On Monday, the National Committee for Quality Assurance released new standards for primary care practices seeking recognition under its patient-centered medical home program, Modern Physician reports (Robeznieks, Modern Physician, 1/31).

The new standards reinforce federal criteria on how primary care practices can demonstrate meaningful use ehr of health IT. Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records will qualify for incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid.

New Medical Home Standards

The patient-centered medical home model emphasizes care coordination and communication. Currently, nearly 7,700 health care providers at more than 1,500 locations have met NCQA’s standards to receive recognition as a patient-centered medical home.

NCQA’s new standards for 2011 call for primary care practices to:

• Assist patients with self-care
• Help patients access community resources
• Improve communication between medical facilities; and
• Provide more patient-centered services
• Alignment With Meaningful Use

The new medical home evaluation standards include language from the federal meaningful use rule to reinforce incentives for health care providers to adopt EHRs.

Officials said that aligning the medical home standards with meaningful use criteria will create a beneficial cycle in which physician practices that meet the medical home requirements also will be prepared to meet the meaningful use standards, and vice versa (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 1/31).

Source     :     http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/2/1/new-medical-home-standards-align-with-meaningful-use-rule.aspx

Kentucky and Oklahoma have become the first states to issue Medicaid incentive payments to health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records, Healthcare IT News reports.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHR will qualify for incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid.

First Payment Details

In Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Healthcare received $2.8 million and Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington received $1.3 million from the Medicaid incentive program. The two hospitals were the first in the U.S. to receive checks under the stimulus package (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 1/6).

Twenty-five additional health care providers in Kentucky have started the application process, according to the state (Business First of Louisville, 1/6).

In Oklahoma, two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic in Durant each received $21,250 under the Medicaid EHR incentive program.

Other States Prepare for Payments

Iowa and Louisiana are expected to become the next states to administer Medicaid incentive payments for the meaningful use of EHRs, according to CMS (Healthcare IT News, 1/6).

In addition to those four states, Medicaid programs now accepting registration for incentive payments are:

• Alaska;
• Michigan;
• Mississippi;
• North Carolina;
• South Carolina;
• Tennessee; and
• Texas

In February, registration will open in:

• California;
• Missouri; and
• North Dakota

Other states plan to launch their incentive programs on a rolling basis during the spring and summer (Goedert, Health Data Management, 1/6).

Source    :    http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/1/7/kentucky-oklahoma-first-states-to-dish-out-incentive-payments.aspx

It’s not too early to begin marking your calendars with these key dates for EHR incentives that have been released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

• Jan. 3, 2011 – Registration for the Medicare EHR incentive program begins.
• Jan. 3, 2011 –States that are ready (currently Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas)  may launch their incentive programs for Medicaid providers.
• January 2011 – Some state agencies begin issuing Medicaid EHR incentive payments.
• April 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR incentive program begins.
• May 2011 – Issuing of Medicare EHR incentive payments expected to begin.
• July 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare EHR incentive program for federal FY 2011.
• Sept. 30, 2011 – Federal FY 2011 payment year ends at midnight for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs).
• Oct. 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 to demonstrate meaningful use ehr for the Medicare EHR incentive program.
• Nov. 30, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals and CAHs to register and attest to receive an incentive payment for federal fiscal year 2011.
• Dec. 31, 2011 – Calendar 2011 payment year ends for eligible professionals.

Source    :     http://emrdailynews.com/2010/12/26/key-dates-for-the-ehr-incentive-program-in-2011/

By the end of January, Medicaid programs in four states could begin distributing incentive payments to health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHR (electronic health records) systems, a CMS official said Tuesday during a two-day meeting hosted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Modern Healthcare reports.

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

Payments for States

During the ONC meeting, Jessica Kahn — technical director for health IT at CMS — said the Medicaid programs that plan to start issuing checks between January and March 2011 are located in:

• Iowa;
• Kentucky;
• Louisiana; and
• Oklahoma.

Kahn added that seven states plan to start the registration process for their incentive payment programs in January. The seven states are:

• Alaska;
• Michigan;
• Mississippi;
• North Carolina;
• South Carolina;
• Tennessee; and
• Texas (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 12/15).

