By Molly Merrill

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology on Tuesday launched a new modular certification program called Preliminary ARRA 2011, which will focus solely on ‘meaningful use’ objectives and accompanying standards needed to qualify for federal stimulus funding.

The modular certification process was released along with the CCHIT’s updated certification program, called CCHIT Certified 2011.

“Our decision to move forward instead of waiting has been met with a very positive response,” said Alisa Ray, CCHIT’s executive director. “The ‘Get Certified’ workshop on October 1 exceeded our attendance expectations, drawing over 310 people, with strong interest in both programs. Today, we are opening both of our 2011 programs for certification applications from vendors and developers.”

The commission has introduced a new label, called “Certification Facts,” to help physicians and hospitals understand the differences in the EHR technology certified under the two separate programs. Each certified product or technology listed at the commission’s Web site will have a link to a page describing its qualifications.

For EHRs in the CCHIT Certified 2011 Comprehensive program, the Certification Facts label will indicate not only the domain – ambulatory, inpatient, emergency department or ePrescribing – and options – cardiovascular medicine, child health and advanced interoperability – but also the meaningful use objectives supported by the product.

In addition to the Certification Facts label, that page will include – for CCHIT-certified products only – an optional Usability Rating, as well as information about the product and company. The commission says these features will become searchable in November or December as EHR products complete the 2011 inspection process and are announced.

For technology certified in the Preliminary ARRA 2011 program, the Certification Facts label will only indicate which of the meaningful use objectives are supported by the technology. The label will allow eligible providers and hospitals to understand which product – or products in combination – can support all the necessary objectives to qualify for incentive funding contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Above article published on - http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/cchit-offers-modular-program-focusing-meaningful-use

By John Moore

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today awarded $16 million in matching funds among six states and the U.S. Virgin Islands to help them plan their systems and processes for the upcoming task of managing electronic health record incentive payments.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s HITECH provisions offer incentives of up to $63,750 over six years for Medicaid providers who can demonstrate meaningful use of EHR.

State Medicaid offices, not the federal CMS agency, will manage the incentive payments to Medicaid providers in their state.

The $16 million in funding announced today involves a separate ARRA funding stream, which provides a 90 percent federal match for state planning activities. The Medicaid incentive payments are expected to begin in 2011.

States receiving funds Wednesday include California ($2.48 million), Georgia ($3.17 million), Idaho ($142,000), Montana ($239,000), New York ($5.91 million), Texas ($3.86 million), and the U.S Virgin Islands ($232,000). Those states join Iowa, which received CMS planning funds last month.

To qualify for the matching funds, states must demonstrate, among other things, that it “uses the funds for purposes of administering the incentive payments including the tracking of meaningful use of certified EHR technology by Medicaid providers,” according to CMS’ September letter to state Medicaid directors.

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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and National Health IT Coordinator David Blumenthal, MD, this week announced the availability of $235 million in grants for “beacon communities” to act as models for health IT implementation.

Funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), the Beacon Community Program plans to build and strengthen health IT infrastructure and health information exchange capabilities, including strong privacy and security measures for data exchange, within 15 communities.

At a press conference, Sebelius stated that these beacon communities are on the forefront of health IT and that they will help answer the question: “What health benefits will we get when we make significant, concentrated investments in health IT?”

Blumenthal clarified that $220 million is set for cooperative agreements, $10 million for evaluation funds and $5 million for technical assistance to communities.

In response to a question concerning the nature of the evaluation funds, Blumenthal stated that “[w]e want to learn from these examples, so we want to know who’s succeeding and why, [and] derive lessons that can be communicated to other communities that will accelerate their progress towards improving healthcare using EHRs.”

Cooperative agreements will be awarded to qualified nonprofit organizations or government entities representing diverse geographic areas, including rural and underserved communities. To qualify for the Beacon Community Program, applicants are expected to:

• Build on existing health IT infrastructure to demonstrate care and cost savings;
• Have rates of EHR adoption that are significantly higher than published national estimates; and
• Coordinate with recently announced Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) programs for Regional Extension Centers and State Health Information Exchanges to develop and disseminate best practices for adoption and meaningful use of EHRs to support national goals for widespread use of health IT

Above article published on http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=19770:hhs-announces-235-million-in-grants-available-for-qbeacon-communitiesq

Posted by Mitch Wagner,

National health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal dropped a big hint about upcoming criteria for giving out e-health records grants. He advised healthcare IT managers to focus on “goals of care” rather than technology.

