OmniMD Achieves EHNAC e-Prescribing of Controlled Substances Certificate for Prescribing Applications

Certification ensures adherence to data processing standards and compliance with security infrastructure and integrity requirements for all e-Prescribing transactions

Tarrytown, NY – December 16, 2013 – OmniMD, a healthcare solution of Integrated Systems Management, Inc. announced today that it has been certified with the e-Prescribing of Controlled Substances Certificate Program for Prescribing Applications (EPCSCP-Prescribing) from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). EHNAC’s program demonstrates the operational integrity of companies that use e-prescribing, by affirming compliance with industry regulations and all necessary standards for transaction timeliness, security and privacy with new prescriptions and renewals. Through the consultative review process, EHNAC evaluated OmniMD’s electronic prescribing and fax-based prescribing transactions in the areas of confidentiality enforcement, level-of-service and escalation procedures, outcome-related metrics, security infrastructures and the ability to comply with industry-standard data formats. The thorough certification process demonstrates compliance with stringent DEA regulations and adherence to strict standards and participation in the comprehensive, objective evaluation of the organization’s business. 

“The growth of e-prescribing in recent years has reached a strong uptick not only due to meaningful use measures, but because of the industry’s critical need for advancement of care and transitioning to electronic health records and processes,” says Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “Privacy, security and confidentiality continue to top the list of concerns for solution providers and their customers. OmniMD’s EHNAC EPCSCP-Prescribing certification is a significant achievement in ensuring full confidence in the integrity of their e-prescribing system and processes, and we are pleased to congratulate them.”

OmniMD is a comprehensive Ambulatory Electronic Health Record, Revenue Cycle Management and Health Information Exchange solution serving all the states of United States.  OmniMD’s ePrescribing is a Surescript’s White Coat Quality certified solution. With the EHNAC EPCSCP accreditation, OmniMD will be able to enable physicians electronically prescribe controlled substance with all the safety measures in place.

“EHNAC’s thorough accreditation process prompted us to risk assess administrative, physical, procedural and technological aspects of our organization and implement the required safeguards.  This accreditation is important not only for EPCS program but to be on top of HIPAA and HITECH regulations providing patient safety, security and privacy of the information.” quoted Divan Dave,CEO at OmniMD.

About OmniMD

OmniMD (a division of Integrated Systems Management, Inc.) is a national electronic health record software company with thousands of providers in more than 40 states and five countries. OmniMD’s emr software is cloud based and represents state of the art solution in the medical software industry. The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company has 120 programmers and 15 physicians on staff who work to make the product excellent surpassing the industry requirements

About EHNAC

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include e-prescribing and EPCS solution providers, electronic health networks, financial services firms, health information exchanges, health information service providers, medical billers, third-party administrators, management service organizations, outsourced service providers, payers and vendors.

EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org, contact info@ehnac.org, or connect with us on Twitter, YouTubeand LinkedIn.

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Press contact information:

OmniMD Marketing

(914) 332-5590 (office) Ext: 167

(914) 909-5280 (Fax)

marketing@omnimd.com

OmniMD EHR Earns Surescripts White Coat of Quality for 2012

TARRYTOWN, NY, January 3, 2013--OmniMD™, a division of Integrated Systems Management Inc., announced that its OmniMD electronic health record (EHR) has earned the Surescripts® White Coat of Quality distinction for technology vendors for 2012.

"Earning the Surescripts White Coat of Quality for 2012 for OmniMD EHR is an important recognition that we uphold the highest standards of quality in e-prescribing," said Divan Da've, CEO. "Very few EHRs have achieved this distinction. We are dedicated to continuous improvement of our products, and the White Coat of Quality for 2012 is a tribute to our team's work."

OmniMD serves more than 11,000 users with complete electronic medical record (EMR)/EHR software, cloud-based or enterprise. Surescripts is an important component of OmniMD's complete EHR, Da've said.

OmniMD's EHR previously completed Surescripts Gold certification. The resulting Gold Solution Provider status is granted to vendors with software products that surpass Surescripts' baseline product certification to meet criteria that demonstrate a higher level of commitment to e-prescribing. OmniMD was one of only nine vendors to attain that status in 2010.

The Surescripts White Coat of Quality distinction for technology vendors is a critical part of Surescripts' continuous quality improvement program. The White Coat recognizes technology vendors that uphold the highest standards of clinical quality in e-prescribing. E-prescribing saves lives, improves efficiency and reduces the cost of healthcare for all.

About OmniMD
OmniMD, headquartered in Tarrytown, NY, is a division of Integrated Systems Management, Inc., which is a leader in software development and information technology consulting since 1989. OmniEHR™, OmniPM™ and OmniMD Services offer unparalleled reliability, ease-of-use, efficiency, interoperability, and customizability. OmniMD v.11.2 is ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certified as a Complete EHR and is also CCHIT Certified® 2011 for Ambulatory EHR with a 5-Star usability rating.

OmniMD offers a comprehensive set of services such as Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), medical transcription, document scanning and indexing, a patient portal, patient reminders, IT and networking, and eligibility verification as part of an integrated solution to help practices effectively address their financial, administrative, clinical, and regulatory needs. For more information, please visit http://www.omnimd.com.

