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 'healthcare it'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:59:15 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181958&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F2ScUo2cTw1c%2F Many of you might remember my recent post about EMR Performance Issues (ie. EMR Slowness). Turns out, the post had a pretty big impact on some readers of the site. In fact, it sounds like it was partially therapeutic for some to realize that they’re not alone. I asked permission to share one of the responses with you so you could get some more first hand perspective on the issue of EMR slowness. I share it in the hopes that others can be aware and avoid it. Plus, I hope the EHR vendors that read this will take it to heart and be fanatically focused on EMR speed and customer support. I’ve removed the name of the writer and the names of the vendors. Plus, realize that it was written originally in an email communication and not necessarily to be published. OMG…you hit the na... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181958 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:28:48 +0100 5181958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181957&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2F_VlWsGVP6dk%2F Normally this time of year, I’m making plans to attend the many fall conferences in health IT and related industries. This year, my decisions are harder. You see, it seems like everyone decided to schedule their events during the last week of October: AMIA 2011, Oct. 23-26, Washington MGMA Annual Conference, Oct. 23-26, Las Vegas TEDMED 2011 Oct. 25-28, San Diego CHIME11 Fall CIO Forum, Oct. 26-28, Austin, Texas Just for kicks, I’m scheduled to participate in the Institute for Health Technology Transformation’s Health IT Summit, Nov. 2-3 in Beverly Hills, Calif. All are worthwhile, and all will be great places to find relevant stories for this blog and my various media clients. It probably makes most sense to go west, hitting MGMA and TEDMED, then spending the weekend in ... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181957 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:47:10 +0100 5181957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181959&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FTHPZrzE1cCI%2F In a post on EMR and EHR about Social Media and EMRs, Andre Vovan, MD MBA from Mitochon Systems offered an interesting insight into the comparison between EMR and social media. Social media and EMR are a natural fit. Think about what social media really enables. The ablity to stay connected, following different strings of info/story weaved by connected people. Say for instance you and your friends went to the Grand Canyon, one person took pictures while the other did the cooking, planning, and was responsible for entertainment during the trip. When they try to retell the story to their friends, each will be able to add different aspect of the story and with social network platforms such as facebook, this is possible. Now take the story above, and insert 2 doctors and change the trip taken ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181959 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:44:38 +0100 5181959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181960&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FGFmRr9VJvx8%2F Chuck Podesta is Fletcher Allen Health Care’s chief information officer. ICD-10 would not be so daunting if the deadline was not occurring during the rush to get EHRs for meaningful use. Add in value-based purchasing, bundled payments and transitioning to ACOs, and you can see why many CIOs are retiring early or migrating to the vendor or consulting world. We are just over two years away from the October 2013 deadline, and there is much work to be done. ICD-10 contains 68,000 codes, as opposed to the 13,000 currently used in the ICD-9 world. There is a code for every condition that exists on the planet. The revenue cycle system, which includes registration, HIM and billing/AR, will be the lynch pin to ICD-10 readiness. Having a solid vendor partner and a strong product is key to a succ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181960 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:56:35 +0100 5181960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181979&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fsocial-media-reactions-top-5-worst-emr-myths Healthcare IT News Associate Editor Molly Merrill wrote a July 26 piece on the five worst EMR myths. Over the past month, there's been debate and discussion surrounding the list, via our social media outlets and in our reader comments posted on the Healthcare IT News site. Here are the five misconceptions Merrill included: read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181979 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:45:12 +0100 5181979 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174703&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fg_faMvFVu7k%2F Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. A great deal of work, discussion, and debate by the HIT Policy Committee and its Workgroup members went into developing the recommendations for meaningful use Stage 2 (discussed in the last two Meaningful Use Monday posts). Meetings were frequent and lengthy, but I tried to listen in on most of them to gain some insights into the thinking behind the decisions being made and the future direction of me... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174703 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:35:33 +0100 5174703 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174704&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FMJr4_oLHBIQ%2F Time to touch on a few popular topics that I found being discussed on Twitter. First, I’ll put the tweets and then a little but of my own commentary on these hot button issues in healthcare IT. @GovHIT Does a nationwide #EHR lower healthcare costs? Social media reactions | #GovHIT Blog http://ow.ly/64DL1 I always love when people talk about a nationwide EHR. I actually think that it’s a bad title by Government Healthcare IT, but that it’s a very good question. To me a nationwide EHR implies that there is one EHR for the entire nation. I think a number of other countries which are much smaller and less complex than the US have proven quite well that a nationwide government run EHR is a bad idea. I think the Government HIT article actually refers more to widespread adoption... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174704 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:20:12 +0100 5174704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169597&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FMv7wbsW1E7Y%2F Conclusion Don’t accept an EHR that’s slow. Make sure that the EHR performs at a satisfactory level. I know of nothing that frustrates a clinic more than a slow EHR. Related posts:Common EMR Implementation Issue – EHR Performance Issues We’re back again with our ongoing series on Common EMR... Common EMR Implementation Issues – Unexpected EHR Expenses This is the start of a new series of posts... Killer EMR Features According to EMR Vendors I previously posted a request to hear about the “killer”... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169597 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:49:29 +0100 5169597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159278&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F6jLMN8ZSAok%2F We’re back again with our ongoing series on Common EMR Implementation Issues. Seems like readers really liked my first entry in the series about Unexpected EHR Expenses. To be quite honest, I was really happy with how that post turned out myself. It’s one of the most comprehensive and useful posts I’ve written in the 5.5+ years I’ve been writing about EMR and EHR. Hopefully we can continue that trend. Today’s Common EMR Implementation Problem: EHR Performance Issues I have to admit that this is a really tough problem to crack. However, it’s also incredibly common. The symptoms for this problem usually are described as, “THIS EHR IS SOOOOOO SLOW!” (This is appropriate use of ALL CAPS since they are often yelling this.) Followed by a *huff* and... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159278 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:44:49 +0100 5159278 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159279&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FHNwIjbnhAi8%2F I recently had the great opportunity to go to breakfast with Valerie Migliore and Karin Eichler during my visit to my in-laws in the upstate New York area (Rochester specifically). Despite being very pleasant ladies I was also happy to see they could speak EMR speak with me. I’ve met a whole lot of different people over the years and far too often I go and meet with someone who is just getting into the EMR world and so they’re still learning the ways of the EMR (excuse the Star Wars reference). I still enjoy those types of visits, but I really enjoy meeting with people like Valerie and Karin who can share with me some other EMR perspectives. In fact, they often show me new ways that I hadn’t looked at something before. Turns out Val and Karin recently did a presentation a... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159279 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:43:18 +0100 5159279 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159280&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FTRWtDdOJM_4%2F Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. In addition to the Meaningful Use Stage 2 recommendations discussed in last week’s Meaningful Use Monday, the HIT Policy Committee proposed a new framework for the reporting of clinical quality measures that was designed by its specifically-tasked Quality Measure Workgroup. The recommended concept is depicted in the graphic below—the intention is to broaden the scope of reporting to address a wid... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159280 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:19:08 +0100 5159280 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159281&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F_az5UonSHQ4%2F Discussion About EMR Study by Accenture One of the first people I talked with when I... Google Health Co-op (Making Google Health Portal Possible) This is a little late to be posting, but I’ve... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159281 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 05:11:50 +0100 5159281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159282&cid=t_99683_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=5159283&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F42OlfYrK2Vg%2F This is the start of a new series of posts that I plan to do over the next week or two. I’ll probably try and space them out so that they don’t overwhelm anyone. However, it’s going to be a series of common EMR implementation issues that I hear over and over again. This series was prompted by a post on HIStalk by Inga where she talked about her visit to the doctor and his complaints about his EHR implementation. As I read through the list of complaints, I realized that they were all complaints that I’d heard before. If I’ve heard them all before, then they must be pretty common and worth talking about more. Ideally the discussions in this EMR implementation series will help practices and doctors that are implementing an EMR to avoid these issues. I also know t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159283 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:45:47 +0100 5159283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139648&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fsafe-technology-factors-contributing-to.html Conclusions Duplicate medication order errors increased with CPOE and CDS implementation. Many work system factors, including the CPOE, CDS, and medication database design, contributed to their occurrence. Duplicate orders can result in over-medication, failure to discontinue, or other medication errors if not caught. They by definition increase risk. The questions are simple: Considering that this was a "Northeastern US community tertiary care teaching hospital", not a small hospital in a remote town somewhere lacking in HIT experience, and that "duplicate medication order errors increased with CPOE and CDS implementation", is CPOE: A safe technology, in a practical sense in the complex clinical setting (with complexities that are 'Hiding in Plain Sight'), in 2011?A technology ready f... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139648 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:50:00 +0100 5139648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139649&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Ffrom-senior-clinician-down-under.html A poster who wishes to remain anonymous, a Senior Clinician in the state of Victoria, Australia, added this comment to my March 2011 post on 'anecdotes.' (That post was entitled "Australian ED EHR Study: An End to the Line "Your Evidence Is Anecdotal, Thus Worthless?".)He makes a critical point I think has gotten lost in the HIT domain (emphases mine): Anonymous August 15, 2011 9:26:00 PM EDT said... Anecdote and Medicine. We are actually talking about two different things here. 1. Anecdotal reporting of a new and potentially exciting finding in Medicine is NEVER a reason to widely implement a new treatment or procedure. It represents the lowest category of evidence in any systematic review In any orthodox system of medicine in the developed world a new intervention would not be r... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139649 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:25:00 +0100 5139649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139650&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fwhy-bankers-need-to-stick-to-banking.html [Note: this post is very rich with hyperlinks. To fully understand the post, at least open the hyperlinks in a separate window and browse their material - ed.] In April 2011 I referenced a 2007 comment about health IT ROI, by then-Congressional Budget Office (CBO) head Peter Orszag, in a post entitled "Medicare/Medicaid Cuts? Spend Money on Patients - Not Computer Experiments": ... More on purported cost savings - Peter Orszag, former head of the Congressional Budget Office, said the use of electronic health records, without a major change in health care delivery, "would not significantly reduce overall health care costs" in the agency's 2007 report on long-term health care spending. He also said that according to data from the report, the return on investment for EHR's "is not going to ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139650 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:27:00 +0100 5139650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139937&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FIJjkpBY92iI%2F Every couple months I like to take a bit of an inventory on EMR and HIPAA along with recognizing new advertisers to the EMR and HIPAA family along. Not to mention send out a big thanks to all those advertisers who have renewed during that time period as well. EMR and HIPAA is still doing more amazing than I ever thought it could. During the slow summer months we’re still averaging about 4500 pageviews per day. In fact, we’re inching ever closer to 5 million pageviews since we first started tracking the stats. I think I might have to celebrate the day we reach that landmark. This will be the 1,139th post on EMR and HIPAA and we’ve had 5,590 comments made. That’s roughly 5 comments per post. So thank you to all those who contribute to the amazing community that exists... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139937 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:49:39 +0100 5139937 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139938&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FYKYYdrcHm4s%2F I recently came across this really interesting Wall Street Journal blog post. In it a recent college graduate gives a nice rendition of the challenge of changing from student to employee. Turns out, this newly minted graduate has found work at the popular healthcare IT software company: Epic. Of course, the fact that Epic is hiring a recent college graduate should come as no surprise to anyone in the EMR and healthcare IT field. Epic has long been a haven for new graduates since their hiring practices seem to favor training new blood as opposed to hiring experienced EMR practitioners. However, reading the above post made me think back to when I first got hired for a job working with an electronic medical record. This part of the blog post really hit home (emphasis mine): Starting Aug 1, I ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139938 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:12:04 +0100 5139938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130856&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F7izZd7JZcgo%2F Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. A few weeks ago, the HIT Policy Committee forwarded its Stage 2 meaningful use recommendations to CMS. CMS is expected to issue a Proposed Rule in early 2012 and the Final Rule in mid-2012.  The first recommendation—intensely debated, but overwhelmingly supported in the end—is to delay the start of Stage 2 until 2014, recognizing the unrealistic time pressure that vendors and providers would fac... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130856 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:43:35 +0100 5130856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130673&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fnational-programme-for-it-in-nhs-aug.html Conclusions and recommendations 1. The Department has been unable to deliver its original aim of a fully integrated care records system across the NHS. Poor progress since 2002 has meant the Department has had to reconsider what the expenditure can deliver. Many NHS organisations will now not receive a system through the Programme which will not provide for the transmission of individual case records across the whole NHS. The Department should review urgently whether it is worth continuing with all elements of the care records system, to determine whether the remaining £4.3 billion could be used to better effect to buy systems that work, are good value and deliver demonstrable benefits for the NHS. 2. There has been a substantial reduction in how many NHS bodies will receive new systems... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130673 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:38:00 +0100 5130673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125824&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Fnversel%2FVi_Shaffer_AMDIS_2011.mp3 Back in June, I covered the Wisconsin Technology Network’s Digital Healthcare Conference in Madison. That conference featured a panel with Vi Shaffer, research vice president and industry services director for healthcare providers at Gartner, Judy Murphy, vice president of information services at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee, and Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner, based in nearby Verona, Wis. The panel discussed the question, “Is meaningful use a floor or a ceiling?” as I reported for WTN News. The conference also featured several sessions on how business intelligence and health information exchange can support Accountable Care Organizations. A month later, I saw Shaffer again at AMDIS Physician-Computer Connection meeting in Ojai, Calif. There, she presented preliminary ... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125824 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:24:05 +0100 5125824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125825&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FU55DsRRCd6E%2F I was hit by this comment made by Ciro on a LinkedIn group that I’m apart of (You can find the HealthcareScene.com blog network on LinkedIn if you want to join). My patients are discharged from hospitals and are seen in different offices. I have no clue what changes have been made when I open the patient’s record in my emr. We have to call to have notes faxed to us all the time. Then we scan the documents into the emr and attach it to the patient record as a tif file. If a patient has a reaction to a medication and is seen at urgent care facility, I will not know about it unless the patient tells me. There is no integrity in my emr data since changes are made all the time. Our hospital recently spent millions on a emr that does not integrate with any outpatient emr. Where is th... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125825 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:47:51 +0100 5125825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130674&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fcongresswoman-renee-elmers-on-health-it.html A letter on Health IT from Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, (R) NC, Chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology was just sent to Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. The themes in the letter will be familiar to readers of Healthcare Renewal. A PDF copy of the letter can be downloaded by clicking below, and the text follows. (click here to download PDF) Here is the text, along with several comments: August 11, 2011 The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 lndependence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20201 Via Facsimile: 202. 690.7380 Dear Secretary Sebelius: The House Small Business Committee, on which I serve, is required by the R... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130674 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0100 5130674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125698&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fcongresswoman-renee-elmers-on-health-it.html A letter on Health IT from Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, (R) NC, Chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology was just sent to Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. The themes in the letter will be familiar to readers of Healthcare Renewal. A PDF copy of the letter can be downloaded by clicking below, and the text follows. (click here to download PDF) Here is the text, along with several comments: August 11, 2011 The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 lndependence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20201 Via Facsimile: 202. 690.7380 Dear Secretary Sebelius: The House Small Business Committee, on which I serve, is required by the R... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125698 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0100 5125698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118746&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FQcpbBa3mVII%2F This is the next in a series of EMR and EHR interviews that will be done on EMR and HIPAA and EMR and EHR. The full EMR interview with Dr. Ho can be found on the new EHR and EMR interviews website. The following is a summary of that interview written by Kathy Bongiovi. After completing a family practice residency at the University of Rochester in 1989, Dr. Ho worked in a variety of settings before making her decision to open her no-staff “micropractice” in 2004. Ho defines micropractice as being “a small, low overhead, no staff, hightech-high touch practice.” Because Ho believes the current financing model of delivering primary care by cranking up the volume of visits in order to meet overhead and salary is broken she wanted to move to a model that would be better for patients and ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118746 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:18:04 +0100 5118746 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118747&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F-wzekic95sE%2F Patient Doctor Relationship It seems like this topic keeps coming up in my online and social media reading. Basically, the discussion usually centers around the role the patient plays in healthcare. Many people like to discuss what has been called the ePatient. I instead want to talk about the motivations of patients and their ability to influence the healthcare system. Patients in healthcare are unlike “customers” in many other industries. I can’t think of a single patient that wants to go and see a doctor. Ok, maybe they like the doctor and they want to get whatever’s ailing them fixed, but to a person I’m sure we’d say that going to the doctor is the last place we want to be. It’s not like going shopping for a new pair of shoes. There’s no... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118747 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:12:45 +0100 5118747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118748&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FjLM8hRYzQbY%2F Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. At last week’s HIT Policy Committee meeting, Robert Tagalicod, (the new director of the Office of E-Health Standards & Services), presented an analysis of the attestation experience to-date [See John's previous Meaningful Use Details post for the slides and report]. The results lend themselves to some interesting observations—admittedly preliminary findings, but revealing nonetheless:  The ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118748 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:58:10 +0100 5118748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118749&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJZhjPfrltFs%2F Great counsel and advice for those still looking at various EHR software (especially specialists) @EMRAnswers Linda Lia Customizable content “offered”, doesn’t mean your specialty is available. Big difference. Ask for a “live” demo. #EMR #HITsm #healthIT EMR implementation in 6 weeks. Hospital EMR people will balk at this. However, it’s possible in the ambulatory setting. I wouldn’t recommend it, but one time I had to do it. @PediatricInc Brandon Betancourt New Post – Going from paper charts to EMR in 6 weeks; a summary http://bit.ly/npmSEH #EMR Everyone hates redundant work. So, this tweet caught my eye: @TheNerdyNurse The Nerdy Nurse In Case You Missed it: : Teetering Between EMR and Paper Charting: Frustration and Duplication – What ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118749 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:21:27 +0100 5118749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107458&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fwhy-ehrs-are-mission-hostile.html From "Revisiting E&M Visit Guidelines — A Missing Piece of Payment Reform" (free PDF as of this writing), Robert A. Berenson, M.D., Peter Basch, M.D, and Amanda Sussex, M.P.H., N Engl J Med 364;20 nejm.org May 19, 2011. Excerpt: ... Numerous problems have resulted. [From the CPT codes, Current Procedural Terminology codes used by physicians in billing, covering evaluation and management (E&M) services - ed.] The detailed guidelines often cause clinicians to overdocument, making the medical record an ineffective source of communication. ... A fundamental concern is that the office-visit descriptors and interpretive guidelines emphasize often-irrelevant elements of patients’ clinical histories and examinations, rather than decisionmaking and care-management activities. This is... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107458 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:35:00 +0100 5107458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103317&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fmedical-data-mix-up-major-system-error.html This from Down Under. Apparently an American IT system by Cerner was involved:Medical data mix-up, major system error Kate Hagan | August 5, 2011 MELBOURNE hospitals have sent incorrect patient records to GPs due to an error with Victoria's troubled health technology program over the past two months. The discharge summaries from Eastern Health and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital mixed patients' names with other patient data, including test results and diagnoses.[A major patient misidentification error - ed.] The data was faxed to GPs under the HealthSMART program, which Health Minister David Davis has described as ''the myki of health''.[I think 'myki' refers to the contactless smartcard ticketing system being introduced on public transport in Victoria, Australia. Did I mention I... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103317 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:15:00 +0100 5103317 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103318&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fwhy-radiologists-should-review-reports.html Another way computers in medicine can lead to maimed and dead patients: .firefox .portlet-boundary_EXT_4_ #article-comments p sup { }.ie #article-comments table { margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: -8px; }#article-comments div { font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.7; text-align: left; }.ie .article-comments-date { margin-bottom: 5px; } Why Radiologists Should Review Reports CarefullyDiagnostic Imaging By Arun Krishnaraj, MD | August 2, 2011 Mrs. Anderson called her doctor and spoke with pressured speech: “I think there is a mistake. That cannot be my ultrasound. I don’t have a gallbladder.”Mrs. Anderson was accessing our hospital’s open EHR, which allowed her to view her radiology reports, and noticed a discrepancy. An ultrasound had been performed which identified “multip... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103318 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:56:00 +0100 5103318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096109&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fdebt-ceiling-deal-could-endanger-health.html A story about the recent political deal to raise the Debt Ceiling entitled "Deal could endanger health care law" appeared in the Politico (hat tip Drudge Report):Deal could endanger health care lawBy JENNIFER HABERKORN | 8/3/11 11:28 PM EDT Politico.comThe debt ceiling agreement could jeopardize millions of dollars, and perhaps billions, in initiatives from President Barack Obama’s health care reform law if the super committee can’t come up with required spending cuts.Many of the pots of money in the law — one of the Democrats’ most prized pieces of legislation — could get trimmed by the debt deal’s sequestration, or triggered cuts. The funds for prevention programs and community health centers, grants to help states set up insurance exchanges and co-ops, and money to help sta... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096109 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:11:00 +0100 5096109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096110&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Ftime-for-summer-vacation-at-onc-and.html A Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN) blogger "Family Health Guy" a.k.a. Sean Nolan writes in a July 31, 2011 post entitled "Time for a summer vacation at ONC" that:I’ve spoken at some length about my enthusiasm for the current leadership at HHS and ONC. President Obama has both directly and indirectly engaged some really gifted individuals to help us address healthcare challenges through the use of information technology --- which is awesome ... I’ve had the good fortune to participate in a few of these, and it’s been some of the most rewarding work of my career. Truth is, I’m not used to seeing such great work out of government. So I’m a bit reluctant to throw out what could be perceived as a negative message --- but after my own two-week vacation thinking about it I’m convi... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096110 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:38:00 +0100 5096110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096111&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fyou-saw-it-here-first-uk-nhs-pulls-plug.html You saw it here first. Or, at least well before the pundits admitted this.I've been predicting this event for quite awhile at this blog (e.g., see posts about the UK NPfIT at this blog query link). From the Independent:The Independent (UK)NHS pulls the plug on its £11bn IT systemAfter nine years and with billions already spent, doomed computer system is abandonedBy Oliver Wright, Whitehall EditorWednesday, 3 August 2011A plan to create the world's largest single civilian computer system linking all parts of the National Health Service is to be abandoned by the Government after running up billions of pounds in bills. Ministers are expected to announce next month that they are scrapping a central part of the much-delayed and hugely controversial 10-year National Programme for IT.Instead, lo... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096111 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:20:00 +0100 5096111 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107649&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F08%2F03%2Feprescribing-controlled-substances%2F Back on September 13, 2009 I wrote a post titled, “FDA Approves Pilot Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances.” I’d link to the post, but unfortunately the news got sent to me prematurely and so I had to take the post down. It was unfortunate, since there was and still is a lot of interest in being able to ePrescribe controlled substances. In fact, I’d say that not being able to prescribe controlled substances electronically is the current Achilles heal of ePrescribing. Fast forward to the recent announcement that DrFirst’s announcement of the Nationwide Launch of their ePrescribing Controlled Substances product. Their latest ePrescribing product for controlled substances is called EPCS Gold and is fully certified to meet the prescription processing re... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107649 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:33:22 +0100 5107649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096396&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FBMZN5rweIRY%2F I really would not want to live in Sarnia, Ontario. And not because it’s a hardscrabble Rust Belt town directly across the border from the equally hardscrabble—and very depressing—Port Huron, Mich. I wouldn’t want to live there because it might as well be the capital of physician resistance to technology. According to a story in Canadian Healthcare Technology’s Technology For Doctors, fully half of the 150 physicians in town will choose to retire rather than adopt EMRs. At least that’s what Dr. Kunwar Singh, president of the Lambton County Medical Society, predicts. (Needless to say, Singh is a “veteran” physician, someone who’s been in practice for 42 years.) The government of Ontario, which runs the single-payer health system in Canada’... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096396 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:55:11 +0100 5096396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107650&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F08%2F02%2Fan-opposing-view-of-carecloud-ehr%2F Turns out David, who manages the Smart Phone Healthcare, EMR Videos, EMR Screenshots and EMR News websites, didn’t agree with some of the devil’s advocate positions I took in my Carecloud EHR post. He said that after reading Dr. Blackledge’s post, I missed a number of things. So, the following is his commentary on what I missed in my previous Carecloud post. Pretty much every company out there has some good and bad about it.  There are a few that are completely useless, and a few that think they are perfect, but for the most part every company has some worthwhile traits and some things they need to work on. Last week, John wrote about a new EHR, Carecloud that has been talked about for months, but finally was released last week.  He referenced a post that was written... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107650 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:48:52 +0100 5107650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107652&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F31%2Fweekend-twitter-roundup%2F A quick look at some interesting EMR and healthcare IT related tweets I saw this weekend. This was timely after my recent posts about backup and disaster recovery. #bbpBox_96998476478558208 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0000ff; }#bbpBox_96998476478558208 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Don’t know how computer (EMR) dependent you are until the office power goes out for 2 hrs. Sheesh! (we’re back on now)…. July 29, 2011 10:40 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite @drmikesevilla Mike Sevilla, MD Interesting comparison for sure. #bbpBox_97644147334320128 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_97644147334320128 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Parallels w/paper vs EMR?? Fascinating MT @KentBottles: http://ow.ly/5Rrgi Paper calendar vs. electronic ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107652 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:10:59 +0100 5107652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086312&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FyMY-qBt2Ugc%2F Rule No. 1 of blogging: post often enough to keep your audience. I seem to have broken that rule in the past eight days. The problem is, I’ve been doing so much (paying) work for others that I have neglected this site. For example, I have a new gig as a contributor to a fairly new, blog-style news site, EHR Outlook, published by Access Intelligence of Rockville, Md. (which just happens to be my home town). I’ll be writing weekly for that site, which provides fairly basic EHR-related information and advice for physician practices, a return of sorts to my roots in healthcare journalism. My first post went up last week, and a second should get posted Monday. I have a lot more to blog about, but for now, here’s another hilarious Xtranormal video about how all the mundane pape... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086312 Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:45:43 +0100 5086312 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107653&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F30%2Fhealth-tech-next-generation-conference-see-you-in-san-francisco%2F I haven’t been to a healthcare IT conference in a little while. Mostly, because I hadn’t seen one that I really wanted to attend. So, I’m excited that August 12th I’m going to the Health Tech: Next Generation Conference in San Franscisco, CA. I’m actually going to be there the whole weekend since there’s a WordPress conference happening that weekend as well. Plus, there are a number of people I’m planning to meet with while I’m there. If you’re in San Francisco that weekend, let me know so we can get together. I always love meeting readers of this site. I’m really excited for this healthcare IT conference. They have the amazing Guy Kawasaki as one of the keynote speakers. He’s a dynamic person and I can’t wait to see ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107653 Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:29:28 +0100 5107653 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086317&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FsmTuqBa9c8M%2F This guest post was provided by Ed Fisher on behalf of GFI Software Ltd. GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. More information: email archiving software. In today’s business environment, where litigation is an increasingly common way for disputes to be settled, compliance is included in every business plan, and regulations are reaching into business processes everywhere. Email admins must concern themselves with far more than just whether or not email is flowing. They must ensure that messaging meets the various regulations under which their business falls. They may also have to deal with legal holds, compliance reviews, discovery motions, and internal policy ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086317 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:34:26 +0100 5086317 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077816&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F27%2Femr-and-meaningful-use-books%2F I must admit that I’m not much of a book guy. Especially since there’s so much free information available on the internet about just about any subject you could want. However, I’ve been quite intrigued by the number of healthcare IT related books that I’ve seen coming out of late. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the ones I’ve seen. Getting to Meaningful Use and Beyond: A Guide for IT Staff in Health Care by Fred Trotter and David Uhlman – I’ve been a big fan of Fred Trotter for a while. So, I’m glad he’s working on this book. Turns out the book isn’t even published, but in Fred Trotter open source style fashion, the book is available for free online right now. Of course, they’re hoping you’ll provide feedback. ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077816 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:46:01 +0100 5077816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077817&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F26%2Fnew-ehr-company-ready-to-launch-carecloud%2F Aaron Blackledge M.D., founder of Care Practice clinic in San Francisco, sent me a link to a post he did back in April about a new EMR company called Carecloud. The irony of this is that Carecloud had just reached out to me for information about advertising their EMR on my sites since they are getting ready to launch their product. Their impending launch was why Aaron decided to share his post with me. I think Dr. Blackledge’s post about Carecloud is summarized in his final paragraph: My recommendation is if you are about to give up and lay down some hard earned cash on an EMR that is just good enough I would urge you to wait a few more months and compare CareCloud’s first iteration with other emerging platforms now gaining a foothold in the marketplace. Since Carecloud is about to... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077817 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:11:03 +0100 5077817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069406&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fon-ehr-warnings-sure-experts-think-you.html I frequently mention what I call an "irrational exuberance" about health IT affecting the judgment of otherwise intelligent people.Here's an example where an expert's prescient warning about HIT problems was ignored.This letter of April 21, 2010 was FAXed to the CEO and CC'd to the CMO of the hospital where my mother was injured due to a May 19, 2010 EHR-related error.Incidentally, they have, to my knowledge, no postdoctorally-trained Medical Informatics specialists on staff, and possibly nobody with substantive formal training in the domain.Names of people and places have been redacted. To the best of my knowledge, the letter's concerns were ignored:April 21, 2010CONFIDENTIAL[name redacted]President and CEO[name redacted] Hospital[address redacted]Re: Electronic medical records observatio... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069406 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:39:00 +0100 5069406 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069407&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fchilling-effects-to-blog-or-not-under.html On the travails of being a citizen journalist and medical watchdog:I must admit I almost gave up blogging recently.First, the death of my mother June 6, 2011 from an EHR-related medication continuity error has strained me severely. I took care of her at home since Sept. 2010 in a hospital bed rented for the living room, having promised her (and my father before he passed in 2000) that I would never put her in a nursing home. I kept my promise, but at great psychical cost. It was seriously distressing to watch her suffer and decline, cry, call out for her own long-deceased parents, and to have to administer hospice-supplied medications such as large doses of benzodiazepines, haldol (a major tranquilizer), and morphine in her final weeks to ensure she was as comfortable as possible.The effec... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069407 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:46:00 +0100 5069407 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062337&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fdownside-patient-centered-medical-homes-social-media-conversations Last week, Diana Manos, senior editor at Healthcare IT News, reported on the importance of patient-centered medical homes. She covered the annual National Health IT and Delivery System Transformation Summit, which displayed how PCMH can greatly reduce costs and improve care. One of her sources, James Dearing, DO, a family practice physician, outlined four benefits of a patient-centered home. Here is a recap: read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062337 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:34:37 +0100 5062337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069569&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fb5hGRxrAh3o%2F Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. When selecting the 5 meaningful use menu measures on which to report—from the list of 10 possibilities—the only constraint is that the EP must include at least one of the two measures from the “public health” category: Perform a test of the EHR’s capacity to submit electronic data to immunization registries Perform a test of the EHR’s capacity to report electronic syndromic surveillance ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069569 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:46:09 +0100 5069569 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062197&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fon-penalities-for-alteration-of.html I am increasingly hearing stories of alleged alterations occurring in electronic medical records.Since there is no permanent paper record in an increasing number of facilities, some might believe digital alterations might be easier to get away with.Not so, according to S. Sandy Sanbar, MD, PhD, JD, FCLM in a book chapter partly on advantages and disadvantage of electronic records (PDF) from the American Board of Legal Medicine, http://www.ablminc.org/:Alteration, Destruction, or Loss of Medical Records... no entry in the medical record should ever be altered or backdated.In the law of evidence, the loss, destruction, or significant alteration of evidence is termed “spoliation of evidence.” Thus, when medical records that have been altered, or had portions removed, or cases in which the... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062197 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:59:00 +0100 5062197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062198&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fehrevent-and-national-database-of-ehr.html At my Nov. 2011 posts on a new entity called "EHRevent.org" that is supposed to be a health IT industry watchdog, I expressed various forms of skepticism. See my Nov. 2010 posts at the following HC Renewal links:November 15, 2010: EHRevent.org: Web Site to Collect EHR Safety Reports November 16, 2010: EHRevent: survey amateurism, bias, or something else?November 17, 2010: Some answers about new site "EHRevent.org" for health IT and drug adverse event reportingNovember 22, 2010: EHRevent.org CEO Edward Fotsch MD: The Real Challenge with EHRs is -- User Error? Now, approximately eight months later, I read this in the July 2011 EHREvent newsletter at this link, written by Michael Victoroff, MD, Editor in Chief:... The media has drawn our attention to the case of Genesis Burkett, a... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062198 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:58:00 +0100 5062198 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062199&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Feprescribing-assuming-issues-like-this.html No surprise here to anyone with engineering sense (e.g., in my case, arising from my decades of experience in amateur radio, operating many different brands and types of extremely complex radio equipment):American Medical News (American Medical Association)Upgrading e-prescribing system can bump up error riskSome of those risks can put patients in jeopardy in the first few weeks of implementation, a study finds.By PAMELA LEWIS DOLAN, amednews staff. Posted June 13, 2011.Switching to new or upgraded electronic-prescribing systems may pose patient safety risks during the transition period, despite the advanced clinical decision support tools offered by the newly implemented technology.Let me translate this euphemism: "Patient safety risks" = risks that patients will be maimed or killed.Many ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062199 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:04:00 +0100 5062199 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062324&cid=t_99683_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=5062326&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F20%2Fwhat-if-they-get-hit-by-a-bus%2F A little while back I asked my wife what she would do with all my blogs if I was hit by the proverbial “bus.” Her answer made me laugh. She said, she’d log into my blogs and post that I had passed away and that if readers of the site would like to support my wife and kids they could do so using the PayPal button below. I guess it’s a good thing I taught my wife how to blog. I hope she never has to post that PayPal button. However, I’ve always loved the question of “what are you going to do if they get hit by a bus?” The “they” can be replaced by all sorts of things. Each organization will have a different set of “they’s”. Remember that the buses can come in all sorts of ways: re-location, new job, injury, illness, chan... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062326 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:32:37 +0100 5062326 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062327&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F19%2Fipo-window-open-for-ehr-vendors%2F I’m pretty sure that many readers of this site haven’t found my new EMR related website called EMR and EHR Thoughts and so you might have missed the post I did about Greenway Medical filing to go public. This is obviously big news for Greenway, but I also think it’s a sign of things to come. I believe that Greenway is likely the first of many EHR companies that we’ll see go public over the next year or so. I’m sure that many of you haven’t followed the trends of tech company IPO’s and I’m far from an expert on this. However, the IPO window which was generally closed for tech companies now seems to be open after a number of successful public offerings from tech companies. I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize this, but I believe... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062327 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:31:27 +0100 5062327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050794&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FwbRRoA18ohw%2F In case you were still of the opinion that Google and Microsoft were the major players and groundbreaking pioneers of personal health records, here’s a partial list of other companies that have been at it for at least as long. I believe CapMed goes back as far as 1991. Some have been bought by larger firms, but many are still independent. Clip and save, or pass on to your favorite tech journalist that got snookered by the Google PR machine. Access Strategies CapMed ActiveHealth Management MEDecision HealthCapable MyMedLab NoMoreClipboard.com Carefx Good Health Network iPHER MedicalDrive.com MediKeeper Applied Research Works In any case, I remain unconvinced that the direct-to-consumer, “untethered” model—no connection to an electronic medical record unless the patient s... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050794 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:43:06 +0100 5050794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036310&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FwDSUut5dc7o%2F From HL7 International‘s Chuck Jaffe, M.D., at the AMDIS conference in Ojai, Calif., this morning: Related posts:Podcast: Dr. David Kibbe on personal health information, medical homes, value in healthcare and more Podcast: Dr. Bill Bria on CMIOs and medical informatics Friday funny (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036310 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:26:53 +0100 5036310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062330&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F15%2Fehr-readiness-questions%2F In my interest of highlighting more EHR bloggers, I found this post by Ron Sterling on EHR Outlook quite interesting. In his post, Ron highlights a number of questions a clinic should ask itself to know if it’s ready for an EHR implementation. Here are the questions he lists: * Does your EHR effort have physician support? * Are you prepared to address ongoing problems? * Is your budget practical? * Does your EHR support your current workflow and operations? * Will your existing computer Infrastructure support an EHR? * Have you gotten your paper records ready? Check out the original post for Ron’s thoughts on each question and why that question is important. I think it’s a pretty good list to consider. I especially like the second question that addresses whether you&#8217... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062330 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:14:37 +0100 5062330 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062332&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F07%2F13%2Findependent-thinking-of-doctors-limits-ehr-vendor-consolidation%2F I’m not sure all the details of why this is the case (but I’m sure some will tell me why in the comments), but doctors are some of the most independent thinkers that I know. I’m not saying whether this is a good or a bad thing. It’s just an observation based on thousands of interactions with doctors from all specialties. This independence is shown in a plethora of areas from charting to treating to diagnosing to the business of medicine. Turns out, this independence is part of why I’ve heard doctors say hundreds of times that they basically want their own EHR and not a mainstream one. Doctors want an EHR that fits their unique practice style. Thus they have an expectation that whatever EHR they choose should understand that each doctor is different and natural... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062332 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:08:26 +0100 5062332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028535&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FEmhQCEJbBwg%2F Consumerism hasn’t completely caught on in healthcare, but it has gained a bit of a toehold. Consider these two slides shown Monday at the Healthcare Unbound conference in San Diego: Look at the bottom of each slide, starting with the second one. According to GreatCall, maker of the Jitterbug phone for seniors, 35 percent of consumers plan to buy “wellness electronics” in the next year. That’s great news and a great opportunity for people in health IT to make sure such devices connect to larger networks to data collected will be usable. In the upper slide, Kaiser Permanente cites numbers showing one reason why healthcare is in such a crisis. Again, look at the bottom. Just 2 percent of current residents in internal medicine will end up in primary care. That&#821... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028535 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:11:08 +0100 5028535 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028542&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FU5Yy6DMMSVE%2F I recently was asked by Deanna from Mighty Oak to check out a demo of their Chart Talk EHR software (previously called DC talk). It’s always a challenge for me since there are only so many hours in a day to be demoing the more than 300 EHR companies out there. So, instead of doing a full demo, I asked Deanna to highlight a feature of Chart Talk that set them apart from other EHR software companies. She told me that Chart Talk’s killer feature was its integration with Dragon Naturally Speaking’s voice recognition software. I was very familiar with DNS and other voice recognition software, so I was interested to see if they really could create a deep integration of Dragon Medical over the other EHR software I’d seen that integrated it as well. I have to admit that I w... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028542 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:08:17 +0100 5028542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028536&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FuTFg5p22Qug%2F The Medical Group Management Association today named Susan Turney, M.D., as its new president and CEO, effective in September. Longtime chief William F. Jessee, M.D., is retiring after 12 years on the job. Like Jessee, Turney is an advocate of health information technology. She has been CEO and executive vice president of the Wisconsin Medical Society since 2004. There, she founded and chaired the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN) co-founded the Wisconsin Health Information Organization. Tunney was MGMA board chair in 2005-06. Read more here. Related posts:MGMA wants standard patient IDs within a year Why is this news? (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028536 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:45:19 +0100 5028536 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028544&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FwKz9SlXCSVs%2F Tonight I happened to eavesdrop (the beauty of Twitter) on a Twitter conversation between Bobby Ghaheri, MD (@DrGhaheri) and Chad Peterson (@hosewater2). Dr. Ghaheri is an ENT/Facial Plastic Surgeon and Dr. Peterson is a hockey loving urologist. I loved their twitter exchange about email and Twitter follow up with patients, so I’m posting it here for others to comment on. UPDATE: Since there’s a problem with pulling in the tweets automatically from Twitter, here’s what was said: DrGhaheri Bobby Ghaheri, MD I use email and Twitter to follow-up on my patients. #hcsm hosewater2 Chad Peterson @DrGhaheri I don’t use email or twitter with patients. Just encourages unnecessary undocumented interactions. Is twitter HIPaa certified? DrGhaheri Bobby Ghaheri, MD @hosewater2 I ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028544 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:39:14 +0100 5028544 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028537&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FEz9y6jiX7Dc%2F I’m getting ready to head west for, among other things, the annual AMDIS Physician-Computer Connection in Ojai, Calif., a high-level gathering of chief medical information officers. After years of fighting for a seat at the table, CMIOs now are being held up as a model, at least overseas. Specifically, my friends at E-Health Insider in the UK have embarked on a mission to have every NHS hospital hire a chief clinical information officer, the British equivalent of the CMIO. Read more about the British perspective on the American CMIO here. Related posts:Google’s health plans, and more on CMIOs Podcast: Dr. Bill Bria on CMIOs and medical informatics England learns from America (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028537 Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:55:11 +0100 5028537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008362&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.cdn.turner.com%2Fcnn%2F.element%2Fapps%2Fcvp%2F3.0%2Fswf%2Fcnn_416x234_embed.swf%3Fcontext%3Dembed%26amp%3BvideoId%3Dbestoftv%2F2011%2F07%2F08%2Fexp.am.imagine.cup.microsoft.cnn About three months ago, I wrote about the Imagine Cup, an annual student technology competition sponsored by Microsoft, in a commentary for MobiHealthNews. I mentioned a winning project in the U.S. competition, a smartphone-based imaging system that can help diagnose malaria in far-flung corners of the globe. Today, the creators of that system and a few other Imagine Cup participants are in New York for the international finals. A few of the students appeared on CNN’s American Morning with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. CNN said the malaria app is 94 percent accurate, better than the traditional field test for malaria. Another project, Harmonicare, incorporates a tablet computer to add a musical aspect to the “blowing” test used to help patients regain respiratory function ... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008362 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:26:14 +0100 5008362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008364&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FxQq6eLbUOGU%2F When I learned that HITECH included funds setting up the regional extension center system to support small medical practices in implementing EHRs, I thought, well, that sounds OK. I wasn’t thrilled, mind you, as I wasn’t optimistic that a government-sponsored organization would produce the quick EHR adoption process HITECH demands, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Since then, I’ve gone from mildly interested to downright irritated.  While I wasn’t expecting the RECs to blaze a path to glory, I thought it would be nice if they produced great educational materials and sessions, made themselves highly accessible to physicians and offered clear guidance on vendor selection. As far as I can tell, we’re largely zero for three. Yes, as a recent a recent study notes,... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008364 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:59:47 +0100 5008364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008365&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FbrEuvSpFHdM%2F I think it’s quite easy to predict that 3-5 years from now, one of the top topics on this blog and in the EHR world as a whole is going to be around EHR data extraction or if you prefer EMR data conversion. I’ve previously predicted that by the end of the EHR stimulus money we’re be lucky to achieve 50% EHR adoption. So, you’d think that in 3-5 years we’d still be talking about EHR selection and implementation. Certainly, that will still be a topic of discussion. Not to mention, which EHR vendor they should go to for their second EHR. However, I am certain that 3-5 years from now we’re going to see a mass of doctors switching EHR vendors. As part of my EHR blog week challenge (if you’re a blogger, you should participate too), today I’m going ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008365 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:31:57 +0100 5008365 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997645&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FcStNIo4rV5g%2F I hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful Fourth of July. I know I’ve had a great day so far and we’re gearing up to head to KFC and enjoy some fireworks with friends. Should be a great evening if the kids don’t get too cranky along the way. It has been a great day for me to remember how lucky I am to live in this wonderful country. There are plenty of things that are messed up in this country, but over all the freedoms we enjoy and benefits of living in America far outweigh the down sides. As I typed in the title of this post, I wondered what other things do I wish had their freedom when it came to the EMR world. First thing that came to mind was data independence. How beautiful would it be if our healthcare data was independent. I’m sure the ePatients out t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997645 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:04:08 +0100 4997645 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997503&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fblogscan-forensic-statistics.html Several interesting points are raised in the newsletter of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) in a post entitled "Forensic Statistics" in their July 2011 newsletter headlined "Numbers." Healthcare Renewal is cited:Forensic StatisticsWhile claims from RCTs fail to replicate about 20% of the time, the problem with epidemiology is so bad as to constitute a crisis, writes S. Stanley Young (“Everything Is Dangerous: a Controversy,” National Institute of Statistical Sciences, June 2008, www.niss.org). Fewer than 20% of nonrandomized trials [e.g., observational studies - ed.] replicate; i.e. 80%-90% of epidemiologists’ claims are false.More than $1 billion in grant/tax money flows to institutions with reproducibility problems, Young states. A fundamental flaw in the... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997503 Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:13:00 +0100 4997503 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997646&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FAN87yAQ7xgw%2F I remember when I first started blogging about EMR and health care IT about 5.5 years ago, I searched out whatever EMR and healthcare IT blogs I could find. The first three blogs that I can remember finding (and loving) were Neil Versel’s blog, Shahid’s Healthcare IT blog and Will Weider’s Candid CIO blog. I loved reading Neil Versel’s blog because he was actually a professional journalist in the healthcare IT arena. I learned a lot by watching what he did. In fact, I think some of my writing style came from reading his blog. Along with his blog, Shahid provided HITsphere where I could see the posts from other bloggers. Plus, in the early days the traffic from HITsphere to my blog was really great. It’s hard to have a blog that no one reads. I loved the Candid... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997646 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:13:23 +0100 4997646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992631&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fhospital-system-has-major-computer.html As mentioned on this blog numerous times. Healthcare IT outages never, but never, adversely affect patients in any manner whatsoever:Traverse City Record-Eagle [Michigan - ed.]June 30, 2011 Munson has 4-hour communications failureBy Bill O'Brienbobrien@record-eagle.com TRAVERSE CITY — Munson Healthcare officials are trying to figure out how to avoid a repeat of a four-plus-hour data systems crash and "resultant chaos" that gripped local hospitals and clinics this week.A system failure Tuesday morning shut down computers, telephones, pagers and other telecommunications systems at Munson Medical Center and its Munson Healthcare affiliates in Frankfort and Kalkaska, an incident that administrators described as "unacceptable." [That sounds about right - ed.]Munson officials still aren't su... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992631 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:41:00 +0100 4992631 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992632&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Felectronic-medication-prescribing-magic.html Computers once again are proving not to be the plug-and-play-panacea they've been made out to be in the complex world of medicine. The Magic Bullet Theory of IT-Enabled Transformation once again bites the dust in the real world of medicine:Errors Occur in 12% of Electronic Drug Prescriptions Matching HandwrittenBloombergBy Michelle Fay CortezJun 29, 2011As many as 12 percent of the drug prescriptions sent electronically to pharmacies contain errors, a rate that matches handwritten orders for medicine from physicians, researchers said.An analysis of 3,850 computer-generated prescriptions written over a four-week period found 452 contained errors, including 163 that could harm the patient, according to a report published today in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992632 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:28:00 +0100 4992632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984528&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F30%2Femr-and-healthcare-it-blogging-community-let-the-sparring-begin%2F I remember when I first started blogging about EMR and health care IT about 5.5 years ago, I searched out whatever EMR and healthcare IT blogs I could find. The first three blogs that I can remember finding (and loving) were Neil Versel’s blog, Shahid’s Healthcare IT blog and Will Weider’s Candid CIO blog. I loved reading Neil Versel’s blog because he was actually a professional journalist in the healthcare IT arena. I learned a lot by watching what he did. In fact, I think some of my writing style came from reading his blog. Along with his blog, Shahid provided HITsphere where I could see the posts from other bloggers. Plus, in the early days the traffic from HITsphere to my blog was really great. It’s hard to have a blog that no one reads. I loved the Candid... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984528 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:13:23 +0100 4984528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997648&cid=t_99683_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=4975983&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FGtKVYCOyv1U%2F I know I’ve written about ERP and EMR before, but the more I think about the EMR selection and implementation process, the more I see the same issues that are experienced with an ERP implementation. The one issue that is a bit different about EMR versus ERP is that there are only a small handful of ERP vendors to choose from. However, we have 300-600 to choose from in the EMR world. That’s an important and challenging difference. However, the similarities to ERP are many. One of the most striking is how the EMR like the ERP is something that’s going to be used and have an effect on the entire organization. As such, the need to manage the participation of multiple stakeholders is so key. The key to a successful ERP implementation is to have a great project leader.  Some... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975983 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:00:50 +0100 4975983 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975984&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FjneuVa-B1fM%2F Meaningful Use Core Measure: Provide clinical summaries to patients for more than 50% of all office visits within 3 business days. Exclusion: Any EP who has no office visits during the reporting period. The clinical summary provides clinical information associated with a specific recent visit. (It does not encompass the entire patient chart.) This measure may appear daunting upon first reading of the requirements, but the guidance below should make it achievable.  The clinical summary can be delivered by one of two means: electronic media, (e.g., patient portal, secure e-mail, CD or USB fob), or a printed copy. According to advice received from CMS, the easiest way for a physician to meet this measure is to employ a patient portal as the default option. Following each office visit, the EP... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975984 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:21:40 +0100 4975984 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975793&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fbabys-death-spotlights-safety-risks.html Two tragic cases.Case #1. See Baby's death spotlights safety risks linked to computerized systems by Judith Graham and Cynthia Dizikes in the Chicago Tribune.A baby died at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital due to an intravenous solution containing a massive overdose of sodium chloride — more than 60 times the amount ordered by the physician. The authors write:Although a series of other errors contributed to the tragedy, its origin — a piece of data entered inaccurately into a computer program — throws a spotlight on safety risks associated with medicine's advance into the information age, a trend being pushed aggressively under health reform.One wonders - what happened to the alerting features, for the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars the hospital spent on health IT?I've als... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975793 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:26:00 +0100 4975793 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968635&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FSOeBOOgwLXA%2F This is a great video that does a great job showing how big the world is, how fast technology is growing and a number of amazing perspectives about what’s going on in the world. I’d seen this video a while back, but Wes Kemp just emailed it to me again and it was great to be reminded of the amazing world we’re living in. I hope you’ll enjoy it as well: Related posts:Video on EHR TV I got an email from EHR TV telling me that... Healthcare at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas I’m attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.... Memorial Day and CCHIT 2009-2010 Criteria Revealed In honor of Memorial Day, I took the weekend off.... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968635 Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:02:05 +0100 4968635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968636&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2Fzp2qA2Vkles%2F Discussions at HIMSS Day 1 Today’s been a really interesting first day of HIMSS. I’d... Obama’s Investment in EMR, EHR and Health Care IT I’ve been hearing a lot about Obama’s plans to invest... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968636 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:35:52 +0100 4968636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960144&cid=t_99683_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=4953042&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F4fJ7W88-ohk%2F I’ve had some interesting reactions to my post about the various characteristics of a Jabba the Hutt EHR Vendor. One of the more interesting conversations happened by email with a reader named Richard. Yes, I have lots of interesting back channel discussions. After a lengthy email exchange, I asked Richard if I could post our discussion on the blog so you could participate as well. He agreed and even commented, “I look forward to an expansion of our discussion.” So, here you go (or at least scroll to the bottom for a short summary of my feelings). The conversation started with this email that Richard sent me: I understand your reluctance to name names in your article, BUT… this is exactly what is needed. I’ve taken a few days to ruminate over what I was going... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953042 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:49:40 +0100 4953042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952749&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Femrupdates-thoughts-on-health-it.html I had posted about my mother's demise at the EMRupdate.com site here where I have written or cross-posted a number of essays over the years. The site's proprietor Nick Harrington of the U.K. replied. In his bio:Managing Director of UK based document management software vendor Ambay Software providing hosting and support to emrupdate.comI recognized a number of familiar themes in his reply.In turn, I replied to his reply as follows:Nick Harrington replied on Mon, Jun 20 2011 10:12 AMDr. Silverstein, We're sorry for your loss. Genuinely. However, I don't think this is the right place for you to start a campaign against EMR. The Healthcare industry is making... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952749 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:28:00 +0100 4952749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953044&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FfDeOPTZnEYY%2F #bbpBox_82695997494530048 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0000ff; }#bbpBox_82695997494530048 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } Looks like Estonia is the new model for system wide EHR http://bit.ly/liYLwe June 19, 2011 11:27 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite @boltyboy Matthew Holt I’m always fascinated by other countries EHR implementations. So many other countries are interesting to consider since they’re missing so many of the barriers that make EHR adoption and even more specifically health information exchange between EHR software so difficult. Nice to learn more about the success that Estonia has had adopting EHR software. I’d like to learn a lot more about what’s being done with international EHR implementations. #bbpBox_82462900882644992 a { t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953044 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:02:57 +0100 4953044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953045&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FKaZsqQHRAoU%2F This is the second in a series of EMR and EHR interviews that will be done on EMR and HIPAA and EMR and EHR. The full EMR interview with Dr. Muir can be found on the new EHR and EMR interviews website. The following is a summary of that interview written by Kathy Bongiovi. If you’re a doctor, nurse, practice manager, EHR consultant, CEO or executive of an EHR vendor, etc with EMR experience that’s interested in being interviewed, let us know on our Contact Us page. Dr. Peter Muir of Springfield Center for Family Medicine was interviewed recently concerning his acquisition of the maximum Medicare Incentive for showing Meaningful Use of a Certified EHR. The Ohio based primary care practice has been using NextGen Ambulatory since 2003 and NextGen Management since 2006. Dr. Muir st... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953045 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:43:07 +0100 4953045 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953047&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FI5q0SctUFvw%2F Boy, back in the good old days, protecting patient data was comparatively easy. All you had to do was make sure that nobody got their hands on a patient’s paper chart who shouldn’t be looking at it. After all, simple stuff like locking file rooms and making sure charts never get left in a public place are pretty easy to understand. Sure, paper records get stolen or rifled through now and then — no system is perfect — but putting processes in place to prevent unauthorized chart access isn’t that complicated. On the other hand, introducing electronic medical records  – plus e-prescribing, digital sharing of lab results and more — is a completely different kettle of fish. For one thing, providers must control access to medical information stored in t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953047 Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:11:05 +0100 4953047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953048&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FWutkdfC2Wvs%2F As much as I’d like to visit DC (I’ve never been), I wasn’t able to make it out there to attend the NIST workshop on EHR usability. However, Carl Bergman from EHR Selector did make it to the event and sent the following notes on EHR usability according to NIST.  Most of the speakers name link to their slides in PDF format. National Institute of Standard and Technology’s Workshop on EHR Usability This week I went to a NIST workshop examining the state of EHR usability. The workshop was at its administrative headquarters, a large 60s building on its sprawling Gaithersburg, MD campus about 20 miles outside Washington. You might wonder what NIST is doing in the EHR business? I certainly did. NIST’s mission is to promote commerce and technical innovation including method... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953048 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:34:11 +0100 4953048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953049&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F1TWLSkQ0aF0%2F CMS published a list (pdf) of the first providers who received incentive payments under the Medicare portion of the EHR program. What distinguishes these incentive recipients from those announced in early January—(See “Meaningful Use? Not Yet”)—is that these providers actually had to attest to earning these incentives by demonstrating meaningful use. The earlier recipients received their payments through the Medicaid program, which for the first year’s incentive only requires adoption, implementation, or upgrade of a certified EHR, not meaningful use. There are 320 providers on this first Medicare list. Here’s how the list breaks down: Approximately 40 are hospitals/health care centers. As anticipated, the vast majority of the physicians are primary-care providers—over two-t... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953049 Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:23:04 +0100 4953049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953050&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FMzBp8c6lN5A%2F What happened in the M&A arena had interesting ramifications, but what didn’t happen might be equally significant: The overcrowded electronic health records market didn’t consolidate. Well over 200 EHR vendors are fighting for meaningful use business. How crowded is the field? As of mid-April, the federal government lists 393 Complete or Modular certified ambulatory EHR products, along with 182 certified inpatient Complete or Modular products. There were several good reasons for the non-event, but consolidation’s got to come soon, says Rob Tholemeier, senior research analyst at Crosstree Capital Partners, a Tampa-based corporate financial advisory firm. “There has never in the history of software been 200-plus companies selling similar functionality,” he ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953050 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:17:31 +0100 4953050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921551&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2Fww47utH8bm0%2F Finally, health IT gets its due in Health Wonk Review. Usually an afterthought to this biweekly blog carnival, health IT leads off the latest edition, hosted by Matthew Holt and John Irvine at The Health Care Blog. My post on pushback against IBM’s Watson makes the cut. Check it out. Related posts:Health Wonk Review Check out the latest Health Wonk Review Vote Health Wonk Review ’08 (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921551 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:27:15 +0100 4921551 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921554&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F08%2Fhipaa-requirements-phi-in-natural-disasters%2F Brian Van Zandt, a long time reader of EMR and HIPAA and an account executive at a managed IT services company in New York, NST, sent me the following fascinating question. I’ve had a conversation with a few people recently about something that been on the news a lot recently. A tornado in the mid west destroyed a hospital and patient records, I heard about x-rays specifically, were found miles from the hospital. In extreme cases like that, are hospitals still liable for penalties from HIPAA for losing patient information? First, I have to start with my regular disclaimer that I’m not a lawyer, I don’t play one on TV and much prefer being a blogger. Consult a lawyer for legal advice. With that disclaimer, it’s a fascinating situation to consider. I remember from my busi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921554 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:16:08 +0100 4921554 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911611&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Fnversel%2FRick_Kneipper_-_Anthelio.mp3 Why are physicians still resisting EMRs? Maybe it’s because systems aren’t easy to use and lack interoperability. That’s the hypothesis of Rick Kneipper, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, a Dallas-based business process services firm that until February was known as PHNS. In my latest podcast, Kneipper joins me to discuss the shortcomings of current EMRs and current EMR policy, and offers his remedies for the problems. Give it a listen, then share your thoughts, too. Podcast details: Interview with Rick Kneipper, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Anthelio. MP3, mono, 64 mbps, 12.7 MB. Running time 27:50 1:05 Why he thinks current EHRs aren’t meeting their promise of improving safety, quality and efficiency of healthcare 2:00 Mo... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911611 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:28:20 +0100 4911611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921555&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F07%2Fyou-might-be-a-jabba-the-hutt-emr-if%2F Many long time readers of EMR and HIPAA will know I like to call big, bulky, old EMR software systems, Jabba the Hutt EMR. I think comparing these old legacy EMR software to Jabba the Hutt is a great comparison. For those that don’t know Star Wars that well (and I’m no expert), Jabba the Hutt was a very powerful figure. Although, over time he’d grown so big that he wasn’t very nimble (to say the least). So, despite his power and prestige, there was little to admire about him. Does that sound a bit like some legacy EMR software? They’re big and powerful figures in the industry. However, their software has grown to the point that it’s clunky and not very nimble. Getting something changed on it is difficult and it’s built on a platform that makes it h... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921555 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:48:25 +0100 4921555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911419&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fmy-mother-passed-away.html My mother, affected catastrophically by an EHR error last year and the topic of numerous posts here (such as this), passed away yesterday evening.In her memory, a photo of her and me from 1957 I found in her possessions.Betty Silverstein, 1925-2011Her children were always Number One.May she rest in peace, and may my efforts result in others not having to suffer similar mistakes at the hands of IT.-- SS (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911419 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:28:00 +0100 4911419 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921556&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Flynn%2F2011%2F06%2F06%2Frelief-may-be-in-sight-for-some-penalty-threatened-eprescribers-%25e2%2580%2593-meaningful-use-monday%2F Some physicians—most notably, surgeons and pain-management specialists—have expressed concern that they will be unfairly subject to the 2012 ePrescribing penalties, based on the fact that their opportunities to ePrescribe are limited by the nature of their practices. The Proposed ePrescribing Rule published in the Federal Register on June 1 offers a potential remedy for these providers.  The rule, which amends the (MIPPA) 2011 ePrescribing rule, affords providers several new arguments they can use to request a “hardship exemption” from the 2012 penalties. (These are in addition to the already existing reasons, i.e., rural areas that lack high speed internet access and/or rural areas that lack pharmacies that accept ePrescriptions.) The new justifications include:       1)  ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921556 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:35:42 +0100 4921556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921557&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F05%2Femr-and-hipaa-quote-of-the-sunday%2F Lately I’ve been posting a number of tweets in a sort of Sunday Tweet roundup. I think it’s been fun to highlight some short Healthcare IT and EMR related tweets that people might find interesting. With a little bit of commentary of my own (let me know if you disagree). Today, I decided I’d just go with a small quote from a comment that Chris Paton made over on Neil Versel’s Meaningful Healthcare IT News. Here it is: We’re a long way from getting rid of doctors but they might find their role changes from being repository of all knowledge to being a trusted communicator and carer. I’d been trying to summarize this position in a coherent way and I think Chris hit it on the head. Not only the part about being a long way from getting rid of doctors, but his desc... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921557 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:59:22 +0100 4921557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921558&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F03%2Fsocial-media-indicators%2F I’m not sure how many of you have followed the announcement of the Google 1+ button. If you haven’t seen them yet, you’ll start seeing them sprinkled all over the internet soon. I just added them to a couple of my sites including EMR and HIPAA. You can see it next to the Facebook button on the right side of each post. Feel free to click it if you’re reading a post that you like. It’s a simple action which can tell me a lot about whether people like the post or not. Of course, I’ve been using social media indicators like this for a while. For example, I’ve known the number of people who tweeted out my various posts on Twitter. I often can see how many times an article gets published on Facebook. I always love to get feedback like this that tells me ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921558 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:24:34 +0100 4921558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921560&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F06%2F01%2Fdrug-mailings-and-patient-privacy%2F Many of you have quickly realized that I find it a lot more interesting to write about EMR than I do about HIPAA. Seems like most people prefer to read about EMR than they do HIPAA as well (except for this popular HIPAA Lawsuits post I did eons ago). However, I’m sure that many of you will find this article I found about privacy of medical data quite interesting. Here’s a quote from the beginning of the article which prefaces the health privacy situation quite well. A pharmaceutical company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., sent him an eight-page brochure pitching another medicine, Abilify, used to treat patients “when an antidepressant alone isn’t enough.” Lexapro was plenty for Spencer, but the mailing stuck in his craw. He has followed the recent debate over the u... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921560 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:40:22 +0100 4921560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883705&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F9dt5OAwLEl0%2F I always love the Holidays and Memorial Day is no different. I love the idea of looking back at those people who have since passed on. I love repeating the memories and stories of these people and remembering the lessons they taught us. Plus, I love to honor the troops who make everything we have possible. In a recent call with my mother we of coursed talked about the progress of my blogs and the Healthcare Scene blog network. My mother has very little technical prowess and is one of those people who feels a little bit scared and nervous to use technology. I think she still thinks she’s going to break something and so she sticks to her same routines every time she’s on the computer. So, needless to say, she doesn’t have a great understanding of what I really do. She under... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883705 Mon, 30 May 2011 18:25:16 +0100 4883705 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883706&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F83qsSKCLxg8%2F The following is the fourth video in my inaugural run of EMR and Healthcare IT related videos. In this video I talk about some of the ways healthcare IT can help a patient be more active in their care. I’m sure there’s a number of e-Patients out there that can hop in and add a lot more to the discussion I start in this video. I must admit that as a relatively healthy individual I have a hard time really getting into the active patient (e-Patient if you like). However, I love the idea of patients being respectfully involved in their patient care. The following video is in response to this question: How can Healthcare IT help patients take a more active role in their care? View the Healthcare IT and Active Patient Care Video Here Related posts:EMR Scanning and Chart Retention ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883706 Sun, 29 May 2011 16:25:46 +0100 4883706 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872203&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F_z2iiXamZ4Q%2F As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to try out some videos related to EMR, EHR and healthcare IT. I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea or not, but I created 4 videos in my inaugural experience. I just used a simple web cam to create the videos since I was also streaming it live on uStream. Maybe next time I’ll set up my HD camera and do it that way. Either way, here’s one of the videos I recorded where I respond to the following question: Once converting paper to digital in an EMR, how long do providers plan to keep their charts? Full Dislaimer: I’m not a lawyer, so be sure to consult a lawyer for legal advice:-) If you like the video, be sure to check out one of the other videos I posted on EMR and EHR about EMR Data Sharing. Let me know what you... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872203 Fri, 27 May 2011 22:30:05 +0100 4872203 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872031&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fhealthcare-renewal-cited-in-pittsburgh.html Healthcare Renewal was cited in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette today on health IT issues.Specifically, regarding issues I raised at my May 25, 2011 post "Transplant Team at UPMC Missed Hepatitis Result - Suspicious for Health IT Failure?"I have several additional amplifying comments.Doctor, nurse disciplined by UPMCFailed to detect hepatitis C in kidney donated for transplantFriday, May 27, 2011By Jonathan D. Silver and Sean D. Hamill, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteA surgeon and a nurse were disciplined by UPMC for their roles in missing a positive hepatitis C test result in a kidney donor earlier this month that might have stopped the transplant, the hospital system said Thursday.The surgeon was demoted and the nurse suspended, though neither has been identified.In addition, after a discussion with... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872031 Fri, 27 May 2011 13:12:00 +0100 4872031 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872202&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2F-d6FIbRqpZM%2F Late last week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology opened six exams to test the competency of health IT professionals who have completed short-term training programs. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. Is it a good thing for the federal government to offer these voluntary exams? After all, ONC is funding the development of HIT training curriculum for community colleges and providing lots of scholarship money. Shouldn’t the government expect to get a return on its investment? Or should the feds stay out of the testing process? Related posts:Gates Foundation to fund global informatics training Self-certification? Scoop: AMIA’s 10×10 going global (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872202 Thu, 26 May 2011 04:39:14 +0100 4872202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872032&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Ftwelve-hour-health-it-glitch-at.html At "Transplant Team at Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center Missed Hepatitis Result" I wrote about a kidney transplant gone bad at UPMC that may have been due to a computer "glitch."Now Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh has suffered a "glitch" that shut down their entire health IT system for approximately 12 hours:Allegheny General Hospital's records system back onlineBy Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewWednesday, May 25, 2011Last updated: 10:26 pmAllegheny General Hospital's electronic medical records system was online Wednesday afternoon after a morning shutdown caused by a glitch in a vendor's computer software, a spokesman [Dan Laurent] said.... The hospital's system underwent a routine upgrade during the weekend, Laurent said. Staff shut down the system about 5 a.m. Wednesday after noti... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872032 Thu, 26 May 2011 03:59:00 +0100 4872032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862665&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FJa0I4VDCMDE%2F I’m sure like many of you, I was completely intrigued by the demonstration of the Watson computer competing against the best Jeopardy! stars. It was amazing to watch not only how Watson was able to come up with the answer, but also how quickly it was able to reach the correct answer. The hype at the IBM booth at HIMSS was really strong since it had been announced that healthcare was one of the first places that IBM wanted to work on implementing the “Watson” technology (read more about the Watson Technology in Healthcare in this AP article). Although, I found the most interesting conversation about Watson in the Nuance booth when I was talking to Dr. Nick Van Terheyden. The idea of combining the Watson technology with the voice recognition and natural language processing ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862665 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:59:50 +0100 4862665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862468&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Ftransplant-team-at-upmc-missed.html A story suspicious for EMR malfunction appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:Transplant team missed hepatitis result Kidney donor, recipient unaware of virus' presence Saturday, May 21, 2011 By Sean D. Hamill and Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe living donor and recipient of a recently flawed kidney transplant at UPMC are a couple who did not know that the donor, a woman, was hepatitis C positive, and didn't find out until after the kidney was transplanted into the man [which stunningly implies the entire transplant team didn't know, either - ed.], sources told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.The woman was tested for hepatitis C prior to surgery, and the results showed she was positive for the virus, but the two people on the transplant team who should have checked the results ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862468 Wed, 25 May 2011 12:00:00 +0100 4862468 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862666&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FVUYWB9SQsl8%2F Discussion of Obama EHR Stimulus Today the following videos came across my Twitter feed and... Video of Meaningful Use EMR Integrations and MU Dashboard Ever since I saw my first meaningful use dashboard in... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862666 Tue, 24 May 2011 17:17:49 +0100 4862666 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4847918&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fkey-lesson-from-npfit-tony-collins-blog.html ComputerWorldUK.comKey lesson from the NPfIT - The Tony Collins BlogListening to critics is critical to the success of big projects. But has this lesson been learnt?Published 07:56, 20 May 11A US doctor Scot Silverstein, who has an expertise in clinical IT design, says of the NAO report on the NPfIT that the initials should stand for: "National Programme of Failed IT.”He says on the blog Health Care Renewal:"Perhaps the NPfIT (National Programme for IT in the NHS) should be renamed the "National Programme of Failed IT in the NHS." No new acronym will be needed.Read the entire ComputerWorldUK piece by Tony Collins. Some of the excuses and rationalizations described during this programme are simply stunning.This idea, though, I find fascinating:One of the lessons that emerges from disastro... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4847918 Sat, 21 May 2011 01:58:00 +0100 4847918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4852975&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F05%2F20%2Feffect-of-emr-stimulus-money-flowing%2F Yesterday on EMR News, we posted about the first case I’ve seen where someone has collected EHR stimulus money after attesting to meaningful use. It’s the day many have been waiting for. The first checks arrive for those showing meaningful use of a certified EHR (Medicaid had sent some EHR Stimulus checks previously). Yes, the government really is going to pay out the money. Yes, people really are getting paid. In fact, it seems that they’ve pretty much stuck to their schedule for meaningful use stage 1 and paying out the first EHR stimulus checks. Props to the people at CMS and ONC for being able to stick to that schedule (even if meaningful use stage 2 might be delayed). I do have to say that an electronic bank transfer isn’t nearly as exciting as a check in the m... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4852975 Fri, 20 May 2011 22:15:54 +0100 4852975 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841389&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fnational-programme-of-failed-it-in-uk.html In conclusion, the NAO said the system was not providing value for money - something the government rejected.Electronic care records are the key part of the overall £11.4bn NHS IT project.The scheme was launched in 2002 with the aim of revolutionising the way the health service uses technology and also includes developments such as digital x-rays and fast internet connections. It is the third time the NAO has looked at electronic records - and each time the findings have been more damning.http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/18/government-urged-to-abandon-nhs-it-programmeThe GuardianGovernment urged to abandon NHS IT programmePolly Curtis, Whitehall correspondentguardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 May 2011 12.03 BSTThe government is coming under increasing pressure to abandon plans for... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841389 Thu, 19 May 2011 12:26:00 +0100 4841389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4848027&cid=t_99683_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=4841391&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fanother-blow-to-health-it-idealists.html In a series of Healthcare Renewal posts such as those linked below, I pointed out that healthcare IT information security was largely a pipe dream, and that plans to create a national network of health information, while a seductive idea dating to the beginnings of computer networking, is not a good idea now."Networked EMR's and Healthcare Information Security: Practical When Massive IT Security Breaches Continue?","Networked, Interoperable, Secure National Medical Records a Castle in the Sky?","Operation Aurora And a Widespread Reluctance to Discuss IT Flaws: Is Universal Healthcare IT Really a Good Idea in 2010?","Medical data breach of the week - but your EMR data is secure, trust us, we're IT experts", "Insurers Test Data Profiles to Identify Risky Clients",and othersNow you can hear i... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841391 Wed, 18 May 2011 15:29:00 +0100 4841391 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4848028&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FKu2UJfCTGwo%2F Katherine Rourke, on my sister site EMR and EHR, wrote an interesting piece on Adding Genomic Info to the EMR. Here’s a short excerpt from the post. You should go and read the rest of the post as well. As the author notes, some specialties have already begun to tailor drug treatments to individual patients based on their genomic profile. For example, DNA sequencing of tumors in non-Hodgkin’s and Mantle Cell lymphoma can lead to personalized cancer vaccines that can produce great results, notes writer Gerry Higgins of the NIH. Such data can also be used for a growing number of clinical situations, such as tailoring Coumadin doses to specific patients and providing psychiatric patients with the appropriate drug. I’d been meaning to write about genomics and EMR for a while and ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4848028 Tue, 17 May 2011 18:27:02 +0100 4848028 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841660&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Flynn%2F2011%2F05%2F16%2Fhelpful-meaningful-use-resources-%25e2%2580%2593-meaningful-use-monday%2F I spend a lot of my day answering questions about the EHR incentives from SRS clients and also from users of other EHRs. The questions range from extremely basic ones posed by people who are dazed and intimidated by the scope of the program to nuanced questions from those already knee-deep in meaningful use. Since I began writing Meaningful Use Monday, the resources on the subject have grown in number and specificity. Here are a few that physicians and administrators have found helpful recently: Participate in a CMS Provider Call. There is one scheduled for this Thursday (5/19) at 2:30 PM Eastern Time. After the presentation, you will have an opportunity to ask questions and have them answered directly by CMS staffers. To register, click here. The Attestation Users Guide not only provides... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841660 Mon, 16 May 2011 17:06:04 +0100 4841660 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841661&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F05%2F15%2Femr-twiter-thoughts-from-emr-answers%2F I found a couple interesting tweets from EMR answers. Some interesting advice for those interested in EMR and EHR. #bbpBox_69798257995431937 a { text-decoration:none; color:#220882; }#bbpBox_69798257995431937 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } #EMR #EHR Vendors- busy w/ #MU R&D. Demo specific to #physician spec. & work flow. Watch for clicks, alert fatigue and “One size fits all” May 15, 2011 9:16 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite @EMRAnswers Linda Lia Stotsky Some good advice and scary thought that all the EMR and EHR vendors’ R&D is going to meaningful use. #bbpBox_69796911237959680 a { text-decoration:none; color:#220882; }#bbpBox_69796911237959680 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; } #EMR #EHR 101.Vendor Customization.”Fit” syst... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841661 Mon, 16 May 2011 06:12:16 +0100 4841661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828816&cid=t_99683_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Felectronic-medical-records-and.html There are many parallels between the health IT sector (with known injuries and deaths [1]; deliberate lack of regulatory enforcement in part due to regulatory capture [2]; willfull blindness and special pleadings by vendors and purchasers regarding the dangers of the devices [3]; 'certification' standards that ignore safety [4], and other cavalier practices), and this tragic story below:Swimming pool maker pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicideSource: Claims Journal "Pool Company Admits Guilt in Connecticut Boy's Drowning" John Christoffersen, April 15, 2011After the tragic drowning of a 6-year-old Connecticut boy in 2007, his parents have brought a lawsuit against the swimming pool company. The lawsuit against Shoreline Pools detailed statistics of pool entrapment deaths and injur... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828816 Sat, 14 May 2011 11:52:00 +0100 4828816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841662&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2011%2F05%2F13%2Finteresting-balance-of-connections-vs-bias%2F Discussions at HIMSS Day 1 Today’s been a really interesting first day of HIMSS. I’d... Interesting EMR Data Conversion Story One of my readers sent me the following story about... (Source: EMR and HIPAA) EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841662 Fri, 13 May 2011 22:08:54 +0100 4841662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813404&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FWNwZU_GkVps%2F Oh man, I’ve been busy. I filled in as writer of the Midwest edition of Payers and Providers the last two weeks because regular editor Duncan Moore, a former colleague, had been hospitalized. (Get well soon, Duncan.) I’ve been at the Institute for Health Technology Transformation health IT summit in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., since yesterday, and I’ve also had my regular deadlines for InformationWeek and MobiHealthNews. I moderated two IHT2 conference sessions yesterday, on how health IT underpins Accountable Care Organizations and how business intelligence can create a framework for health information exchange. I haven’t had time to blog about those, but several people seem to have tweeted during those sessions. I therefore present a rundown via Twitter. @narmi91 #iHT2... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813404 Thu, 12 May 2011 00:13:28 +0100 4813404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813405&cid=t_99683_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F85sOFDSPdJM%2F I’m not sure where I came up with the following idea. I had stored it in my list of future posts and I didn’t have any reference for it. So, if I forgot to acknowledge who provided me the comment I’m sorry. This is the comment that I received from someone, “EMR provides benefits to the patient (better patient care) and payers (cost savings).” Of course, we could argue these two points until we’re blue in the face. In fact, feel free to argue either point in the comments below. That will be interesting. I’ll just say that there’s the potential for better patient care and the potential for cost savings to the payers. Whether the potential will become a reality will be a fun discussion in the comments. When I saw the above statement I started to... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813405 Wed, 11 May 2011 22:45:06 +0100 4813405