CDC Director Touts EHRs

Also during the ONC meeting, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said EHRs could play a key role in advancing public health within six areas targeted by CDC:

• Adolescent health;
• Food safety;
• Health care-associated infections;
• HIV;
• Motor vehicle injuries; and
• Tobacco control.

To achieve the improvements in public health, Frieden encouraged health IT professionals to work with public health officials in the development and use of EHRs (Barr, Modern Healthcare, 12/15).

Farzad Mostashari — a physician and deputy national coordinator for programs and policy at ONC — said more than 1,000 individuals attended the two-day conference and more than 10,000 viewed sessions online (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 12/16).

Source    :    http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/12/16/four-states-could-start-issuing-ehr-incentive-payments-next-month.aspx

CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT have announced that registration for the Medicare incentive program for the meaningful use of  EHR (electronic health records) will begin on Jan. 3, 2011, Modern Healthcare reports.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs will qualify for incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid.

More information on registration for the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments is available on CMS’ website.

Medicare Incentives

To qualify for the Medicare incentive payments, eligible hospitals and health care providers must use a certified EHR system according to the meaningful use guidelines for 90 consecutive days within the first year of the program, which began on Oct. 1.

In April 2011, federal officials will start accepting attestations from health care providers who have met the meaningful use requirements.

By May 2011, qualifying health care providers could begin receiving the first Medicare incentive payments.

Medicaid Incentives

To receive the Medicaid incentive payments, health care providers will need to adopt, implement or upgrade to a certified EHR system during the first year of eligibility.

On Jan. 3, 11 states will be ready to start registering health care providers for the Medicaid incentive payments. They are:

• Alaska;
• Iowa;
• Kentucky;
• Louisiana;
• Michigan;
• Mississippi;
• North Carolina;
• Oklahoma;
• South Carolina;
• Tennessee; and
• Texas.

In February 2011, registration for the Medicaid incentive program is expected to open in:

• California;
• Missouri; and
• North Dakota (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 12/23).

Eligible health care providers who would like to apply for the Medicaid incentive payments will need to begin their registration with CMS and complete the process through an eligibility verification site at their state Medicaid agency (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 12/23).

Many of the states that are ready to begin registration in the next few months plan to issue their first incentive payments by late January or early February 2011 (Modern Healthcare, 12/23). Other states might not launch their incentive programs until spring or summer of 2011 (Kraynak, HealthLeaders Media, 12/23).

Source    :    http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/12/23/registration-for-medicare-ehr-incentives-to-open-on-jan-3.aspx

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.

Last week, CMS revised an online frequently asked questions site regarding provisions in the meaningful use 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.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/12/6/cms-clarifies-hospital-patient-requirements-under-meaningful-use.aspx

On Tuesday, federal officials announced the release of the final rule defining how hospitals and health care providers can demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records to qualify for federal incentive payments, Reuters reports (Lentz, Reuters, 7/13).

Officials also released the final rule describing the required standards and certification criteria for EHR technology. The new regulation updates the interim final rule on EHR certification that ONC released in January (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 7/13).

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

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, new CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced the rules during a news conference (Health Imaging & IT, 7/13).

Core Meaningful Use Objectives

Blumenthal said the final meaningful use rule offers health care providers more flexibility than the proposed regulations released in January.

The final rule requires physicians to meet a set of 15 core objectives during the first stage of the incentive program. Hospitals are required to meet 14 core objectives for Stage 1. In addition, all health care providers will need to comply with five objectives out of a “menu” of 10 options (Manos, Healthcare IT News, 7/13).

The earlier proposed rule included 25 objectives for physicians and 23 objectives for hospitals.

One of the core objectives requires health care providers to transmit 40% of prescriptions electronically. The requirement was relaxed from the earlier proposed regulations, which called for a 75% electronic prescribing rate.

Health care providers also will need to enact a single measure to meet the clinical decision support requirement, down from five measures in the previous proposal.

In addition, CMS reduced the number of quality measures that health care providers must report on, deferring some measures to Stage 2 meaningful use requirements (Versel, FierceEMR, 7/13).

Another core objective requires hospitals and physicians to use computerized physician order entry systems to capture at least 30% of medication orders. Under the earlier regulations, hospitals would need to use CPOE systems for 10% of medication, laboratory and diagnostic orders, while doctors would need to use the systems for 80% of such orders (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 7/13).