Contact:
Connie Jones
Marketing Manager, OmniMD
914-332-5590 x116
cjones@omnimd.com

EMR Market Expected To Increase Growth

While the sales growth in electronic medical record (EMR) systems has been slower than anticipated due to confusion over vendor qualifications and federal guidelines, the EMR market did grow in 2010 and it should see much better years ahead, according to a report from Kalorama Information.

The value of the market for EMRs was about $15.7 billion in 2010, according to the New York-based healthcare market research company in its latest report, “EMR 2011: The Market for Electronic Medical Record Systems.”

The EMR growth rate in 2010 was 13.6 percent–just above the rate in 2009 (10 percent). These rates were less, though, than predicted by Kalorama researchers (it had predicted about a 15 percent growth for both years). However, the rates may be improving as physician adoption improves and more incentive checks for EMR adoption under meaningful use guidelines are sent out.

Kalorama is predicting that adoption and upgrading activities will be “brisk” in coming years. As new systems are sold, companies will earn revenues from existing clients in servicing and consulting–resulting in a market growth rate of 18 to 20 percent for the next two years.

“We think that while progress was made in physician adoption and in vendor sales, there is still a lot more potential,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, in a statement. “There are still a considerable number of physicians who need to be fully functional and hospitals that have to improve their stage ranking.”

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/03/emr-market-expected-to-increase-growth/

Study: Most Americans support EMRs

CHICAGO – Seventy-eight percent of Americans favor the use of electronic medical records, according to a recent study by NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent research organization.

The study was published in the February edition of the journal HSR: Health Services Research.

Researchers say this report is different because most previous studies of EMRs have focused on the attitudes of clinicians or health organizations. Surprisingly few have focused on the attitudes of consumers toward health IT and, of those, none were based on a sample that fully represents the American people.

Key findings of the study are:

* Fifty-nine percent believe EMRs could reduce health costs
* Seventy-two percent support sharing of health care information among providers
* Eighty percent favored use of e-prescribing
* Seventy-nine percent thought that personal health records would help patients to be better informed about their health.
* Despite the fact that 48 percent of Americans are concerned about the privacy of medical records, fully 64 percent said that the benefits of EMRs outweigh privacy concerns
* The study also found that Americans aren’t without their reservations. Forty-four percent said they are not willing to pay to increase the use of health IT, and 57 percent said that use of health IT would make no difference in their choice of a physician.

Individuals with lower income and those who have less familiarity with electronic technology have less favorable attitudes towards health IT, the study found. Researchers say this implies that some of the populations that are most likely to benefit from health IT may be least open-minded about it.

“Our core finding is that a large majority of Americans support use of health IT to improve healthcare and safety, and reduce costs, which suggests that government and industry efforts to increase the effectiveness and use of health IT are generally consistent with the public’s wishes,” said Dan Gaylin, NORC’s executive vice president for Research, and the lead author of the study. “But there is still room for efforts to demonstrate the advantages of health IT among some important demographic groups.”

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/02/study-most-americans-support-emrs/

Patient-Centered Medical Home Requires an EMR System

Patient-centered medical homes have become all the rage in the healthcare industry these days. The big push is coming from payers who want to cut costs and provider organizations who want primary care physicians to have a bigger say in the care of their patients. No matter who is driving the financial and clinical model, the train isn’t leaving the station, so to speak, without health IT to power it.

At a primary-care practice in St. Louis, Mo., both patients and their families are seeing firsthand how an electronic medical record (EMR) system documents patient treatment and applies clinical decision support and analytics to tailor a patient’s treatment plan.

PCMHs are not all the same, and the Des Peres Internal Medicine office further personalizes treatment by having a nurse practitioner and social worker as part of the PCMH team. One of the Des Peres Internal Medicine physicians said that one of the goals of the PCMH is to increase patient access to care. That could mean access to the social worker via telephone. It also gives patients the extra channel of communicating or completing tasks such as making an appointment, filling a prescription or entering patient vitals via a patient portal.

One of the best benefits of an EMR in a PCMH is the streamlining of care delivery, which includes the elimination of duplicative tests. Most patients in a PCMH likely have multiple chronic conditions that a care team must manage. If patients see multiple specialists on their own, who is coordinating the care? Even if the coordination is done through a primary-care physician, without an EMR to aggregate data and document what happens in every specialist office, the amount of administrative and clinical paperwork would be overwhelming.

Another benefit is empowering patients, which can often translate into taking better care of themselves, especially when they have their up-to-date patient information available to them via the patient portal and clinical decision support and analytics to support their entire care team.

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/02/patient-centered-medical-home-requires-an-emr-system/

CMS Clarifies Hospital Patient Requirements Under Meaningful Use

Last week, CMS revised an online frequently asked questions site regarding provisions in the meaningful use ehr program that affect patient-reporting requirements for hospitals, AHA News reports.

Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

According to the revised FAQ site, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals have two choices concerning the type of patients to consider for Stage 1 rules of meaningful use ehr:

• The “Observation Services method” includes patients who are admitted directly to an inpatient setting, patients who arrive in an emergency department and then are taken to an inpatient department, and patients who receive treatment in an ED and are given observation care.
• The “All ED Visits method” includes patients who receive care in and are discharged from an ED.
  

The FAQ section was revised based on feedback from hospitals that earlier guidance was not clear about which observation services can be counted.

The revision recognizes that some hospitals are prioritizing EHR adoption in their EDs, while others are concentrating on deployments in inpatient departments, according to AHA News (AHA News, 12/2).