Blumenthal works for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for giving out grant money to reimburse healthcare providers for implementing electronic medical records. The U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which set aside the money, specified that the funding will go to “meaningful use” of EMRs, but did not specify a definition for the phrase. HHS plans to release a preliminary definition of meaningful use next month. But Blumenthal dropped a hint at an address at the Medical Informatics Association’s annual symposium. He “gave attendees what they wanted to hear by reiterating his philosophy that technology simply is an enabler of quality improvement, not a panacea for healthcare,” according to FierceEMR.

“The meaningful use framework will be about the goals of care, not the technology,” Blumenthal said. While he didn’t elaborate on that statement, he did state the position of the Obama administration–one largely held by the informatics community, if not the broader healthcare industry–that the billions of dollars in federal subsidies aren’t simply meant to buy EMRs for providers. “It’s not the money that will turn out to be the most important,” Blumenthal said.

Instead, the net $19 billion investment is a way to demonstrate that EMRs should and will be accepted in the fairly near future as “symbolic of professionalism in medicine,” just as much as the stethoscope or examination table are today. “The idea that government should subsidize health IT will be as foreign an idea that the government should buy stethoscopes or exam tables for doctors,” Blumenthal explained.

“Information is really the lifeblood of medicine,” Blumenthal added. “Health information technology is its circulatory system.”

Final standards for meaningful use will be released in the spring, after a period of public comment on the first effort to be released by the end of the year, according to a ModernHealthcare.com write-up of Blumenthal’s address.

Blumenthal stressed that health IT must be focused on the goal of making the healthcare system work better for patients and providers.

“It’s not the technology that’s important, but its effect,” Blumenthal said. “That’s the purpose of the stimulus bill.”….

While Blumenthal declined to give a specific definition of meaningful use, he offered some hints. People working in health IT should think about EHRs “not as a technology project, but as a change-management project,” he said. Components of meaningful use include sociology, psychology, behavior change and the “mobilization of levers to change complex systems and improve their performance,” he added.

Through the stimulus law, Congress mandated that meaningful use become more focused over time, with yearly benchmarks. There has been a “lively discussion” in the Obama administration of that timetable in the proposed rulemaking of meaningful use, Blumenthal said.

Privacy and security will be essential, he said.

HHS plans to announce the first round of recipients of two major rounds of grants soon, Blumenthal said. The first, for $700 million, will establish up to 70 health IT regional extension centers nationwide to help healthcare providers become meaningful users of EHRs. The second program offers $560 million in grants to states to develop health information exchanges linking providers.

HHS also plans programs to increase the supply of trained health IT workers.

“The skills needed are not necessarily what our teenage children have,” Blumenthal said, which brought laughter from the crowd.

Specifically, the nation needs professionals who understand meaningful use and improved processes of care, the ability to redesign workplaces to integrate the new technology and to help providers use the technology to its full potential, he said.

“The training needed is well beyond the installation of information technology,” he said.

Blumenthal expressed great confidence that health IT can be a foundation for fundamental change in the healthcare system.

“I believe it will be a short time before EHRs are as common in medicine as the stethoscope, the cardiogram, the MRI and other core tools,” he said. “I think we’re already moving in that direction.”

Above article published on http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/11/blumenthal_pati.html;jsessionid=0K5NXFIO4JNUHQE1GHOSKHWATMY32JVN

By Neil Versel

Dr. David Blumenthal has been national coordinator for health information technology for a little more than six months now, and for all the health IT meetings I go to, teleconferences I listen in on and webinars I participate in, Wednesday was the first time I’d had the opportunity to hear him speak.

In delivering the opening keynote to the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Fall CIO Forum in Indian Wells, Calif., Blumenthal didn’t break a whole lot of new ground, but he did bring the national EMR strategy into sharper focus, give an update on some progress within the federal government, demonstrate his deep passion for healthcare quality improvement, and even put the vendor community on notice. (See the story in this week’s issue for more on his vendor-related comments.)

“You all are the very core of our success,” Blumenthal told this gathering of CIOs in the California desert. It was nothing they didn’t already know. He did say, however, that even without the healthcare reform being debated in Washington right now, the HITECH Act–the health IT portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–still is “unprecedented” in the scope of change it will effect.

Blumenthal highlighted four things that flow from HITECH: “meaningful use” of EMRs–something we all know about; the Health IT Policy Committee and Health IT Standards Committee to advise HHS; privacy and security of health data, symbolized by the tightening of HIPAA; and, of course, the federal subsidy program. Blumenthal believes that the last point probably gets more attention than it deserves. “There’s the money, which is important, but it isn’t the whole thing,” he said.

