Posts Tagged ‘DrFirst’
MU 101: Intro to “Meaningful Use”
Our nation’s health
care system is undergoing a massive transformation to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care. To catalyze this transformation CMS has create the ARRA HITECH incentive program for eligible Medicare and Medicaid providers who demonstrate ‘meaningful use’.
These providers will not only reap benefits from the financial payments, but will see a reduction in errors, higher availability of records and data, new reminders and alerts, and unprecedented clinical support and electronic prescribing capabilities.
Beginning next year, eligible physicians who see Medicare and/or Medicaid patients will be compensated from $44,000 to $65,000 over a 5 year term for fulfilling the recently defined ‘meaningful use’ criteria. To further promote the use of certified systems, if these same physicians do not utilize healthcare IT that meets the Federal requirement by 2015, they will be faced with increasing penalties of up to 5%.
One very important part of these incentives is the ability for providers to implement individual certified modules that when used together, meet the meaningful use criteria. Many doctors believe that a paperless EHR is the only way to reach meaningful use, but it is important for them to realize that they have options to use modular systems to achieve the requirements!
Stayed tuned to our blog as we dissect the upcoming Meaningful Use incentives – see below for a schedule of topics to come:
- Part 1: Medicare
- What is required and how do I get paid?
- Who is eligible?
- How hard is it to meet?
- Part 2: Medicaid
- State specific requirements
- What does Modular Approach Mean?
- What is a Patient Registry?
- What is Attestation?
- Checklist for Meeting MU: What are the 15 components and 5 (10) Menu items?
- Should you go paperless or not? Is your office ready?
- Questions you should ask your EMR?
- What’s in a guarantee for MU?
- Who are the certification bodies?
- What is expected for stage 2?
- MU 101: Final Review
From 2:30 – 4:00 pm Thursday, September 2, CMS will host a national provider conference call to answer any questions regarding the 2010 Physician Quality Reporting Incentive (PQRI) and electronic prescribing incentive program.
This call will directly follow a formal presentation outlining how to begin participating in these programs. If you would like to review the slides before logging onto the call, visit the CMS website to download the presentation.
To register for the phone call and reserve your line, visit http://www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/090210 and fill in the required information.
If you cannot attend the conference call but would like to read the transcript, it will be available one week after the call on the CMS website.
There is a lot to keep up with living in DC, but in the recent article, Health IT heats up in Washington Dr. Kevin Fickenscher discuses today’s hot topics in our nation’s capital. Yes, you guessed it– Health Information Technology is at the top of the list.
Dr. Fickenscher connects the dots between the recent buzz in HIT and the ongoing growth of mobile technologies in our country. He sheds light on a recent event in which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signed a memo of joint cooperation that will allow them to work together to manage wireless medical devices. “With the FCC already having released the National Broadband Plan, the use of wireless devices in the medical community will only continue to grow and the government needs to be prepared for the huge wave of growth anticipated in the health care arena. As a tool for reducing costs, enhancing service and driving quality of care, wireless technologies are an imperative for health care innovation.”
Although hype is building, the symbiotic relationship between HIT and mobile technologies has already been proven successful. Just as mobile online banking applies to the financial industry, e-prescribing is one example of how wireless technology has already worked to enhance all aspects of the health care environment. Providers can access e-prescribing software via wireless networks to electronically prescribe medicines anywhere, including at the point of care, and send these prescriptions straight to the pharmacy with click of a button.
Washington has played a huge role over the past few years in passing legislation to kick-start HIT adoption, and will surely remain involved as we watch the recently defined ‘meaningful use’ incentives come to fruition.
Over the past several months there has been a surge in conversation and hype regarding the upcoming Meaningful Use incentive payments. Until now, the focus of this discussion has been centered around the requirements and payments to, what the CMS has deemed, ‘eligible providers.’ In a recent letter sent by the CMS, steps are outlined for states to receive matching federal funds for administrative expenses related to the MU payment programs. These requirements have recently been summarized in an iHealthbeat article, proving that the the state’s voluntary situation when it comes to the payments is being promoted by the federal governement.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records will receive incentive payments through Medicaid and Medicare. States can receive a 90% federal funding match for incentive payments distributed to Medicaid providers who adopt EHRs under the meaningful use criteria.
To warrant this payment matching, the CMS has asked state entities to perform a few responsibilities including:
- create and enhance data warehouses
- develop interfaces with data repositories and HIEs
- establish master patient indexes
- organize workshops, meetings and webinars to promote education
- administer the incentive payments to those that qualify
- track MU attestations
- pursue programs to promote the adoption of certified EHRs
These requirements seem to be aimed at building the amount of stored clinical data for future IT systems, as well as to take some of the administrative burdens off of the federal government. Jessica Kahn, technical director for health IT at CMS, proposes that “states should no wait until every detail has been released before starting their incentive programs.” She goes on to say that the CMS’ letter recommends approaching the program incrementally. With new incentives such as this, it seems clear that state agencies will be pushing to identify those systems that qualify E.P.’s for meaningful use without the cost of a full-blown EMR.
Current Rcopia Users please note:
On our new website, which was launched on Friday, the login for Rcopia will now be located at the top of the page, on the right side. Previously the login was located part-way down the page, within the column along the right.
This move isolates the login box, making it easier for users to login and access The Members Area and Rcopia.
DrFirst appreciates your business and strives to help you Get Back to Being a Doctor First! If you have any questions regarding the new site, Rcopia, or any other products DrFirst products, please contact customer care at (866) 263-6512 or customercare@drfirst.com.
In order to better serve our clients and to better communicate exciting new product offerings, DrFirst launches a brand new website today, Friday, August 6, 2010! The new website will make it easier for users to stay on-top of developing products and federal incentives such as:
- ARRA “Meaningful Use” criteria
- EPCS: E-prescribing Controlled Substances
- Mobile apps for the iPhone, Android, iPad and other smartphones
- Upgrading from e-prescribing to over 110 DrFirst EMR/EHR/PMS vendor partners
- And much more!
Check it out!! www.drfirst.com