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/cms-clarifies-hospital-patient-requirements-under-meaningful-use/

EMR Spending Expected to Double in 4 years

Government incentives for using electronic medical records will result in spending on systems doubling by 2015, according to a report by IDC Health Insights. However, the study notes that much of that growth will come closer to end of that projected period, because vendors are having trouble keeping up with the orders.

Total EMR spending, which is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion by 2015, is about twice the growth rate analysts are seeing over the health information technology market and the general IT market, said Judy Hanover, research director of provider IT strategies for the Framingham, Mass.-based market research company and co-author of the report.

The report notes that a separate IDC survey in August 2010 found that 44% of health care organizations plan to accelerate or aggressively accelerate their plans to deploy EMRs because of financial incentives in the 2009 economic stimulus package. The stimulus provided incentives of up to $44,000 under Medicare and nearly $64,000 under Medicaid for meaningful use of an EMR.

But this rapid deployment is causing a vendor backlog that has resulted in unanticipated delays of up to six months for some practices and hospitals. Hanover said this has been a bigger issue for inpatient system deployments, but analysts are starting to see it on the ambulatory side as well.

The authors of the report predicted that the largest chunk of EMR investments will come in 2015. Not only is the backlog expected to cause delays, but some physicians will put off purchasing until it gets closer to 2015, when incentives turn to penalties.

The forecast shows clinics and physician practices will spend $335 million on EMRs in 2011 and $490 million in 2015. Ambulatory EMR spending overall was $633 million in 2009 and is expected to reach $1.4 billion in 2015.

Making an early decision on an EMR will help ensure that staff members are available for its installation, Hanover said. Practices might want to consider looking at third-party vendors if their primary vendors are experiencing a backlog, she said. Many third parties can provide installation and training services with the help of the vendor, she said.

After 2015, vendors are expected to enter a “maintenance cycle” in which revenue will come mostly from replacement systems or upgrades. Not only could the government require EMRs to perform more functions than they do today to qualify for incentives, health system reform may have an impact.

“We do expect to see, as health care reform goes into effect, a massive consolidation in the provider community in terms of acquisitions and reductions in the total number of providers,” Hanover said. “And that will drive some replacements and upgrading and reinvestment in EMRs.”

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/02/emr-spending-expected-to-double-in-4-years/

Medicare EMR Incentive Program Begins Registration

Washington — Starting Jan. 3, eligible physicians and hospitals will be able to register for the Medicare electronic medical record incentive program, a prerequisite for obtaining billions in available federal bonuses, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Dec. 22, 2010.

Also starting Jan. 3, registration for the Medicaid EMR incentive program will launch for Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. In February, registration will open in California, Missouri and North Dakota. The remaining states probably will launch their Medicaid EMR incentive program sign-ups in the spring and summer, CMS said.

Officials with CMS and the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said they hope for broad registration by doctors and hospitals. To prepare for the process, health professionals are encouraged to visit the CMS website (www.cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms/).

“With the start of registration, these landmark programs get under way, and patients, providers and the nation can begin to enjoy the benefits of widespread adoption of electronic health records,” said CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, MD.

David Blumenthal, MD, the national health IT coordinator, said, “It’s time to get connected.”

He added that his office and CMS have numerous resources to help physicians and hospitals enroll in the program. They include a website that lists more than 130 certified EMR systems (onc-chpl.force.com/ehrcert/).

Another site lists the 62 regional extension centers that can assist physicians in obtaining the bonuses (healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov__rec_program/1495/).

Physicians who want to participate must register in either the Medicare or Medicaid EMR incentive programs. Participants must choose only one program — they cannot receive payments from both. However, after receiving a bonus for a given year, they may change their program selection once before 2015.

In 2010, CMS finalized standards that doctors and hospitals must meet to demonstrate meaningful use of their EMR systems. Physicians can receive as much as $44,000 over a five-year period through Medicare, and up to $63,750 over six years through Medicaid.

CMS on Dec. 22, 2010, announced several additional key 2011 dates for the EMR physician incentive program:

• January — Some state agencies begin issuing Medicaid EMR incentive payments.
• April — Participants begin to attest eligibility for Medicare bonuses.
• May — CMS begins issuing Medicare bonuses.
• Oct. 3 — Physicians have a final chance to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use in 2011.
• Dec. 31 — 2011 bonus payment year ends for eligible professionals.
  

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/01/medicare-emr-incentive-program-begins-registration/

AMA Meeting: Physician Input Welcomed On Meaningful Use, CMS Official Says

San Diego — With stage 1 regulations for meaningful use released and discussion begun on stage 2, a federal official speaking at the AMA Interim Meeting called for more feedback to ensure these regulations will be workable for physicians.

“We need to work together and make sure that meaningful use ehr is defined and carried out appropriately,” said Betsy L. Thompson, MD, DrPh, chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Region IX office in San Francisco. She spoke during an educational session at the meeting. Based on a show of hands when she asked the crowd about EMR use, about half of the participants had an EMR in their offices, and the remainder were considering getting one.

Stage 1 rules are intended to increase adoption of health information technology, stage 2 rules are meant to change the process of care, and stage 3 rules are for improving outcomes. “Right now our emphasis is for practices to adopt and start to use these systems,” Dr. Thompson said. “At stage 2, we expect processes of care to change so that we can truly improve outcomes and population health by stage 3.”

