You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Meaningful Use’ tag.
As hospitals and care centers across the nation are preparing to meet meaningful use guidelines, we wanted to post something from the lighter side of the meaningful use debate.
Straight out of Picis Exchange, we bring you a comical and Letterman-esque list of the top 10 signs that you might not yet be ready to qualify for meaningful use.
Top 10 Signs You Might Not Qualify for Meaningful Use
10. Your patient tracking system uses a lot of chalk.
9. The only device the software can interface with is the printer.
8. The surgery scheduling system is a woman named Delores.
7. Preference cards recently upgraded from 3×5 to 5×8 index cards.
6. The name of the software is called LunchBreak Manager.
5. Everything is free text.
4. Priceline.com-inspired software lets the patient name their own price.
3. Your EDIS comes with a ticket dispenser and a “please take a number” sign.
2. Your patient medical records are stored on vinyl.
1. You have a problem with commitment, and “meaningful” sounds scary.
This blog was created to serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas, and we’ve loved the responses, reactions and dialogue it’s generated over the past several months. Yet for as much as we’ve all come to rely on the blogosphere for the latest and greatest in everything from kayaking to healthcare IT, this week’s Picis Exchange customer user conference in Miami Beach was a great reminder of the power and effectiveness of in-person collaboration and discussion.
Surrounded by health care enthusiasts from nearly 100 hospitals, integrated delivery networks, and government health systems from across six countries and 28 states, I’ve been saturated all week with the most innovative yet real-world ideas from the men and women who serve on the front lines of health care IT every day. Nurses, physicians, IT professionals and administrative staff have spent the past few days sharing stories about how they’re demonstrating meaningful use, moving towards health information exchanges and using evidence-based medicine to improve patient care, by utilizing the data and information they derive from our systems. Not only that, they’re also able to trade war stories and come up with solutions even we might not have thought of.
A recent Wall Street Journal Health Blog post addressed a growing complaint in the industry: that deadlines for digitizing medical records are “too much, too soon.” I’ve worked hand in hand with a range of hospitals – from some of the country’s largest IDNs to smaller, community-based hospitals – that are knee-deep in preparations for the myriad of “meaningful use” requirements set in 2011, and while I can report that healthcare organizations are at varying degrees of readiness, that is not my utmost concern.
Most likely, the meaningful use deadlines as they stand today will be met in part by some, missed by others. However, while the deadline debate is certainly part of the story, the oversight of the emergency department (ED) within the guidelines is criminal. Take the following information into account:
I’m very torn about healthcare reform. As a business owner smack dab at the epicenter of the effects of healthcare reform, it’s a very timely boon to our business. As a taxpayer, although I think a lot of the reforms are necessary, I’m very skeptical about how we go about implementing and paying for it. And in many ways, I think so much more could have been done.
Good for business, but good for patients?
For Picis, healthcare reform and its companion legislation, the ARRA HITECH stimulus money, are going to spur tremendous growth opportunities. Today, the 32 million people that will soon be insured will end up going to the hospital emergency room for care under the EMTALA law (where hospitals aren’t allowed to turn away ER patients). The only problem is the hospital ends up footing the bill, putting pressure on their margins and reducing their ability to invest capital in IT and other systems. After covering 4 million more lives here in Massachusetts, we actually saw ER visits go up by 7 percent. Why? We didn’t add any more primary care doctors, and these newly insured patients swelled the offices of the existing general practitioner population to the point where 56 percent are no longer taking new patients. So where do these patient go? You guessed it – back to the ER, but for an entirely different reason. They’re not going to the hospital to get the only free care they can get – they’ve now got insurance – they’re going because they can’t find a doctor to see them in the ambulatory setting.
While the meaningful use debate rages on, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have opened the proposed rule on the EHR incentive programs – which includes the definition of meaningful use and other requirements for qualifying for incentive payments – for public comments. The deadline for comments is Monday, March 15th, and we’re encouraging folks to weigh in on the good, the bad and the ugly. The more industry can shape how this rule should be shaped, the closer we come to putting the real “meaning” behind meaningful use.
For more information and to submit a comment on the proposed rule, visit the Regulations.gov website. For additional information on the proposed rule, visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/11_HealthIT.asp.
- Mark Crockett, M.D.
HIMSS is always a great conference, but I have to admit – on my flight down to Atlanta, I was slightly dreading four days of endless hypotheses around meaningful use. The understandable theme of this year’s show, meaningful use, has quickly escalated from an exciting and game-changing initiative to one that has even the most optimistic healthcare enthusiasts scratching their heads and drowning in buzzwords, overpromising and under-delivering. It was only at last year’s HIMSS that one of the largest HIT vendors claimed they had meaningful use nailed down (only weeks after the announcement of the initiative) but when tested, couldn’t give a straight answer on what it meant or how it would deliver value to patients.
This year, however, I’m already noticing a reality running through HIMSS that I was pleased to find. This year’s sessions have revealed that a lot of attendees are more comfortable admitting the reality of the situation; that they are just now really understanding the challenges that this will bring. I overheard an IT executive from one of the most prestigious and well-regarded health centers in the world claim, “If we’re not sure that we are going to be ready by 2011, I can only imagine what others are facing.”
Welcome to the inaugural post of Healthcare-Exchange, a forum designed to offer fresh perspective, encourage the exchange of ideas and drive discussion — no matter how controversial — all in the name of healthcare.
A term that’s come to encompass so much more than a doctor’s visit, healthcare in the US has seen more changes over the past few years than in the 20 years before it. From the electronic health record to patient safety to universal coverage, we invite you to weigh in on the issues that will make the biggest impact on the healthcare world in the year ahead. Below, I’ve included my Top Five Predictions for 2010 and want to hear if you’re on the same page:
