Did you know that one-third of the country’s physicians are over the age of 65? That’s right, there’s a good chance that your doctor is on Medicare. That’s a concern, because physicians aren’t immune to the ails of aging, and are just as prone as patients to succumb to the effects of Parkinson’s or various types of dementias. Not comforting if you’re about to undergo an operation, for instance. And absolutely frightening when you consider baby boomers and newly-insured patients will flood our health system in the coming years. An eye-opening piece from the New York Times highlights the trend. It’s up to doctors and medical societies to report doctors who aren’t able to proficiently perform, but few do. According to the data, the rate of disciplinary action for physician... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399525 Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:00:06 +0100 4399525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4318394&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F01%2F05%2Fpermanent-ehr-certification-program%2F Looks like the people at HHS and ONC have been working hard. On Monday this week they published the Permanent EHR Certification Program Final rule. You can find the press release about the Permanent EHR Certification final rule on my new EMR News website (if you have other EMR news, please let me know). You can download the full Permanent EHR Certification final rule here (Warning: PDF). Although, I must admit that I found the permanent certification fact sheet very interesting. Here’s my summary: *Testing and certification is expected to begin under the permanent certification program on January 1, 2012 (with an exception if it’s not ready) *NIST (through its NVLAP) will continue with accrediting organization to test EHR and to work with ONC to create test tools and procedures... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4318394 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:21:05 +0100 4318394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175822&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJ_LbamIa0UE%2F In a move that we’ve heard talked about for a long time now, CCHIT has finally announced its site specific EHR certification. This is the EHR certification that hospitals that have built their EHR software in house should consider. The Certification Commission announced today a new electronic health record (EHR) certification program for hospitals that will be introduced at a Town Call webcast and teleconference Dec.1, 2010, and launched Dec. 15, 2010.  The EHR Alternative Certification for Hospitals, or EACH™ program, an ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification for installed hospital EHR technology, is designed to meet the needs of hospitals that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial  products, or have developed their own EHR systems to suit their individual needs.�... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175822 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:47:04 +0100 4175822 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133904&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F10%2F28%2Fproviders-awareness-of-ehr-certification-bodies%2F One of my readers recently linked me to an article from back in July that talks about providers lack of understanding of EHR certification and the possibility of EHR certification bodies beyond CCHIT. Here’s an excerpt from the article: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has made it clear that it wants multiple EHR certification bodies, but that message apparently has not made it out to many physician practices. According to a survey by Burlington, Vt.-based consulting firm CapSite, 69 percent of healthcare providers are unaware that there will be alternatives to the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology in terms of certifying ambulatory EHR systems. Additionally, 52 percent of the 850 providers surveyed incorrectly believe t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133904 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:20:13 +0100 4133904 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4082162&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F10%2F14%2Fcomplete-ehr-certification-and-module-ehr-certification%2F In a recent discussion I had, someone brought up a really interesting question about module certification to me. Obviously, proving that you use a certified EHR is quite easy if you just use one EHR software that’s a complete certified EHR based on the ARRA guidelines. Then, you can fitfully say that you use a certified EHR. Even this isn’t that confusing if you use one complete EHR software for everything, but say ePrescribing. Of course, the ePrescribing vendor would need to be certified for those modules, but you can easily show that both are certified EHR and you use all the modules. The questions start coming in when you start to talk about module EHR certification when you just purchase parts of a software. Let’s say you purchase only part of a certified EHR softwar... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4082162 Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:45:18 +0100 4082162 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4045175&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJVN8UNCY2hs%2F One of my more interesting meetings at AAFP was with a company called SLI Global Solutions. The meeting was so interesting, because SLI Global Solutions plans to apply to become an ONC-ATCB organization very soon. This coming after the announcement of the first ONC-ATCB certified EHR from Drummond Group and CCHIT along with the announcement of InfoGard as an ONC-ATCB and Weno Healthcare’s plans to become an ONC-ATCB. We obviously had a long conversation about the EHR certification, but suffice it to say that SLI Global Solutions is going full steam ahead to become an ONC-ATCB. It sounds like they’ve been doing a number of other certifications previously. They’ve even done some consulting work in healthcare. When I asked SLI Global Solutions what they thought would help th... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4045175 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:06:18 +0100 4045175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031242&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhot-topic-certification-of-er-doctors%2F2010.10.04 Texas is at the center of a heated national battle over the training emergency physicians need in order to advertise themselves as “board certified.” Via the Houston Chronicle: At stake is the welfare of patients requiring immediate medical attention. Leaders of the traditional board say allowing physicians without proper training to advertise themselves as board-certified would mislead the public. Leaders of the alternative board say the proposed rule change will undermine the ability of Texas’ rural hospitals to staff their emergency departments with board-certified ER physicians. A final verdict may only come, given one board’s already delivered threat, in a court of law. At stake also are the careers of a lot of practicing Emergency Physicians, many of whom I’m proud ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031242 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4031242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025675&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FnRNX4nRO6Qw%2F Today, CCHIT announced their first ONC-ATCB certified EHR a day later than Drummond Group’s ONC-ATCB announcement. Although, CCHIT is announcing 33 EHR vendors (21 complete ONC-ATCB certified EHR and 12 module certified). No real surprises on this list. They were the previously CCHIT certified EHR companies. That gives us 36 total ONC-ATCB EHR right now (or 24 if we’re talking complete EHR certification). Here’s the list of Complete ONC-ATCB certified EHR: ABEL Medical Software Inc. ABELMed EHR – EMR / PM Allscripts Allscripts Professional EHR Aprima Medical Software, Inc Aprima athenahealth, Inc athenaClinicals CureMD Corporation CureMD EHR The DocPatientNetwork.com Doctations eClinicalWorks LLC eClinicalWorks Epic Systems Corporation EpicCare Inpatient – Cor... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025675 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:58:31 +0100 4025675 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025677&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FLfE2rFKa5MI%2F Drummond Group just posted the news of the first 3 EHR vendors which have been officially certified EHR for the ARRA EHR stimulus money. Looks like Drummond Group won the race to be the first to certify an EHR. The interesting thing for me is the list of 3 EHR vendors that became the first certified EHR: PARADIGM (QRS Inc.) ifa EMR (ifa united i-tech Inc.) ChartLogic EMR (ChartLogic, Inc.) I consider myself pretty well informed about EMR vendors, but I only realy knew 1 of the 3 and I’d maybe heard of one other, but just by name. As all the ONC-ATCB certified vendors start completing their EHR certification, I think we’re going to learn about a WHOLE lot of EMR vendors that very few people knew about previously. I also find it interesting that all 3 EHR vendors have already upd... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025677 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:59:41 +0100 4025677 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4013288&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FzYhWW6s3TUM%2F The good people over at >HITECH Answers must have more time on their hands than I do. They got on the CCHIT conference call where they talked about their newest ONC ATCB certified EHR program. Here’s a portion of the HITECH Answers summary which includes some CCHIT pricing details: The ONC-ATCB Certified 2011/2012 Toolkit will help prepare health IT companies and EHR developers for testing. You can purchase the toolkit for $1000. Pricing will be in tier levels and range from $8K to $34,300K. They want to do the testing in a single day. There can be an accumulative approach where modules can be certified and added to the current certification without having to retest previously certified criteria. It still feels wrong that they charge you $1000 for the toolkit you’ll need to use... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4013288 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:46:15 +0100 4013288 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983448&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F16%2Ffull-cchit-certification-estimates%2F I’ve written previously about the cost of EHR certification with Drummond Group and CCHIT. However, this just addresses the hard cost of certification that’s paid to the certifying bodies. This cost doesn’t take into account a lot of other costs associated with becoming a certified EHR like the cost to develop and test the features that certification requires. Keith Boone on his blog Healthcare Standards has done a great blog post that evaluates the other costs associated with certifying an EHR software beyond the fee you pay to the certifying body. If you’re an EMR vendor, this is an article that you definitely want to look at and consider. Plus, I’d love your feedback on things he missed or where he might have missed costs or estimated to high on costs. Here... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983448 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:26:22 +0100 3983448 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983450&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F14%2Fehr-certification-testing-dates-scheduled-into-november%2F I can’t remember when or where I saw it, but at some point I saw someone reference Jim Tate from EMR Advocate as the expert on EHR certification. I’d known Jim electronically for quite a while having followed his writings online and on Twitter. I even haphazardly bumped into Jim where we both looked at it each other and recognized our pictures from Twitter. After Jim stopped by to comment on my previous EHR certification post, I emailed Jim to ask him if he wanted to do a guest blog post for EMR and HIPAA. He is busy with 3 stage 1 EHR certifications this week, but did send the following info which I found interesting and useful. I’m also looking forward to taking a look at his manual on meaningful use. I hear it’s highly targeted at doctors and clinical practices w... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983450 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:29:29 +0100 3983450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3969071&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F22Y9qkLZbrI%2F As I mentioned in my previous post about the race to be the first EHR certified (and the first ATCB to certify an EHR), there’s a lot more going on in the battle amongst the EHR certifying bodies. The first interesting detail surrounds the previous CCHIT certified EHR vendors. This turns out to be a really great move by CCHIT. A quick look at CCHIT’s website has 49 EHR products (or modules of products) that have been certified for either the CCHIT 2011 certification or for the Preliminary ARRA certification. That’s 49 pieces of EMR software (a few less since some are different versions of the same product) have paid $22k+ in order to be certified by CCHIT. I’ve talked to one of these EHR vendors and they said that CCHIT did a call with all current vendors and said t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3969071 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:05:52 +0100 3969071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965520&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F09%2Fehr-certification-the-race-for-first%2F I have a lot more to say about EHR certification and the battle we’re about to see between Drummond Group and CCHIT for EMR vendors, but I’m about to leave for an interesting conference on meaningful use, EMR and HIE. Although, I did want to just start the conversation on becoming a certified EHR. It seems like the battle is just beginning to try and secure EHR vendors under a certain certification. One of the competitive differences right now is about speed. Which EHR certification body will be the first to certify an EHR under the ARRA guidelines. It will be a big PR move for the first EHR vendor and should benefit Drummond Group or CCHIT to be first. From the dates that I’ve heard, Drummond Group seems like they’ll be accepting applications for certification firs... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965520 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:08:31 +0100 3965520 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965522&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F07%2Fchanging-emr-vendors-development-roadmap%2F In a perfect world, an EMR vendor would be completely focused on the customer in developing their EMR software. They’d be very deliberate in their development process where they’d consider feedback from existing users while still finding the perfect balance of planning for future needs and satisfying the current needs. It’s a pretty simple concept to talk about the customer driving the development of EMR software. Yet, it’s much harder to actually do. What makes this even more difficult is the EMR stimulus money. Ok, not the money itself, but the regulations around becoming a certified EHR and doctors needing to show meaningful use. Instead of EMR vendors focusing their development effort on what is best for the customers (doctors and patients) they will instead be ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965522 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:00:46 +0100 3965522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3938404&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F31%2Fdrummond-group-and-cchit-become-first-official-onc-ehr-certifying-bodies%2F We finally now have the first ONC approved EHR certification bodies (Officially ONC-ATCB or ATCB or ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Body). The first 2 ONC-ATCB are very familiar names that we’ve been talking about on EMR and HIPAA for a long time: Drummond Group and CCHIT. In an HHS and ONC press release they also noted that “Applications for additional ONC-ATCBs are also under review.” Drummond Group has already posted information on their website about their EHR certification and testing plans. The most useful item is this 10 page EHR Testing, Pricing and Certification guide (PDF). Lots of interesting information in the PDF which I’ll likely talk about later. The pricing however is worth noting now. It’s on page 8 of the PDF document and has certifi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3938404 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:20:00 +0100 3938404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3920934&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FCyvwPUFjAok%2F Alfred from Infomd.net recently made the following comment: If the product you use is CCHIT certified, it is a pretty safe bet to say that they will be certified under the Meaningful Use rule. Meaningful Use is but a subset of what it takes to become CCHIT certified Here’s my response to Alfred: Alfred, I don’t think that the new certified EHR is a subset of CCHIT. There are some similarities and concepts, but it’s not a subset. However, I think you’re right that many CCHIT certified vendors will become ARRA certified. Mostly because the EHR vendor that has the CCHIT certification has chosen to make EHR certification a priority for their company. So, they’ll likely make the ARRA certification a priority as well. It is worth asking if you want to be tied to an ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3920934 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:58:35 +0100 3920934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3915105&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F27%2Fcrazy-legislative-process%2F Today I came across some really crazy news that one of the senators that helped write the healthcare reform bill hadn’t ever even read the entire bill. Here’s a section of the article: During the debate over what later became the health care bill that was recently signed into law by President Obama, a number of federal representatives and senators both admitted that they had not read it. Some, including Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) even boasted of this fact. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) famously stated that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Presumably the actual people who wrote the bill might have at least some idea what was in it. Unfortunately that isn’t the case with Max Baucus (D-Mont.), lead sponsor of the Senate bill that be... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3915105 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:40:05 +0100 3915105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3891730&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FGGkz5nWK29Q%2F Long time readers will know that I’m not a fan of EMR certification. It seems quite pointless since it provides no assurance to the doctor of anything of value. EMR Certification doesn’t ensure a higher implementation success rate. EMR Certification doesn’t improve patient care. EMR Certification doesn’t improve doctor’s bottom line. With that said, we’re still stuck with the term “certified EHR” in the HITECH Act EMR stimulus money legislation. So, EMR certification is going to be around for the foreseeable future. CEO Mike from Medscribbler EMR posted an interesting look at the cost of CCHIT EMR Certification and the impact that it could have on EMR vendor selection and long term viability of EMR vendors. I’ve included his comments be... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3891730 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:07:02 +0100 3891730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3858439&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F08%2F11%2Fnccpa-implements-a-name-change-for-pas.aspx The NCCPA has announced a name change for PAs. No, not that name change. The commission has renamed its PA “specialty certification” program a “certificate of added qualifications” program, according to a press release. While the release itself isn’t...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3858439 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:39:00 +0100 3858439 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3876751&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F10%2Fmeaningful-use-experts%2F After my last post, a meaningful use checklist, I couldn’t help but start thinking about how many people are going to soon be looking for a meaningful use checklist. Certainly many practices are going to be interested in finding a meaningful use expert to help make sure that they get the EMR stimulus money. I’m guessing many EMR vendors are going to want to find a meaningful use expert that will help them navigate the hundreds of pages of regulations and wave of other meaningful use information which isn’t in the regulation cause let’s be honest. Despite a HUGE regulation, there are a still a ton of practical meaningful use details that you’re going to need to know to appropriately navigate the meaningful use world. The government doesn’t just hand out m... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3876751 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:33:51 +0100 3876751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3876752&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F08%2F09%2Femr-stimulus-meaningful-use-checklist%2F A recent comment from Jim Hook from The Fox Group had a nice checklist of items that doctors and practice managers could start doing to make sure that their EMR implementation is ready to meet the meaningful use standards. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but I thought was a good list for those providers wanting to being their preparation for showing meaningful use and obtaining the EMR stimulus money. Everyone should keep in mind that there are no systems “Certified” at this point. Here are some things to check as you get ready to claim your incentives for EHR Meaningful Use under the HITECH Act. This information is based on (EPs) qualifying for the Medicare incentives. 1) Start talking to your vendor about their plans to submit their EHR software for certification as �... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3876752 Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:14:36 +0100 3876752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3808735&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F07%2F26%2Femr-stimulus-qa-do-you-have-to-use-a-cchit-certified-ehr-vendor%2F AK sent me the following EHR Certification question: Is it necessary to get CCHIT certified vendor just because you want to qualify for incentives or regardless you MUST go for a certified solution? Because I make the case that one should go with the one that provides the most amount of value. You only need to use a certified EHR (doesn’t have to be CCHIT certified either, but HHS Certified) if you want to get the EMR stimulus money. The only caveat is that if you don’t show “meaningful use” of a “certified EHR,” then in a few years there are 1-5% Medicare penalties for not using one and showing meaningful use. However, many people strongly believe that those penalties will actually never be implemented. Of course, that part is just conjecture and may or... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3808735 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:46:35 +0100 3808735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737104&cid=t_122345_111_f&fid=39123&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fnursingcomments%2Ftdtc%2F%7E3%2FbXz1Tfpd7AM%2F Nursing Careers for the Medically-Minded If you’ve been considering a profession in medicine, but are reticent to spend the next decade of your life in school, you may want to look into nursing as an excellent outlet for both your desire to help others and your interest in the medical field.  Not only are there several different degrees available for the profession (from certification to an associate’s degree to a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, and beyond), there are also an astronomical number of foci within the field.  So whether you want work in a fast-paced emergency setting, join a private practice, or pursue a degree with an emphasis in such diverse fields as pediatrics, first-response services, anesthesia, or obstetrics and gynecology (just to name a few), you can specia... Nursing Comments blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737104 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:11:46 +0100 3737104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718486&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FF5NSUkMgVQE%2F I found this interesting tidbit in the final rule for the EHR Temporary Certification Plan: “In the Proposed Rule, we stated that we anticipated that there would be no more than 3 applicants for ONC-ATCB status. Based on the comments received, we now believe that there may be up to 5 applicants for ONC-ATCB status. In addition, we believe that up to 2 of these applicants will not have the level of preparedness that we originally estimated for all potential applicants for ONC-ATCB status.” Interesting to hear that there are likely to be 5 applicants to certify EHR software. Of course, we know that 2 of those bodies are CCHIT and Drummond Group. I also know of one other, but I’m traveling and so I can’t look up the name. Although, I only know this other one based on a convers... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718486 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:02:14 +0100 3718486 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3699583&cid=t_122345_114_f&fid=34646&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmycourses.med.harvard.edu%2Fec_res%2Fnt%2FD365EA11-35C3-4CD7-86BC-B517562535AA%2Fcertfr.pdf Last Friday the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued a final rule providing the details on how organizations can be authorized by ONC to test and certify EHR technology. ONC discusses the details the Temporary Certification Program. Certification is important because the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentives under HITECH require the use of certificate EHR technology for eligible hospital and providers to recieve payments under the incentive program. For more information check out the Temporary Certification Program information on the ONC Health IT website, including a link to a complete copy of the Temporary Certification Program Final Rule. More information from Government Health IT, ONC launches health IT certification program and iHealthBeat, ... Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3699583 Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:27:57 +0100 3699583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3703007&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F06%2F21%2Fhhs-says-certified-ehr-available-in-fall-2010%2F Well, it always seems to happen when I go out of town on vacation that HHS finally decides to go to work and make some announcements. The final rule for the Temporary EHR certification rule is out and will be published to the Federal Register on June 24th. It’s non-final format is available at the Federal Register’s Public Inspection Desk. Does anyone else kind of squirm when they read about this final rule for a temporary EHR certification. Final and temporary just don’t sound right together, but that’s what we have. The Healthcare IT Guy attended an HHS ONC press conference and added a nice little summary of what was said: *As of today if you’re interested in being a certification body you must request the HHS Certifying Body application in writing *On July 1 ON... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3703007 Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:05:47 +0100 3703007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678514&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=34470&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehealthcareblog.com%2Fthe_health_care_blog%2F2010%2F06%2Ffinal-ehr-certification-rule-announced-by-onc.html By DAVID HARLOW A surgeon can’t operate without the proper equipment. A clinician can’t achieve meaningful use of electronic health records without an EHR that is designed to improve patient care and practice efficiency. -- David Blumenthal This week David... (Source: The Health Care Blog) The Health Care Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678514 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3678514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3662609&cid=t_122345_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fdr-rand-paul-lacks-board-certification%2F Dr. Rand Paul practices as an ophthalmologist and mentions his profession often while campaigning but lacks the almost universally obtained board-certification held by physicians in the United States. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3662609 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:24:27 +0100 3662609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3625624&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJLmd9JK2w5A%2F One of the challenges of this blog is writing content that will be interesting and useful to a wide variety of readers. At times I think I assume that those visiting EMR and HIPAA have read my 770 previous posts and should have a good understanding about the EMR world. Of course, the reality is that many of the people visiting this site might only read a couple different posts. Even more significant is that they might only have a remedial understanding of EMR and in particular the EMR stimulus money. This leaves me with the challenge of keeping the long time readers interested and benefiting from the content I create while still helping the EMR newbies understand what they need to know. In that vein, here’s some questions that I got in an email about meaningful use and the EMR stimul... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3625624 Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:34:30 +0100 3625624 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3618115&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F05%2F31%2Faapa-leaders-questioned-during-town-hall.aspx Late yesterday afternoon, AAPA president Stephen Hanson, president-elect Patrick Killeen and CEO Bill Leinweber assembled with "Antiques Roadshow" host Mark Walberg, the emcee for the second annual Town Hall event. For an hour, they took many questions...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3618115 Mon, 31 May 2010 21:10:00 +0100 3618115 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3614720&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F05%2F30%2Faapa-hod-roundup.aspx ATLANTA—The AAPA House of Delegates today wrapped up its testimony for and against a number of important resolutions and is set to vote on the items tomorrow. The most hotly debated resolutions were: • A series concerning NCCPA specialty certification...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3614720 Sun, 30 May 2010 20:44:00 +0100 3614720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3603595&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhow-an-empowered-patient-finds-a-new-doctor%2F2010.05.26 What if the average patient (person) knew what healthcare insiders, providers and expert patients know? Take the process of looking for a new personal physician. Conventional wisdom tells people that when looking for a new physician they need to consider things like specialty, board certification, years in practice, and geographic proximity. Online services like Health Grades allow you to see and compare the satisfaction scores for prospective physician candidates. But industry insiders know different. Consider those patient satisfaction scores for physicians. In reality, “one can assume that the quality of care is actually worse than surveys of patient satisfaction would seem to show,” according to a 1991 lecture by Avedis Donabedian, M.D.: “Often patients are, in fact, overly pati... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3603595 Wed, 26 May 2010 16:00:23 +0100 3603595 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3585875&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F05%2F21%2Fpas-increasingly-likely-to-work-in-specialties.aspx Physician assistants are increasingly more likely to head into specialties such as surgery and emergency medicine rather than primary care, according to the News & Observer . Researchers at the Duke University PA program studied the job choices of...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3585875 Fri, 21 May 2010 15:33:00 +0100 3585875 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3567968&cid=t_122345_115_f&fid=38592&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiolopolis.com%2Findex.php%2Fmy-profile%2Fmy-blog%2Fmqsa-breast-imaging-experience-requirements.html  The RRC for Diagnostic Radiology requires three months of breast imaging. The latest RRC regulations state "There must be a minimum of 12 weeks of clinical rotations in breast imaging. Each resident should have documentation of the interpretation/multireading of at least 240 mammograms within a six-month period within the last two years of the residency program." The RRC regulations are posted on the ACGME website as "Effective September Read More... (Source: Radiolopolis Blogs) Radiolopolis Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3567968 Sat, 15 May 2010 16:22:05 +0100 3567968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3545513&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FOon3kg0puYk%2F EMR and HIPAA Answer to EMR Stimulus Questions Today’s question comes from an EMR and HIPAA reader: If I may back up, I am not having much luck in finding how we, as a clinic, get ’signed up’ if you will for this program. We already have EHR implemented. We are a rural health clinic that accepts Medicare and caid. We have been told by our EHR provider that they are CCHIT Certified. From what I have read, we are likely eligible however not sure how to get started. Could someone please advise. Thank you Unfortunately, the answer to this question is that we still don’t know how Eligible Professionals (EP) or Eligible Hospital(EH) are going to be able to “apply” or “sign up” for the EMR stimulus money. I expect we won’t know all the details to actu... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3545513 Fri, 07 May 2010 14:59:24 +0100 3545513 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3533842&cid=t_122345_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhow-to-choose-a-great-doctor%2F2010.05.04 As a practicing family doctor, it’s easy for me to figure out how to choose a great doctor. Let me tell you the secrets in finding the best one for you and what I tell my family and friends. Look for the following: – Board certification – Report card on quality – Licensing/public reporting As a doctor, I know many doctors who have great bedside manner but aren’t particularly reliable in giving the right medical care you deserve, and these traits separate the so-so doctors from the truly excellent ones. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3533842 Tue, 04 May 2010 16:00:00 +0100 3533842 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490711&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F04%2F16%2Fadvice-to-karen-bell-cchit-head%2F I previously posted about the new head of CCHIT, Karen Bell. Most of you probably know that I’m not a huge fan of CCHIT, but I’ve decided that I’d like to give Dr. Bell some advice for CCHIT. Free consulting. How cool is that? Here we go… If Dr. Bell really wants to solidify CCHIT’s position in the EHR world she’ll find a way to show that the CCHIT EHR certification improves usability, EMR implementation success, reimbursement, etc. CCHIT has some vague terminology about the “assurances” that CCHIT certification provide. Unfortunately, they end up being empty assurances about things that doctors don’t really value. I’d be really impressed to see an independent study done on the EMR implementation success of CCHIT certified EHR ver... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490711 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:47:29 +0100 3490711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471884&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Flz5D9nw2Izc%2F We concluded our last post in this series with a blunt prediction that “key physicians will sit on the sidelines” and that clinician non-adoption of EHR technology is a potential “deal-breaker for the success of HITECH”. While this might sound like a criticism of the way HITECH has been implemented, it’s not intended that way — it’s a commentary on 1) the complexity and scope of change that will be required to make HITECH successful, and 2) the level of protective entrenchment existing American health care today. Rather, we believe that the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT – Dr. David Blumenthal and his staff — have done a superb job in interpreting and defining key aspects of HITECH legislation. We’re big fans. For those of you who have been fo... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471884 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:56:39 +0100 3471884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467848&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJgEfzU3e3I0%2F As always, Chilmark Research has a nice post up talking about the new head of CCHIT, Karen Bell. You can see the official CCHIT announcement here. Chilmark brings up two interesting points about what he thinks we can expect from Karen Bell as head of CCHIT. Dr. Bell knows Washington DC and HHS quite well from her many years there. She is effective in a highly politicized environment and will be able to effectively lead CCHIT through that political minefield. … Dr. Bell will put up a Chinese Wall between CCHIT and the HIT vendor organization, HIMSS. She is fully aware of the perceived conflicts of interest between CCHIT and HIMSS and will seek to create some distance between these two organizations. I first must say that the first part is a really smart move by CCHIT. I’d always... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467848 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:58:57 +0100 3467848 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3443727&cid=t_122345_105_f&fid=38964&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrwes.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fboxtop-board-certification.html Remember when you were a child and an offer to be a member of a special spy club appeared on your morning cereal box? You knew, yes knew that the offer was the real deal. All you had to do is send in three cereal box tops and you'd be sent all the prerequisite items. Of course, when the plastic trinkets arrived weeks later, there always seemed to be the air of buzzkill when the reality of what you received for your efforts was revealed.This could never happen with board certification, could it?Yesterday, we learned that this year, every specialist has to re-certify to maintain their status as a board certified specialist. In the past, this was a voluntary process that doctors participated in to show a jury of their peers that they had the right stuff to practice medicine at the highest lev... Dr. Wes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3443727 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:03:00 +0100 3443727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3432994&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FXOreo-ruc8w%2F by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA  The rationale for hospitals having to play in the HITECH game is straightforward: the financial carrots through 2015 are helpful, and the financial sticks after 2015 will be very painful. We’ll discuss: Financial Impacts on Hospitals Survey Data Showing Hospitals Will Play Why Success is Not Guaranteed Financial Impacts on Hospitals Even prior to HITECH, most hospital executives already had passed the threshold decision and concluded that they need to implement EHR technology. Thus, the issue for most hospitals isn’t “whether” to implement EHR technology, but “when”, “at what cost”, and “how”. (more…) Article Series - Is HITECH Working?Is HITECH Working? #1: Hospitals are grumbling but are playing in th... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3432994 Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:53 +0100 3432994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3399230&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F03%2F24%2Faapa-comments-on-moc-modifications.aspx The AAPA has sent a letter to Ragan Cohn of the NCCPA outlining its comments to the changes that NCCPA has proposed to the maintenance of certification process for all PAs–self-assessment activities, the clinical quality improvement project and extending...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3399230 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:48:00 +0100 3399230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403971&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F03%2F16%2Fthoughts-on-ehr-certification-criteria-interim-final-rule%2F Time for a break from the regularly scheduled HIMSS programming (sorry there’s just a lot of HIMSS content to still be published) for some thoughts and comments on the EHR Certification Interim Final rule. What can I say? I was inspired by CCHIT’s comments on the EHR Certification criteria. First, since I mentioned CCHIT’s comments, I have to admit that I think that CCHIT made some very reasonable comments. I’m not sure I really disagree with any of the detailed points that they offer in their comments. What’s probably most interesting in CCHIT’s comments is the last two sections where they talk about the adverse impacts that this rule is likely to have on small EMR vendors and more importantly, small healthcare facilities. I’m not sure I agree com... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403971 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:29:17 +0100 3403971 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366285&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F03%2F11%2Fits-official-drummond-group-to-apply-as-ehr-certifying-body%2F The Drummond Group has just officially announced on their blog their intent to apply for and test EHR software to provide an alternative EHR certification to CCHIT. Here’s a few portions of their announcement: After a thorough review of the recent NPRM along with months of consideration, DGI is excited to announce that we will be applying to be an ONC-ATCB this year. As mentioned before, receiving the HHS requirements to become an authorized EHR testing and certification body was the missing piece in our decision to move forward. Now that we have that piece, we feel confident in announcing our intention to formally apply. In our review of the NPRM, we found it sound, reasonable and a big step forward for formal testing and certification criteria to support Health IT. We will offer ou... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366285 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:35:00 +0100 3366285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366286&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F03%2F11%2Fallscripts-isnt-cchit-certified-2011%2F Sometimes it’s the little things you catch at an enormous conference at HIMSS that are the most powerful. One of those came for me when I was talking to the VP of marketing from one of the EHR vendors on the floor. This was one of the most interesting people I met with at HIMSS. As we were talking he kind of said off hand that one of the visitors to his booth had said Allscripts isn’t CCHIT certified. Now I should clarify. Allscripts was CCHIT certified back in 2007. However, they didn’t do CCHIT certification and in 2008 but they still haven’t done any of the 2011 full CCHIT certification or Preliminary ARRA certification either. As a side note, CCHIT has moved or taken down the previous years certification lists from their website (not sure why or where they moved... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366286 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:56:39 +0100 3366286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3346543&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FdV8NiFM3Ynw%2F Just the Facts  Certification Programs NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) Health IT, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010 Certification NPRM Facts-At-A-Glance FAQ   Bookmarked version of Certification NPRM (much easier to navigate) U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010 Via OCCAM Practice Management blog, March 3, 2010   Commentary and Analysis   Proposed EHR Certification Rule Changes Game HDM Breaking News; March 2, 2010 “The rule mentions the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, but does not grant it any grandfather status…. So, while CCHIT appears to be able to continue its operations under the proposed temporary certification program, its future isn’t clear in the proposed permanent program.”  ... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3346543 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:48:54 +0100 3346543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3338283&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FhTWLewi4hmc%2F I must admit that I’m so happy to be home from HIMSS. It was a fantastic couple of days, but it’s always nice to be at home. Not to mention, posts are so much more fun on a regular keyboard with 2 monitors. Of course, my email box is full of the notes that I took during the various interviews I did at HIMSS. So, you can expect a lot more posts talking about the things I learned and saw at HIMSS. Not to mention a video series of innovative and interesting products at HIMSS (Sponsored by Practice Fusion). For my first post after HIMSS, I decided that I couldn’t help but post about the CCHIT town hall at HIMSS. I really said a lot of what I thought on my twitter account, but I’m sure that many missed it. So here’s a short summary of my thoughts with some other co... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3338283 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:35:31 +0100 3338283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3298411&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fclinicalit.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fpodcast-himss-ceo-steve-lieber-2010.html Last Thursday, for the fourth consecutive year, I sat down with HIMSS CEO H. Stephen Lieber for an interview ahead of the opening of the annual HIMSS conference. For the third consecutive year, the recording actually worked. And for the second consecutive year, I went to HIMSS headquarters in downtown Chicago for the interview, rather than waiting for the conference itself. Unfortunately, the HVAC system in the conference room was rather noisy, so there is some background noise. Still, the voices come through loud and clear.I wrote a story based on this interview in Monday's FierceHealthIT, but here is the world premiere of the full recording.Podcast details: Interview with HIMSS CEO H. Stephen Lieber on the 2010 HIMSS conference, recorded Feb. 18, 2010. MP3, stereo, 128 kbps, 31.7 MB, ru... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3298411 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:01:00 +0100 3298411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302408&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F02%2F22%2Fonc-standards-make-cchit-process-irrelevant%2F FierceEMR has really hit the healthcare IT arena in force over the past 6 months. They even have a big party planned for HIMSS. I’ll probably be stopping by since it’s the day after the New Media Meetup at HIMSS. Well, one of my favorite healthcare IT writers, Neil Versel wrote an article for FierceEMR that really caught my eye. It was titled, “Kibbe: New ONC standards make CCHIT process ‘irrelevant’” If you’ve read this blog for any time you know that I’m an enormous fan of CCHIT (that was in the sarcasm font in case you couldn’t tell). I even declared the Marginalization of CCHIT back in July of last year. So, obviously I agree with David Kibbe’s assertion that the CCHIT process is irrelevant thanks to the HITECH act. A section ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302408 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:29:11 +0100 3302408 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3291906&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fip9oyIdKuEg%2F We’ve had a lot of discussion in the past about the cost of EHR certification. It’s been one of the biggest complaints about CCHIT and their EHR certification. One of my readers wanted me to post again about the costs and how this will be such a challenge for new EHR vendors. First, the problem isn’t that a new EHR vendor couldn’t afford the cost if they wanted to pay it. The problem is that it provides very little benefit to the end users and at the end of the day the cost of the EHR certification would be passed on to the doctors who purchase the EHR. I’m going to use round numbers, but you can see the detailed CCHIT EHR certification costs on my previous post. Basically as it stands today, full CCHIT EHR certification will run a vendor $37k or more to becom... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3291906 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:44:06 +0100 3291906 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283851&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2010%2F02%2F18%2Fnccpa-comment-period-open.aspx The NCCPA is asking PAs to provide feedback on its proposed changes to the maintenance of certification process , which includes an extension of the recertification cycle from six years to 10 years, as well as two new requirements—self-assessment activities...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283851 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:04:00 +0100 3283851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159819&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FkWsx2carqaU%2F * = highly recommended   Descriptive Summaries and Documents    *Dissecting the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule PowerPoint eHealth Initiative Policy Webinar; January 8, 2010   *What You Need to Know About the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule, Standards and Implementation Specification, and Interim Final Rule Certification Criteria PowerPoint HIMSS Webinar; January 6, 2010   *Meaningful Use, Certification Criteria and Standards, and HHS Certification Process HIMSS, frequently updated material, some members-only   Source Documents (Bookmarked) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program; December 30, 2009 Warning: 536 pages of barely intelligible gobbledygook; stay away from this unless you are a lawyer, accountant, actuary,... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159819 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:38:30 +0100 3159819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3124716&cid=t_122345_175_f&fid=37867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fpa_1%2Farchive%2F2009%2F12%2F28%2Fpa-is-named-best-career-again.aspx Once again, physician assistant has been named one of the best careers, this time in a U.S. News & World Report article called " America's Best Careers: 2010 ." Back in November, CNNMoney.com ranked physician assistant #2 in the 50 best jobs in America...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Blog for PAs) ADVANCE Blog for PAs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3124716 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:29:00 +0100 3124716 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3123430&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FKAAM6UXxGDA%2F Brian at new EMR vendor Health Fusion sent me an email discussing some of the posts I’d done about CCHIT certification. In the email, he talked about how many doctors would ask him if his EMR is CCHIT certified. He then told me that his response to those doctors is that it’s not CCHIT certified, but it is is “Stimulus Ready.” I like the concept of “stimulus ready” instead of certified. First, because I think that CCHIT offers doctors no benefit (as is well documented in my previous CCHIT posts). However, more important is to consider what I think doctors are really asking. When a doctor asks an EMR vendor if they are CCHIT certified, what they’re really asking is one of two questions (or possibly both). 1. Can you give me some assurance that your E... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3123430 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:15:20 +0100 3123430 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3123433&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHfv36lPJG18%2F I recently got a very short email sent to me to a press release about the first EMR to receive the full CCHIT 2011 Comprehensive Certification. I’m not sure what they wanted me to do with the release, and so I guess I’ll do what I normally do and call it the way I see it. Does this EHR vendor consider the fact that they’re the first EHR to get the CCHIT 2011 Comprehensive Certification as a badge of wisdom that everyone will applaud? I’m guessing they’ve probably never read my past posts about CCHIT. Otherwise, I’m not sure they would have sent me that press release. However, I think it’s worth asking ourselves whether this was a smart move or a stupid one. Certainly they’re going to get some coverage because their the first EHR certified. Th... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3123433 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:12:34 +0100 3123433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3097062&cid=t_122345_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FrxcNA7WMx6E%2F That’s right. Last May, the Medical Representatives Certification Commission, a newly formed non-profit, began assembling details for the first certification exam to be held in the first quarter of 2010. The so-called final competency standard, which was developed with input from pharma and biotech folks, will be completed and published later this month or in early January. The first exam will be given in March and test proficiency in six major areas: compliance and ethical conduct, customer interaction, administration, regulatory knowledge, clinical and therapeutic knowledge and marketplace knowledge. A passing score will be determined by a Modified Angoff Technique. Reps with with a baccalaureate degree granted by a US regionally accredited college or university and at least six mo... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3097062 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:29:25 +0100 3097062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105120&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F12%2F16%2Fall-i-want-for-christmas-is-arra-ehr-stimulus-answers%2F One of my favorite bloggers, Will Weider, had a nice idea with a post called “All I Want for Christmas is ARRA Answers.” I liked the idea so much that I decided to take it and post my own questions. Plus, some of his focus on hospitals which don’t interest me as much as ambulatory. So, here are the questions I’m hoping David Blumenthal and company can provide us for Christmas. 