Achieving meaningful use at the three stages qualifies physicians for financial incentives for using electronic medical records. They were part of the 2009 economic stimulus package. While finalizing meaningful use standards for stage 1, CMS received more than 2,000 comments, including those from the AMA and other medical associations.

“We had to read and respond to each, and the comments improved the rule substantially,” Dr. Thompson said.

This led to stage 1 rules being issued with more flexibility for physicians and deferral of some early requirements, but the AMA continues to request improvements.

“These are challenging times. … It is worth the effort to be able to collect data and collaborate with each other for the betterment of the patient, but we have reasons to be concerned and worried about what the future holds,” said AMA Trustee Steven J. Stack, MD.

Stage 2 of meaningful use is scheduled to begin in 2012.

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/ama-meeting-physician-input-welcomed-on-meaningful-use-cms-official-says/

Hospitals Integrating Their Medical Devices and EMRs

A third of hospitals have integration between medical devices and electronic medical records, allowing data recorded on the devices to be uploaded automatically into EMR, according to a survey released Dec. 1 by HIMSS Analytics.

Most hospitals that have linked devices and EMRs said they believe it saves staff time by eliminating manual documentation.

HIMSS Analytics, part of the Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, surveyed 825 U.S. hospitals on their use of medical device utilization. It found the devices most likely to be interfaced are intelligent medical device hubs (networked diagnostic equipment that provide data streams) and physiological monitors.

Recording and charting vital signs is one of the core measurements of stage 1 meaningful use. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services meaningful use incentives offer hospitals a base payment of $2 million each from Medicare and Medicaid. Although the stage 1 meaningful use criteria do not require the charting to be done automatically, many believe integration between medical devices and EMRs will be required later.

“The transfer of data directly from a medical device to the EMR can reduce potential medical errors and improve patient care, because no manual transfer of data takes place,” said John Daniels, vice president of health care organizational services for HIMSS. “Such data integration also improves workflow by saving time for clinical staff, a valuable benefit when looking at nursing shortages in health care.”

The report notes that hospitals are not yet conducting return-on-investment studies on the integration of the monitoring devices to EMRs. But some hospitals have reported that integration has saved time. St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson, Wyo., reports that integration of vital sign monitors to its EMRs has yielded a 60% time savings, because staff do not have to enter the data manually.

The report said a critical factor hospitals face is determining how to connect an intelligent medical device to an EMR.

For those that integrate some devices to an EMR, about half use a wired local area network to provide the connectivity. Only 8% rely solely on wireless LAN connections for the integration.

The report says hospitals will place more importance on integrating medical devices to EMRs when more is known about the stage 2 and stage 3 meaningful use requirements. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is working on stage 2 criteria.

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2011/01/hospitals-integrating-their-medical-devices-and-emrs/

Terrific Head Start To Meaningful Use

CHICAGO – Hospitals across the country are on track to meet 2011 meaningful use criteria set by the federal government, according to new data from HIMSS Analytics. Nearly a quarter of the participating hospitals reported they could achieve 10 or more of the 14 required meaningful use core requirements today.

HIMSS Analytics, a subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), introduced Monday the first of what executives promised would be quarterly analysis of hospitals’ progress toward achieving meaningful use.

The 687 hospitals that responded to the HIMSS Analytics survey have the ability to meet some of both core and menu requirements for Stage 1 of meaningful use ehr. The final rules designate a “core” group of 14 requirements that must be met, plus an additional “menu” of 10 procedures from which providers must select five.

“It’s good to see that so many hospitals are in position to meet the criteria” said John P. Hoyt, executive vice president, HIMSS. “We’ve got a terrific head start.”

The key findings of the survey showed:

• Nearly one quarter (22 percent) of participating hospitals have the capability to achieve 10 or more of the required core measures in the meaningful use Stage 1 requirements.
• Some 34 percent of respondents have the capability to achieve between five and nine of the core measures for meaningful use.
• Just over 40 percent (40.47 percent) of the market indicated they have the capability to meet five or more of the menu items for meaningful use.

“Our data indicate that hospitals have the capability now to meet some of the requirements for meaningful use, which is significant in the lead up to the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs because they indicate that healthcare organizations continue to move toward implementation of health IT,” said Hoyt.

Michelle Glenn, senior director, product management at HIMSS Analytics, said the results of the survey are statistically significant at a 99 percent confidence level and a 5 percent margin of error.

Each quarter, beginning January 2011, HIMSS Analytics will release updated data and analysis on meaningful use compliance for healthcare organizations.

HIMSS Analytics, known for its annual analysis of health IT implementations at more than 5,000 U.S., non-federal hospitals, added questions on meaningful use to its annual survey of U.S. hospitals before the final rules were announced. Thus, the data reports on 12 of the 14 core and eight of the 10 menu requirements, since not all of the final requirements were initially included in the questions.

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/terrific-head-start-to-meaningful-use/

Healthcare iPad Deployment To Approach 70% In 2011

Results from a survey of nearly 950 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) members indicates that iPad deployments are accelerating in large part due to the mobile device’s compelling point-of-care applications and uses.

Conducted October 26 during an online webinar cosponsored by HIMSS and BoxTone, a mobile service management (MSM) company, the survey’s results were released earlier this month.

Data showed that nearly 70% of the attendees were from hospitals or healthcare organizations with more than 1,500 employees, and 15% of attendees were executive-level staff or physicians.

More than 25% of the HIMSS respondents plan to deploy the iPad and other iOS devices immediately and nearly 70% plan to deploy the devices within the next year.