“What Congress has basically asked us to do with this legislation is to change the practice of medicine,” Blumenthal said. “It’s really a matter of change management rather than technology.”

Blumenthal is prohibited by federal ethics standards from discussing deliberations on the forthcoming parameters for meaningful use, but he reiterated that a proposed rule will be out by the end of the year, and that HHS is still on target to finalize the definition next spring, following a 60-day public comment period on the proposal. He also said that his office is talking with other federal agencies with experience encrypting and securing sensitive electronic data, something that will be hugely important in healthcare as more patient information is computerized.

Blumenthal added that the health IT extension centers will be modeled after the long-established USDA Agricultural Extension Service. “This is all about technology transfer from government to industry,” he said. He also called on the hundreds of healthcare CIOs in attendance to provide leadership and educate hospital CEOs about the importance of

Above article published on http://www.fierceemr.com/story/blumenthal-doesnt-tip-hand-meaningful-use-highlights-non-financial-aspects-arra/2009-10-29#ixzz0WdXFxKVB

Building on the historic $19 billion investment provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), efforts continued today to further the national adoption and implementation of health information technology (HIT) — an essential tool to modernize the health care system and bring about improved health for all Americans. The Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee, a Federal Advisory Committee (FACA) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), met today to begin the process of defining “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). This meeting is a first step for the department, as it investigates possible definitions for meaningful use.

“We are moving fast to achieve the President’s goal to improve the health and well-being of every American through the on-going use of health information technology,” stated HHS’ National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. “The work of the policy committee is a first step toward assuring that technology — the electronic health record — is used in a meaningful way to provide better patient care.”

The Recovery Act provides Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments to eligible providers, such as physicians and hospitals, in order to increase the adoption of EHRs. To receive the incentive payments, providers must demonstrate “meaningful use” of a certified EHR. Building upon the work done

by the HIT Policy Committee, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), will be developing a proposed rule that provides greater detail on the incentive program and proposes a definition of meaningful use. CMS expects to issue the proposed rule in late 2009, which will be followed by a comment period.

The recommendations discussed today represent extensive work by the Committee’s Meaningful Use Workgroup to review and evaluate diverse ideas and contributions from Workgroup members along with information from a public hearing on meaningful use convened in April by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). The NCVHS hearing brought together key healthcare and information technology stakeholder groups. The workgroup also reviewed written comments from additional diverse stakeholders.

A public comment period on today’s recommendations will be open through the close of business on Friday, June 26, 2009. Instructions on how to submit public comment can be found at http://healthit.hhs.gov.

“The workgroup’s recommendations demonstrate the breadth of meaningful use and the linkage of use to individual care and population health outcomes,” stated Dr. Blumenthal. “ONC and CMS recognize that achieving meaningful use will not be easy, but it is a journey we must take if we are to improve care through the use of EHRs.”

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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a report Thursday on how information technology can improve healthcare for Americans living in rural communities.

The report examines how the Columbia Basin Health Association in Othello, Wash., uses IT to improve healthcare quality and patient safety as well as promote care coordination and continuity.

“The Columbia Basin Health Association is just one place in America where health information technology and electronic health records have helped ensure patients get better care,” said Sebelius. “Health information technology can reduce paperwork, make care more efficient and let doctors spend more time practicing medicine and less time filling out forms.”

The CBHA provides 25,000 patients with access to a variety of medical, dental, prescription and other services at four sites and was one of the first health centers in the United States to fully transition from paper-based charts to an electronic health record system.

In response to the growing prevalence of diabetes in rural communities, the CBHA used its EHR system to track 1,302 diabetic patients, monitoring whether they received recommended exams and providing feedback to healthcare providers on their performance.

In January 2008, 31 percent of patients at the CBHA had received a foot exam and 37 percent had received an eye exam during the previous year. By June 2008, 86 percent of patients had received a foot exam and 63 percent had received an eye exam over the previous year.

According to the report, since the CBHA’s implementation of EHRs, the community health center has consistently ranked above the 95th percentile nationally in total medical and dental team productivity.

Approximately 65 million Americans live in communities with shortages of primary care providers and nearly 50 million live in rural areas. Sebelius said health information technology, and specifically EHRs, can improve care for patients and assist in clinical decision-making and the use of evidence-based guidelines. EHRs can also decrease administrative hassle, increasing workplace satisfaction and productivity.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act encourages greater use of health information technology through significant new investments, Sebelius said. Through incentive payments to providers and hospitals, she said, the ARRA will accelerate the adoption of health information technology and creation of an interoperable, nationwide network, and health insurance reform will build on this investment by simplifying and streamlining administrative procedures, investing in telehealth and improving the quality of healthcare.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has awarded grants totaling $27.8 million to health center-controlled networks and large multi-site health centers to implement electronic health records and other health information technology.

