Week of May 24, 2010 A Towers Watson analysis of the new health care reform law released last week shows that the “Cadillac plan” excises tax will likely impact more than 60 percent of large employers by the provision's 2018 effective date. The provision was intended originally to penalize employers with rich health benefits plans, but the end result clearly [...]
The whistleblower provisions in ARRA pose significant risk to those persons or entities receiving money under the HITECH Act provisions of ARRA. Those at risk include entities receiving grants and loans from the federal government under the HITECH Act to assist them in the implementation of electronic health record (“EHR”) technology.
Health Information Exchange or HIE is the movement of health care information electronically across organizations within a region or community. HIE provides the capability to electronically move clinical information between disparate health care information systems while maintaining the integrity of the information being exchanged. The goal of HIE is to facilitate access to and retrieval [...]
A weekly compilation of health care-related developments in Washington, D.C. and state legislatures across the country The heat on the Obama Administration and Congressional leadership over the cost of health care reform is not expected to ease anytime soon, with the release last week of additional information from the Congressional Budget Office on the Patient Protection [...]
The HITECH Act establishes the Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program). The Regional Extension Centers (RECs) will offer technical assistance, guidance, and information to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This list represents the final 60 awarded centers. Grantees in the second series of [...]
The Director of Electronic Medical Record Systems is accountable for leading the efficient installation and project management of the Network’s Electronic Medical Record. This includes coordinating all tasks, overseeing the testing and install of all systems required to provide input or output to/from the EMR, and enforcing project management, budget and change control. Collaborative, effective interaction with vendors, Department Directors, Physicians, and Executives is essential.
While the promise of electronic health records is alluring there are still many questions and obstacles that make it possible to transition from the simply paper-based SOAP documentation to an seamless integration of an electronic system. Key challenges include financing the conversion from paper to computerized records, designing the work flow, making systems easier to [...]
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, formed in 2004 as kind of a bully pulpit to rally the troops behind health IT, has widened its responsibilities over time. First there was Dr. David Brailer's strategic roadmap for getting interoperable EHRs to most Americans within a decade. Then there were the contracts [...]
A Message from Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology May 5, 2010 Healthcare professionals appreciate opportunities to learn from innovative colleagues and communities – to see what really works, to get “boots-on-the-ground” perspectives, to learn best practices, and to use the experience of other leaders to inform how to improve performance more [...]