One-third of respondents identified point-of-care applications — including lab order visualization and results, clinical decision support, and medical image viewing applications — as top priorities, while 18% identified general administration, including billing, coding, and claims applications, as top priorities.

Nearly 75% identified secure configuration and deployment as the number one iPad IT management challenge, and 53% identified mobile application deployment as a key issue.

Lynne Dunbrack, analyst with IDC Health Insights, said security will remain a top concern for healthcare CIOs, especially if clinicians bring in their own devices to access the hospital’s healthcare information systems, such as electronic medical records (EMRs) and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems.

“As more patient information is moved into EMRs and made accessible both inside and outside the organization via a range of devices, including mobile devices and tablets, the risk of a privacy breach rises. Organized deployment and virtualized clients will help to mitigate this concern,” Dunbrack said.

Dunbrack also noted that the iPad, which has a sleek design, an intuitive user interface, and a large screen (relative to a smartphone), is becoming increasingly popular among clinicians. As the iPad gains traction among healthcare providers, EMR vendors will develop bidirectional integration between their EMR applications and clinicians’ mobile point-of-care devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Vendors are also developing EMR applications specifically for the iPad, Dunbrack observed. One example is St. Louis-based ClearPractice, a company that develops Web-based ambulatory EMR and revenue cycle management applications. ClearPractice recently launched Nimble, a comprehensive EMR application designed and developed specifically for the iPad.

Alan Snyder, BoxTone’s CEO, said in a statement that the iPad is redefining how organizations leverage mobile technology in the enterprise and the healthcare community is leading this paradigm shift.

“As these devices are used more frequently at the point of care, IT must ensure both data security and privacy, as well as superior remote connectivity,” Snyder said.

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2010/12/healthcare-ipad-deployment-to-approach-70-in-2011/

Making Meaningful Use Meaningful for Patients and Health Care Providers

HHS recently released a package of regulations clarifying the definition of achieving “meaningful use” of electronic health record systems. Eligible providers and hospitals must meet the meaningful use criteria to qualify for government incentives and bonus payments for the adoption of EHR systems. The regulations signify a milestone accomplishment in moving forward our nation’s commitment to the universal adoption of EHRs.

Each day, the American health care system conducts more transactions than the New York Stock Exchange, most of them on paper and at risk of human error. The Institute of Medicine estimates there are between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths attributed to medical errors each year, and while not all errors can be precluded by the adoption of EHRs, there is no question that standardized, interoperable systems will move us in the direction of improved quality and efficiency and reduced errors and waste.

We expect to experience bumps along the way. The core criteria for meaningful use cover several domains, and stakeholders provided a great deal of feedback to HHS after the proposed rule was issued. While changes were made, there remain some issues that may not directly be addressed by HHS but have widespread implications. I offer several for discussion below and request feedback from iHealthBeat readers.

1. EHRs and health care professionals ineligible for government incentives: In its current form, the monetary incentives provided by the federal government (which could total $44,000 under Medicare and $63,750 under Medicaid for eligible providers) are not broadly applied to the entire spectrum of care providers. For example, while physician assistants and nurse practitioners are eligible for the Medicaid EHR incentive program, they are not eligible for the Medicare EHR incentive program. In parts of our nation, particularly in rural and isolated areas, nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide independent and critical care to Medicare patients. While they always work closely with physicians, they may be located hundreds of miles away.
2. Meaningful use ehr, bending the cost curve and quality of care: The widespread adoption of EHRs is expected to significantly improve the quality of clinical care; however, without concerted effort and commitment, the opportunity for bending the cost curve and improving quality of care could go unrealized. Most health systems have already made and will continue to make large investments in interoperable EHR systems, spending tens of millions of dollars on systems that will push them farther along the meaningful use spectrum. This does not, however, inevitably translate to an immediate return on investment; moreover, it may not be enough to change the quality paradigm of an institution. For example, the Veterans Health Administration has an EHR system that goes above and beyond the meaningful use criteria, but recent studies have shown that the VHA’s quality of care is variable across the country. This demonstrates that even the most sophisticated and robust EHR is not alone a panacea.
3. Implications for patient-centered care: There is no question that wiring the country is a step in the right direction, but will patients notice? And if so, will they like what they see? Many patients (including my own) express concern that their doctors spend more time typing on the computer than talking to them. In an age when we are embracing patient-centered care, where can health IT fit in the patient-doctor relationship? What functions of health IT do patients care most about? Potentially the following:
   

• The ability to schedule appointments with clinicians online during or after official office hours;
• A mechanism to receive relevant health advice or recommendations online; and
• An integrated and meaningful capacity for discharge instructions after a hospitalization. (Given the emphasis on discharge instructions and clinic visits in the core set of criteria, the next step is a patient-centered approach to ensuring that a clinic visit in the outpatient setting related to a hospital discharge is also “bundled” together with the original hospital visit, creating a more integrated picture of a particular patient’s care continuum.)
  

Health reform has brought many changes to the health sector, most of which have been long overdue. With 58.5% of practices still using only pen and paper, we need to take advantage of this wave of change, push our comfort limits, and think about how best to augment, complement and modify the existing criteria to rekindle and reinvigorate the very reason we all went into health professions — to deliver the best care for our patients to the best of our ability.