1. What’s the HHS EHR certification criteria? Will it be a complex set of criteria with little value (see CCHIT) or will it be a streamlined version that encourages EHR adoption? Especially interesting will be comparing the HHS criteria with the CCHIT preliminary ARRA certification. 2. How will HHS define “meaningful use?” Will they follow the meaningful use matrix as propose... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105120 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:58:44 +0100 3105120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075609&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHJVrIHA5NhI%2F I’ve get all sorts of interesting emails sent to me because of this site. Many people send me questions and as much as I can I try to answer them. In fact, it’s usually quite fun if I have the time. This time someone sent a couple interesting questions about the EMR stimulus money and their practice which already uses a non CCHIT EMR. I thought the 2 questions she asked might be of interest to other readers of this site and so I’ve copied the EMR stimulus questions and answer below. Our medical practice has been using a non CCHIT EMR software prior to the stimulus plan. Can my doctors still qualify for the incentive? Absolutely!! CCHIT certification does NOT matter anymore for EMR stimulus money. Instead what matters is that the EMR is HHS Certified (or whatever name HHS ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075609 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:27:17 +0100 3075609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056734&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F12%2F03%2Fsearch-for-new-cchit-chair%2F Now that Mark Leavitt announced that he was leaving CCHIT, it’s going to be interesting to see who will replace him as the Chair of CCHIT. Healthcare Informatics has an interview with CCHIT search committee chair and CCHIT trustee, Frank Trembulak (Geisinger Health System EVP and COO) that’s worth reading to understand more about CCHIT plans to search for Mark’s replacement. This is going to be an interesting change to CCHIT. Or will it be a change at all? What do you guys think, should I apply? Related posts:Mark Leavitt Leaves CCHIT Today the big news was that Mark Leavitt is leaving...CCHIT Town Halls and CCHIT Comments on New Jersey Bill For those that participated in the CCHIT town hall meetings...Health Search Engine – Competition with Google Health? An EMR ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056734 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:25:02 +0100 3056734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2995805&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F11%2F13%2Fmark-leavitt-leaves-cchit%2F Today the big news was that Mark Leavitt is leaving his role as chairman of CCHIT. Healthcare IT news reported on the announcement: “The board accepts Mark’s decision with reluctance but appreciates his commitment to overseeing a seamless transition,” said H. Stephen Lieber, chairman of the board of trustees and president and CEO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). … Lieber said CCHIT trustee Frank Trembulak, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Geisinger Health System, will chair the search committee for Leavitt’s replacement, and that a firm has been retained to conduct the search. … “Having the privilege to launch and lead this volunteer-based, nonprofit organization has been one of the most r... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2995805 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:32:07 +0100 2995805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2971968&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F11%2F03%2Fnew-ehr-certifying-body-drummond-group%2F I’ve had real problems with the idea of there only being one EHR certifying body for a while now. I think competition usually brings the best out of organizations and forces them to be better than they would have been had there been no competition. Plus, it usually brings the price of things down also. With that background, I was very happy to see that Drummond Group Plans to Certify EHR software as well. One of the comments on this blog pointed this group out to me and I’m very happy to see that they’re planning to enter the EHR Certification fray. Here’s a short quote from their press release: Drummond Group has been approached recently by numerous EHR software and services companies that need to be certified. “Clearly there is a growing demand for EHR certi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2971968 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:41:28 +0100 2971968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2958940&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FKaUm97p2pZM%2F Every couple posts I have to write about CCHIT or EHR certification. It’s one of my favorite topics to write about, and I believe it’s one of my readers favorite topics as well (at least that’s what traffic tells me). Today I want to take a look at what I believe is a new addition to the CCHIT 2011 EHR Certification. At least I hadn’t heard of it before. This is what CCHIT is calling Reference Site Verfications. From what I can gather they’re basically planning to verify that there are 2 live sites that have been using the certified EHR for at least 45 calendar days. For those new EMR, they can be certified with what CCHIT is calling “Pre-Market” status, but the EMR vendor must have 2 approved sites within 1 year of when they were initially certifi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2958940 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:17:44 +0100 2958940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2950811&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FjRjMZKSjro8%2F I’ve been sitting on this post for a while. I figured it was finally time that we talked an interesting development in the CCHIT EHR certification: EMR usability testing. They first presented some of the details of this testing during the CCHIT training meeting. However, they also partnered with User Centric to formulate their EHR user testing and EMR and HIPAA has had a nice connection with User Centric for a few months now. First the good. I’m glad that CCHIT is venturing into the realm of EHR usability testing. I’ve often talked about CCHIT Certification being rather useless since just because a piece of software does a certain function doesn’t mean that it does it well or that the EMR is usable. In fact, some of the most “feature rich” EMR software i... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2950811 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:16:43 +0100 2950811 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927423&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F19%2Foncs-guidance-for-ehr-certification-bodies%2F I’ve long been a proponent of having multiple EHR certification bodies. Competition does amazing things for a system and having one certification body would be a horrible thing for the EMR world. Certainly we all know that CCHIT is going to be there as an EHR certification body. The question is whether anyone is going to step forward and provide CCHIT some competition. Does anyone know of any groups that are applying to be a certification body? I’d love to know about them. Russ Reese from MXSecure linked me to a PDF file that describes the features that an ONC approved EHR certification body (PDF) should have. There’s some HUGE problems with this criteria. First and most important is that it basically requires the EHR certifying organization (they call it a Recognized Cer... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927423 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:51:12 +0100 2927423 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2901707&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F16%2Fcchit-ehr-certification-criteria-problem%2F I’ve discussed a lot of problems (there are many) with the CCHIT EHR Certification in the past. However, one problem I’d never heard of was something that Lourdes from WebDMEMR said in a comment on my post about EHR certification recommendations: WebDMEMR’s development schedule has been on par with the Meaningful Use Matrix Tagged for CCHIT Reference. This document lays out a generalized view of the functionality necessary to conform with meaningful use, not CCHIT. I actually took a look at the Preliminary ARRA criteria, can believe that there are some criteria that only apply to client-server EMRs? With no option for web based applications? These test scripts are geared towards client – server based technologies, I found that many of the criterion did not make sense for a ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2901707 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:07:44 +0100 2901707 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2890737&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHwOughndQNk%2F No one asked (well at least not publicly), but I wanted to share my opinions on what EMR vendors should be doing in regards to EHR certification. I guess you could say this is a small sample of the advice I’d offer as an EMR vendor advisor albeit not EMR vendor specific and with less detail. Take it for what it’s worth. If I’m an EMR vendor today, I’d definitely avoid going out and getting either the CCHIT Certified 2011 or the Preliminary ARRA 2011 EHR certifications. One reader of this site emailed me an estimate of $100,000 up front and $9,000 renewal fee per year for the CCHIT certifications they were considering. Certainly it could be less if you just go with the Preliminary ARRA certification, but regardless the cost is quite large. Instead, I’d take a m... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2890737 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:25:41 +0100 2890737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2876142&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F01%2Finterview-with-srssoft-emr-ceo-evan-steele%2F I’ve been finding what SRSsoft and in particular their CEO, Evan Steele has been saying about the ARRA EHR stimulus money on the SRSsoft blog called EMR Straight Talk really interesting. They’re an EMR company that I think has taken a different approach to marketing their EMR software. So, I thought it would be interesting to interview Evan on a number of relevant topics related to his EMR and the ARRA stimulus money. Let me know if you like the following interview and I’ll think about doing more of them. Describe what you define a hybrid EMR is. Hybrid EMR satisfies the demands of high performance physicians by providing process efficiency. This benefit is delivered through click minimization, ergonomic design, product flexibility and a non-proprietary, open software pla... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2876142 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:09:17 +0100 2876142 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851873&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fx7IrcBcSi0E%2F If you’ve had enough of my posts from a talk Marc Probst gave, then you’ll be glad to know this is the last one. There’s no hiding my respect for Marc and hearing him in person did nothing but elevate that respect for him. Some of the comments below will feel a bit random, but I thought they were interesting enough to share with you all. Meaningful Use and Certified EHR Overlap I asked Marc about the challenge of reconciling the overlap between the certified EHR criteria modeled after the meaningful use matrix and meaningful use itself. It seemed that they were measuring basically the same thing. Marc’s response was, “That’s a battle I lost.” Then, Marc muttered under his breathe something about certifying the software versus the users. Basically, ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851873 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:23:46 +0100 2851873 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846459&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F09%2F29%2Fmore-meaningful-ehr-use-to-be-simplified%2F On my twitter stream I was getting a number of skeptics around my previous post about meaningful use and EHR certification being simplified by CMS (Medicare & Medicaid Services). They seemed a bit surprised that CMS would simplify meaningful EHR use. Let me add a little more content and context to why Marc Probst thinks the way he does about this subject and why I wholeheartedly agree with him that MU and certified EHR’s final rules will be simpler than they are in their current form. One of the most compelling reasons Marc gave was when he talked about a meeting he had with David Brailer. In their meeting David Brailler told Marc Probst that “Meaningful use will be a small bump in the road.” Marc then described David Brailler’s reasoning. Basically, the EHR st... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846459 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:52:16 +0100 2846459 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846460&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F09%2F28%2Fmeaningful-use-and-therefore-hhs-ehr-certification-criteria-will-dillute%2F In my ongoing series of posts from Marc Probst’s visit to Las Vegas (you can see my first post here), these next comments by Marc were really interesting. Marc said, “The guesses are good that CMS will dilute meaningful use.” I also asked Marc a question about whether he thought that the HHS certification criteria would be less than what CCHIT submitted as their “meaningful use” EHR certification criteria. He responded that the HHS certification criteria will be designed around the meaningful use requirements (which we already knew) and so it is likely that if the meaningful use criteria are diluted then the HHS certification criteria would be diluted as well. What do you think of the suggestion that MU will be diluted? Which parts of MU do you think will be ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846460 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:05:09 +0100 2846460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832251&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FtVXihMwiuC0%2F Dr. Don Storey and I spoke at the at The Forum 09 conference in San Diego earlier this week. The DMAA publication “The Continuum” had an excellent writeup of our enthusiastically received presentation.  Here’s a copy of our PowerPoint slides… HITECH Health IT Legislation: Opportunities for the DMAA Community View more presentations from vincek. and here’s DMAA’s writeup: Helping physicians and hospitals meet the “meaningful use” criteria for federal support for health information technology under recently passed legislation represents a keen opportunity for the population health management industry, presenters at this session said yesterday. Vince Kuraitis, JD, MBA, of Better Health Technologies, LLC, and Don Storey, MD, of RMD Networks, presented a look at the evolut... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832251 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:54:42 +0100 2832251 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2828295&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FAKO5gAogCP0%2F John Halamka recently posted the following about whether doctors and practices should wait to purchase an EMR. Here’s his response: I’m often asked by clinicians and hospitals if they should wait to purchase an EHR because of the uncertainty regarding meaningful use and certification. I tell them to move forward now. The following is my response I made to him in the comments of his blog: Thanks for sharing the timeline[also included in the blog post listed above and similar to my previous post on the EMR stimulus meaningful use and certified EHR timeline]. However, I do disagree with you that people should be selecting and implementing an EHR now. There’s no rush to do this. I can agree that users should start reviewing the various EHR vendors and technologies that are av... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2828295 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:55:18 +0100 2828295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796530&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHwr9OYNwsyM%2F Time to take a look at the costs associated with the 2011 CCHIT Certification programs. If you’re not sure which programs I’m talking about, you need to go read my post about Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 and CCHIT Certified 2011. The following are the costs that CCHIT plans to charge for their 2011 EHR certifications: CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR – $37,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 Inpatient EHR – $49,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 Emergency Department – $37,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal CCHIT Certified 2011 ePrescribing – $18,000 with a $9,000 annual renewal Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 1-2 modules – $6,000 with a $1,000 annual renewal Preliminary ARRA Certified 2011 3-5 modules &... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796530 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:52:03 +0100 2796530 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2790321&cid=t_122345_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Fqn6AlRE1xgg%2F By Vince Kuraitis and Steven Waldren MD, MS.  Dr Waldren is Director of the Center for Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP). Two issues have rightfully surfaced front and center in the public’s understanding of HITECH Act implementation: ” definition of “Meaningful Use” of EHRs, and ” definition of “certification” process for EHRs …and we applaud the progress of the workgroups and the HIT Policy Committee in addressing these issues constructively. However…a THIRD issue lurks – “Data harmonization at the expense of data liquidity“, or put another way – “misplaced pursuit of one (and only one) language at the expense of practical communication.” On August 20, the HI... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2790321 Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:18:03 +0100 2790321