‘Menu’ of Additional Options

In addition to the core objectives, the final rule requires doctors and hospitals to comply with five objectives out of the menu of 10 options. Health care providers will need to comply with the remaining objectives as part of Stage 2 meaningful use requirements (Healthcare IT News, 7/13).

One of the new objectives in the menu calls for health care providers to offer patients condition-specific educational resources.

Clarifications on Eligibility

The final meaningful use rule defines a hospital-based eligible professional as someone who performs nearly all services in an inpatient hospital setting or emergency department.

The rule also expands the definition of acute-care hospital to include designated Critical Access Hospitals for the Medicaid incentive program (Health Imaging & IT, 7/13).

Additional Information in NEJM Piece

Blumenthal and Marilyn Tavenner, principal deputy administrator of CMS, offered additional explanations of the final meaningful use rule in a New England Journal of Medicine perspective piece.

In the perspective piece, Blumenthal and Tavenner explain that HHS weighed 2,000 outside comments before deciding on “significant changes” to the earlier meaningful use regulations.

The piece also includes a full list of the core objectives and the menu of options for the new final rule (Hobson, “Health Blog,” Wall Street Journal, 7/13).

In addition, Benjamin authored a companion piece that also appeared in the journal (FierceEMR, 7/13).

Next Steps

In January 2011, eligible health care providers and hospitals can begin registering for the EHR incentive program. CMS will manage the registration for both the Medicaid and Medicare incentive programs from one virtual location.

Federal officials expect to release additional information on the Stage 2 and Stage 3 meaningful use requirements over the next few years (Mearian, ComputerWorld, 7/13).

Source:http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/7/13/final-rules-on-meaningful-use-ehr-standards-released-today.aspx

By Joseph Conn

HHS has sent its final meaningful-use rules and certification criteria for electronic health-record system testing to the Office of Management and Budget—typically one of the last bureaucratic hurdles before rules are released. The criteria are called for under the EHR subsidy program established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

OMB received a copy of the final rule of the “meaningful use” criteria from the CMS Monday, according to the posting on the website of its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

The White House budget authority also received a copy of the final rule on an initial set of standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria from HHS on July 2.

Under the Medicare provisions of the stimulus law, to receive an estimated $14 billion to $27 billion in federal subsidies for EHR purchases, hospitals and qualifying office-based physicians must use certified EHRs in a “meaningful manner.”

Robert Tennant, the Washington, D.C.-based senior policy adviser to the Medical Group Management Association, Englewood, Colo., said he expects a quick turnaround on both rules.

“By law, they have 90 days in which to review, but I think in all practicality, OMB has been involved in the drafting of the final rules, so it’s no surprise when they get them,” Tennant said.

OMB has had HHS’ controversial final rule on the federal requirement on public and patient notification in the event of a breach of personally identifiable health information since May 15. Tennant said he expects both recently submitted rules to be released in a week or so, possibly even later this week.

Tennant also said a proposed healthcare IT privacy rule just left the OMB review list, so “it should be published in the next couple of days.”

Source:http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100706/NEWS/307079976/1153#

Last Monday, CMS launched a new website intended to help health care providers better understand the criteria to meet federal requirements for the “meaningful use” of electronic health record systems, Government Health IT reports.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs will qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 6/21).

Website visitors can download fact sheets detailing the proposed program requirements and the proposed definition of meaningful use.

The site also clarifies various terms, such as “eligible professional” and “certification,” that are included in the HITECH Act (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 6/21).

In addition, the site includes:

• An overview of the incentive program;
• Information about what health care providers are eligible for incentive payments;
• Information on how to register for the program; and
• Guidance on what health care providers can do to prepare for meaningful use.

CMS also said that it would use the website to publicize EHR training and events related to the incentive program (Government Health IT, 6/21).

According to Modern Healthcare, the website will offer more specific information about the incentive eligibility requirements after CMS issues the final rule on the EHR incentive programs later this summer (Modern Healthcare, 6/21).

Source: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/6/22/cms-unveils-new-website-on-meaningful-use-incentives.aspx