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/hhs-panel-seeks-public-input-on-2013-quality-measures/

Officials Preparing Adjustments to Meaningful Use Final Rule

CMS soon will release modifications for certain provisions in the final rule for Stage 1 of the meaningful use ehr incentive program, Government Health IT reports.

Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for incentive payments through Medicaid and Medicare.

Tony Trenkle — director of the Office of e-Health Standards and Services at CMS — said the adjustments to the meaningful use criteria currently are undergoing a federal clearance process, which is the final step before publication. Trenkle spoke on Wednesday during a Health IT Policy Committee meeting.

Trenkle added that CMS also will release guidance for health care providers on how to meet quality measures in the incentive program.

Discussion of Stages 2, 3

During the meeting, the Policy Committee also considered what incentive requirements to include in the next stages of the meaningful use program.

Committee members discussed whether Stage 2 meaningful use requirements — which are expected to go into effect in 2013 — should be incrementally built on requirements from Stage 1, or if there should be a set of larger steps framed around measuring and improving patient outcomes.

Paul Tang — chair of the meaningful use work group and chief medical information officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation — said the committee would prefer to establish the Stage 3 goals for 2015 first and then backtrack to form Stage 2 requirements.

Committee member Latanya Sweeney — director of the data privacy lab at Carnegie Mellon University — said future meaningful use criteria should incorporate privacy regulations (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 10/20).

National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal said that the rollout of Stage 1 of the meaningful use criteria “was very rushed” (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 10/21). He added that the next stages should focus on infrastructure and interoperability.

Time Frame

Tang said that the meaningful use work group aims to have draft requirements for Stages 2 and 3 by Nov. 19, adding that it will revise the draft after taking comments from the full Policy Committee.

He said final recommendations could be submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT by the third quarter of 2011, while CMS could release a notice of proposed rulemaking on the next stages by the fourth quarter of next year (Manos, Healthcare IT News, 10/21).

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/officials-preparing-adjustments-to-meaningful-use-final-rule/

OmniMD™ EHR Version 11.0 Receives ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Certification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 5, 2011
Media Contact:
Ted Dave
pr@omnmd.com
tdave@omnimd.com

January 5, 2011 – Integrated Systems Management Inc announced today that OmniMD™ EHR, Version 11.0 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on January 4, 2011 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable (eligible provider) certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

According to Divan Dave, CEO, of OmniMD™ “This certification is another step in our commitment to provide providers with intuitive, easy-to-use, affordable technologies that help them improve patient care, reduce their costs and qualify for government incentives".

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology.

“CCHIT is pleased to be testing and certifying products so that companies are now able to offer these products to providers who wish to purchase and implement certified EHR technology and achieve meaningful use in time for the 2011-2012 incentives,” said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.S.S., Chair, CCHIT.

OmniMD™ EHR, Version 11.0 certification number is CC-1112-484340-1. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

The clinical quality measures to which OmniMD™ has been certified include:

NQF 0421 - Adult Weight Screening & Follow-Up
NQF 0013 - Hypertension: Blood Pressure Measurement
NQF 0028 - Tobacco Use Assessment and Cessation
NQF 0041 - Influenza Immunization
NQF 0024 - Weight Assessment and Counseling
NQF 0038 - Childhood Immunization Status
NQF 0034 - Colorectal Cancer Screening
NQF 0043 - Pneumonia Vaccination Status
NQF 0067 - CAD: Oral Antiplatelet Therapy
NQF 0084 - Heart Failure: Warfarin Therapy

OmniMD™ EHR Version 11.0 is also certified in CCHIT’s separate and independently developed certification program. OmniMD™ Version 11.0 is a pre-market CCHIT Certified® 2011, Ambulatory EHR. Integrated Systems Management Inc. has certified its EHR technology in both programs to provide greater assurance to its customers.

About Integrated Systems Management, Inc

Founded in 2000, OmniMD™ integrated Electronic Health Records and Practice Management (PMS) products and services, offers unparalleled reliability, ease-of-use, efficiency and customizability. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR has also earned a designation as a pre-market CCHIT 2011 Certification with the highest 5 Star Usability Rating ensuring OmniMD™ commitment to have a comprehensive, secure, scalable, intuitive and interoperable EHR system. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR Version 11.0 is CCHIT 2011 Pre-Market Certified, web-enabled and support devices ranging from Tablet PCs to Smart phones. OmniMD™ offers a comprehensive set of services such as Health Transcriptions, Document Management, Patient Portal, Patient Reminder and Eligibility Verification as part of an integrated solution under one roof helping practices to effectively addressing their financial, administrative, clinical, and regulatory needs. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR Version 11.0 is built as a true Software as a Service solution. It can be deployed as an Enterprise or a Subscription based Service as per the practice requirements. OmniMD™ is designed to exceed the present and future needs of the healthcare industry. OmniMD™ is robust, scalable, interoperable, secure, intuitive and customizable with rapid deployment model. OmniMD™ EHR has also achieved Surescripts® Gold Solution Provider status, which allows for interoperability with the nation’s community pharmacies - improving the safety, efficiency and quality of the prescribing process. Gold Solution Provider status is granted to vendors whose software products have surpassed Surescripts’ baseline product certification, by demonstrating a higher level of commitment to e-prescribing, enhanced security, excellent customer support and service. OmniMD™ is a division of Integrated Systems Management, Inc. – ISM Inc. - (www.ismnet.com) a leader in Software Development and Information Technology Consulting since 1989.

