MGMA to HHS: 5010 Causing Payment Issues for Medical Practices
MGMA sent a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, regarding the major payment disruptions medical practices are experiencing as a result of the transition to the HIPAA Version 5010 electronic transactions standard on Jan. 1.
Along with examples of problems practices have been having with Version 5010, the [...]
Ohio to Invest $1M in Patient-Centered Care
Ohio will reportedly spend $1 million to help 50 of its primary care facilities transition into patient-centered medical homes, a new care model that encourages the family doctor to better coordinate with specialists and others to improve a patient’s health. These facilities will also serve as a training ground for medical and nursing students who [...]
EHR Meaningful Use Registration Stats Updated by CMS
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 18,619 eligible professionals registered for the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs last month. That brings total registrations during 2011 to 124,089 EPs for Medicare meaningful use and 39,503 EPs for Medicaid meaningful use. For 2011, over $2.5 billion was paid out in meaningful use incentives. You can find the [...]
EHR Meaningful Use to “The Cloud”
Fierce Health IT has published a couple of articles about the movement of healthcare providers to cloud computing. The articles were spurred by a recent report from KLAS Research. Here is an excerpt from their editor’s corner:
In a survey that ran the gamut from small clinics to 1,000-bed hospitals, KLAS found that 55 percent of [...]
Version 5010: CMS 90-Day Enforcement Discretion Period
The Version 5010 (ASC X12 Version 5010) deadline was 1/1/12, but, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not initiate enforcement action until 4/1/12. CMS made this decision based on industry feedback that many organizations and their trading partners were not yet ready to finalize system upgrades to be compliant.
CMS is encouraging providers [...]
A New Face for the CMS Website
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded and enhanced its online presence by debuting a new look and feel for CMS.gov, and launching a brand-new site for the Medicaid program, Medicaid.gov. CMS says these changes come in response to what users have said they wanted to be able to do on the site.
Here’s what you’ll find [...]
CMS Medicare EHR Incentive Program Deadlines
It’s time to check in on the CMS Medicare EHR Meaningful Use Incentive Program timetable:
October 3, 2011. The last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program is 10/3/11.
December 31, 2011. The reporting year for eligible professionals ends on 12/31/11.
February 29, 2012. If [...]
Sage AND Emdeon Both Get Sold Prior to 5010 Deadline
Here they go again!
As reported just this morning, Sage has disposed of its U.S. Healthcare Division. Who will own your Medical Manager support contract next? Vista Equity Partners, a private- equity firm. And, if you didn’t read about it back in August, Emdeon has also been sold off to a DIFFERENT private equity firm called [...]
EHR Meaningful Use Registrations On the Rise
According to iHealthBeat, about 13,000 eligible health care providers signed up in August for the meaningful use program, an increase of 30% from July. That’s in addition to the 90,000 health care providers that had registered for the electronic health record meaningful use incentive program by the end of August.
In terms of stimulus funding, the [...]
CMS to Explain Meaningful Use Clinical Quality Measures on Aug. 30th
The Office of Clinical Quality and Standards at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a webinar from 1-3pm EST on August 30th to explain the clinical quality measures in the Medicare electronic health records meaningful use program. The agenda calls for
an overview of the measures
why the measures are a part of achieving meaningful use
how to report the [...]
EHR Adoption Rates On The Rise at Physician Sites
Slowly but surely, physician EHR adoption rates are on the rise. Research results reported last month by SK&A, A Cegedim Company, shows that overall adoption is at 40%, a 2% rise since October of 2010. The highest adoption levels come from practices owned by hospitals and health systems at 60%, which is a 6% increase [...]
The Top 5 Challenges for Practice Managers
For four years now, medical practice professionals have responded to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) about their biggest daily professional challenges, as well as their struggles to adapt their professions and practices to a time of rapid change, legislative pressure and fiscal uncertainty.
According to the MGMA 2011 “Medical Practice Today: What Members Have to [...]
CMS to Host “EHR Incentive Program Basics” for EPs on 7/14/11
On Thursday, July 14,2011, CMS will host “Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program Basics for Eligible Professionals” from 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST. This session is intended for eligible professionals who are individual practitioners. Registration will close at 1:30 PM ET on Wednesday, July 13, 2011, or when available space has been filled. Some of the questions [...]
Health IT Growth Indicators from the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
According to an article published yesterday in HealthLeaders Media, Farzad Mostashari, MD, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, laid out a list of leading IT growth indicators at a recent National Health IT Summit in Washington DC:
EHR adoption by primary care physicians. After 20 years the rate of adoption of electronic health records by primary [...]
EHR Meaningful Use Deadlines
Following are some dates for EHR Incentive Program meaningful use reporting:
07/03/11: the last day for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to start their 90-day reporting period for the fiscal year 2011 Medicare electronic health records meaningful use incentive program.
09/30/11: the last day of the federal fiscal year under which the hospital program operates.
10/03/11: the last day [...]
ZirMed Recognized as Member of Healthcare Informatics Top 100 for Fifth Consecutive Year
ZirMed®, Harmony Healthcare IT’s provider of revenue cycle management solutions, has been ranked as America’s 79th largest Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) company by revenue in Healthcare Informatics magazine’s 2011 Top 100 listing. The ranking marks the fifth consecutive year ZirMed has been included in the prestigious listing, fueled by a solid revenue growth to $51 million [...]
EHR Meaningful Use Bonus Checks Go Out
In the first two weeks of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services incentive program, $75 million was paid out in bonuses for the meaningful use of electronic medical records.
CMS announced mid-May that more than 300 physicians, hospitals and other eligible EMR users qualified for the first stage of the meaningful use incentive program and received payments.
Starting [...]
ZirMed Acknowledged by EHNAC and Participates in CMS HIPAA 5010 Testing Day
ZirMed, Harmony Healhcare IT’s provider of revenue cycle management solutions, has recently been recognized by the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), an independent, self-governing body which evaluates performance criteria for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), for achieving the requirements of the EHNAC HIPAA 5010 Readiness Assessment Program. Additionally, ZirMed was a major participant in the Centers for Medicare [...]
Delay EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2 for Those That Attest in 2011?
According to Health Data Management, the meaningful use workgroup of the Health I.T. Policy Committee, which advises the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is recommending that Stage 2 of electronic health records be delayed by one year to 2014 for providers who attest to Stage 1 meaningful use in 2011.
The rationale [...]
CMS Adds New EHR Meaningful Use FAQs
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released new frequently asked questions about the electronic health records meaningful use incentive program. The questions cover providing patients with an electronic copy of health information and counting patients not seen by the eligible provider.
The complete questions and answers are:
Question: To meet the meaningful use objective “provide [...]