“The increased use of health information technology is a key focus of our reform efforts because it will help to improve the safety and quality of healthcare generally while also cutting waste out of the system,” she said.

The funds are part of the $2 billion allotted to HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to expand healthcare services to low-income and uninsured individuals through its health center program.

“These funds to expand and upgrade electronic health records systems will make a huge difference for health centers struggling to provide healthcare to the growing number of people in need,” said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield.

Eighteen grants totaling more than $22.6 million will support EHR implementation, and another $2.6 million will help four grantees implement a variety of health IT innovations. This includes the creation of health information exchanges and the incorporation of health IT at dental delivery sites. Another five grants, totalling more than $2.5 million, will help health centers devise plans to use existing EHRs to improve patient health outcomes.

“Broad use of health information technology has the potential to improve healthcare quality, prevent medical errors and increase the efficiency of care provision,” said David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology. “This program supports the department’s overall efforts to assist physicians and hospitals in adopting and becoming meaningful users of health information technology.”

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Diana Manos, Senior Editor

Getting healthcare IT up and running in doctors’ offices is not the main objective behind the incentives provided by the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator of health information technology.

Improving health is.

At the 17th Annnual National HIPAA Summit held Sept. 15-18 in Washington, D.C., Blumenthal called the HITECH Act — included in ARRA — “brilliant” and “a visionary piece of legislation.” With $20 billion allotted to the advancement of healthcare IT, he said, the law would lay the foundation for health reform in the nation.

The United States has never spent this kind of money on sharing health information and protecting it, he said.

Blumenthal told attendees at the summit how he came to embrace the importance of healthcare IT. He had never been a technologically oriented person, he said, but was asked seven years ago by the hospital where he worked to learn how to use an electronic health record.

“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “But I soon learned it was an enormous boon to me to be able to access my patients’ records outside of the office.”

Blumenthal said he started using EHRs in his practice and noticed it changed the way he was able to take care of his patients. He could access specialists’ reports, lab results and medications. “I knew more about my patients. I could tell my patients things they needed to know and couldn’t know in a timely way from their specialists,” he said. “Those are things that had real value to me as a clinician and to my patients. That is the value that made me convinced that these technologies were going to benefit me as a clinician.”

Privacy is critical, Blumenthal added, and “absolutely foundational” to realizing the vision that the Obama administration has for improving healthcare through healthcare IT. The advancement of healthcare IT through ARRA will only be successful, he said, if the public has confidence in the privacy and security of their personal health information and if physicians buy in.

“The use of IT has professional competence at its core, ” he said. “I believe in the future my colleagues will see value in healthcare IT. Treating medicine is about information. Part of competence will be knowing how to protect (personal health) information, and another part will be knowing how to access it.”

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Diana Manos, Senior Editor

The HIT Policy Committee is holding a hearing today in Washington, D.C. to discuss the privacy aspects of healthcare IT found in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Jodi Daniel, director of the Office of Policy and Research at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), who opened the meeting this morning, said privacy and security are fundamental building blocks for meaningful use of healthcare IT.

“The success of health information technology and exchange rests on consumer and provider confidence in privacy and security protections,” she said.

Daniel outlined the key privacy aspects found in ARRA. The HIT Policy Committee is responsible for advising the federal government on:

• Technologies that protect the privacy of health information and promote security in an electronic health record;
• Segmentation and protection from disclosure of specific and sensitive individually identifiable health information with the goal of minimizing the reluctance of patients to seek care;
• Use and disclosure of limited data sets;
• Infrastructure that allows for accurate exchange;
• Technologies for an accounting of TPO (treatment, payment and health operations) disclosures;
• Technologies that allow IIHI to be rendered unusable, unreadable or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals; and
• Methods to facilitate secure access to personal health information by an individual or person assisting in care.

ONC officials proposed a breach notification rule in April, with a final rule out in August. The rule will be effective Sept. 23 with a comment period closing Oct. 23, Daniel said.

Deborah Peel, a national expert on patient healthcare IT privacy, was the first to testify today on patient privacy. “Millions of Americans are concerned about the control of their personal data,” she said. She said ensuring data privacy and security is the only way that healthcare IT can move forward successfully.

Peel said privacy should have been established before policy on healthcare IT.

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