About CCHIT

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

About ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that EHR technology is capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The certifications include Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology and EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria. ONC-ATCB certification aligns with Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology published in the Federal Register in July 2010 and strictly adheres to the test procedures published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the time of testing. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

HIMSS Analytics Names First Korean Stage 7 Hospital

SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) has reached Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM) scale. It is the first hospital outside of the United States to achieve the Stage 7 designation, and the only hospital in Asia to do so.

The EMR Adoption Model provides a leadership guide for IT adoption in healthcare. The higher the stage, the more advanced the IT application coverts to. Stage 7 represents a totally paperless environment.

Only 1 percent of US hospitals rank at the Stage 7 achievement level on the EMRAM. At this stage, care coordination across the hospital is improved using EMR, developing better health information exchanges, and data warehousing for population health improvement.

The Seoul National University Bundang Hospital reached Stage 7 with:

• Almost all medical orders entered by physicians.
• Ninety percent of physicians enter patient health information into the EHR, using structured templates that generate data, allowing clinical decision support for clinical guidance.
• Efficiency gained through automation, such as relying on only four transcriptionists to support 910 inpatient beds and over 4,000 outpatient visits per day.
• The Medical Imaging department is fully digitized producing 1.2 terabytes of data per month for 70,000 radiologic exams per month.
• The Closed-Loop Medication Administration (CLMA) process has the highest level of patient safety for bar-coded medications through RFID technology
• The hospital uses clinical data warehousing for developing over 250 quality clinical indicators and 98 critical pathways.
• A Health Information Exchange exists between the hospital and 36 private clinics in its region.
  

“The Seoul National University Bundang Hospital is an excellent example of healthcare IT adoption to improve the quality and efficiency of care while improving patient and employee satisfaction,” said John P. Hoyt, executive vice president of Organizational Services at HIMSS. “We congratulate the hospital and its information technology team for creating this environment for its patients, employees and medical staff.”

HIMSS Analytics is beginning to collect data on electronic health record implementation from all hospitals in Korea. More information on Stage 7 recognition is available on the HIMSS Analytics website.

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2010/12/himss-analytics-names-first-korean-stage-7-hospital/

The ‘Three-Legged Stool’ Model For EMR Transition

PORTLAND, MAINE – “What do you really hold dear to you that you want to preserve into the future as you transition to an electronic medical record?” That’s the question consulting firm Innovation Partners International posed to Maine providers attending a regional extension center (REC) educational forum this week.

Bernard Mohr, a partner at the firm, said he grew up next to a farm with milking cows. The stools the farmers used to milk the cows were three-legged. He explained that they found that a stool with three legs was actually “much more stable on uneven ground than a four-legged stool.”

The stool, Mohr said, is a metaphor for a different model for managing the transition to an EMR.

According to Mohr and Robert (Bob) Laliberte, who teaches the UNE Project Management Program and is also a partner at Innovation Partners International, the three legs of the “stool” of an EMR implementation are: life-giving properties, hopes and aspirations and first steps. If you can identify those three components then you’ll have a better chance at having a successful transition to your EMR, they said.

Mohr and Laliberte asked the 30 providers in attendance to pair up in groups and identify the life-giving properties or the core values that give their practices vitality and that, “if not retained during the transition to their EMR, would irreparably worsen the situation.”

“Autonomy is important for me,” said one doctor. “And feeling like I am doing something that matters – helping people. If I end up just playing with medical records that would be the pits for me.” I don’t want to spend more time with a machine than the people I am trying to help.”

Laliberte told attendees they had to think of an EMR as a possibility rather than a burden. He asked providers to think about “exciting possibilities” that the technology could bring to their practices.

Providers agreed that improved quality of care and patient satisfaction were at the top of the list. They also said it was important that providers have improved satisfaction as well.

“In the end, the most important thing is that you are making a difference for your patients, that is what it is all about,” said one attendee.

The last question attendees had to answer was, “what is the smallest step you could take in the next week to start moving toward your desired future?”

Attendees said identifying their goals and visions for the technology as well as talking to other providers about their experience could be possible action items for them.

Remember, said Laliberte in closing: “the EMR is at the service of the patient.”

The session was part of regional forum series being held by The Maine Regional Extension Center (MEREC), overseen by HealthInfoNet, and Quality Counts, a regional healthcare collaborative committed to improving health and healthcare for the people of Maine.

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2010/11/the-three-legged-stool-model-for-emr-transition/

Meaningful use final rule to see minor revisions

BALTIMORE – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to correct a few inconsistencies in the meaningful use final rule it published in July and will post on its web site more detailed guidance for providers on how to meet quality measures required by the health IT incentive program.

The minor revisions, including more detailed descriptions of each of the meaningful use objectives and measures, “should help clarify issues and help the (Health IT Policy Committee) plan for recommendations for future stages,” said Tony Trenkle, director of CMS’s Office of e-Health Standards and Services.

Trenkle, who spoke at a Sept. 22 meeting of the policy committee’s meaningful use workgroup, did not offer further information on the clarifications. They would be released “shortly,” he said.

The panel met to propose preliminary requirements for the second stage of meaningful use in 2013, such as raising the level of performance required for computerized physician orders, electronic prescribing and other measures that were begun in the first stage.

In doing so, Paul Tang, chairman of the meaningful use work group, reminded the panel of its main goal: to move clinical practices operating without EHRs into the digital age.

“We want to pay particular attention to smaller practices and hospitals,” said Tang, who is also chief medical information officer of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. “We want to raise the tides but not sink the boats.”

To set preliminary requirements for stage 2 in 2013, the panel is taking a ‘backfilling’ approach by splitting the difference between existing stage 1 requirements and where it wants to end up by 2015 for stage 3 of meaningful use of ehr.

For example, to set the stage 2 requirement that physicians should use e-prescribing for 60 percent of their prescriptions in 2013, it picked the midpoint between the current stage 1 requirement of 30 percent and the stage 3 goal that 90 percent of prescriptions should be ordered electronically.

Compared with the first set of meaningful use requirements, stage 2 should also incorporate more standard and coded data from EHRs, which should reduce the reporting burden on providers. “We hope that they are capturing the information as part of patient care and not a separate activity,” Tang said.

Staking out new ground, the group introduced objectives for a glide path to care coordination, starting with a measure that calls for providers to link members of their care teams electronically with at least 20 percent of their patients.

The work group will present its preliminary recommendations on stage 2 meaningful use measure in October. In December, the panel will put out a request for comments on the proposals.

In April, the panel will be able to get indications of the number of providers reporting stage one measures and a sense of the market, Tang said. The policy committee wants to make final recommendations by April to give vendors sufficient time to add functionality to EHRs.

Source : http://www.myemrstimulus.com/meaningful-use-final-rule-to-see-minor-revisions/

New York EMR Network Set To Be The Largest In The Country

NEW YORK – The New York Department of Health (DOH) and the public-private partnership New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) on Tuesday submitted a plan to ONC outlining a proposal to spend $129 million in state and federal funds to build and implement a statewide medical records network.

The network is being touted by officials as the country’s largest – connecting hundreds of hospitals, thousands of medical practitioners and up to 20 million patients a year. Once completed, New York doctors anywhere in the state will have instant access to critical Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of every patient.

“Better information helps doctors do a better job,” said David Whitlinger, executive director of NYeC. “This statewide network will empower healthcare providers by giving them access to a wealth of patient data that they didn’t always have at their fingertips. While cutting edge technology plays a tremendous role in modern medicine, in many respects medical records are still stuck in the past. We look forward to helping create a system that will greatly improve the quality of medical care and therefore people’s lives.”

The proposed statewide network will link together several existing regional electronic medical records networks with new infrastructure and programming, and state agencies will set policies to govern the system’s implementation and maintenance. Currently, healthcare providers can share some electronic records with certain neighboring medical institutions.

The Statewide Health Information Network for NY (SHIN-NY) will allow patients and healthcare providers to have immediate access to histories, prescriptions, test results, medical analysis and diagnoses, and more, anywhere in the state.

“Having this information can mean the difference between life and death,” said Eugene Heslin, a practicing New York physician who serves on the Board of NYeC. Heslin says having quick access to patients’ information such, as their medication history, can be life-saving in an emergency.

While several other states and the Veterans Administration have set up large networks for medical records, officials say New York’s system will ultimately dwarf them when completed given the scope of the state’s medical facilities. The proposal establishes a preliminary timeline for the implementation of many of the core services the network can provide – ranking them in priority – and foresees new services being added every several months between mid-2011 and 2014.

“New York is once again leading the nation in healthcare initiatives that will provide better treatment to the millions of patients treated in the state every year,” said New York State Department of Health Deputy Commissioner of Health Information Technology Transformation Rachel Block. “We feel it is our responsibility to help all patients and healthcare providers across the state have access to the same vital information that can help save lives. We look forward to working with NYeC and other state programs to create this network and establish rules that will make electronic medical records secure, accessible and helpful to the many stakeholders all around the state.”

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2010/11/new-york-emr-network-set-to-be-the-largest-in-the-country/

EMR-Driven Disease Management Reduces Mortality, Costs

EMRs keep on proving their mettle in the area of care coordination.

The latest evidence comes from Kaiser Permanente Colorado, which improved outcomes by mining its EMR and electronic disease registries to match patients with heart disease to clinical pharmacy specialists and “personalized” nurses. In a study published in the November edition of the journal Pharmacotherapy, Kaiser researchers reported an 89 percent reduction in mortality, as well as cost reductions of $60 per day for cardiac patients enrolled in a disease management program, as compared to a control group.

The program, called the Kaiser Permanente Collaborative Cardiac Care Service, can notify pharmacy specialists if a patient doesn’t pick up a prescription or if a cholesterol test reveals a need to change medications, for example. The pharmacists or nurses then can contact individual patients to help them make the necessary adjustments to their treatment.

Rather than seeing costs increase due to the extra service, healthcare expenditures declined significantly for patients in the program. Hospitalization costs averaged $19 per day for participants, vs. $69 per day for those receiving standard treatment. Kaiser also reported small cost savings on physician office visits and medications due to the better coordination.

“This program works because it is a team approach,” study co-author Dr. John Merenich, medical director of the Clinical Pharmacy Cardiac Risk Service at KP Colorado, tells Healthcare IT News. “Our teams of nurses and clinical pharmacists, as well as our health information technology, require significant investment. We always knew it was the right investment because it saved lives. Now we know it’s also the right investment because it provides the highest quality care at a lower cost. This is the value people have been looking for in health care.”

Source : http://www.emrspecialists.com/2010/11/emr-driven-disease-management-reduces-mortality-costs/