The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is urging healthcare organizations to disclose all medical mistakes that affect multiple people, no matter if they were harmed or not. In the event of a large-scale adverse event, there are steps that you should take:
1) Develop an institutional policy for all employees to follow 2) Plan for your disclosures3) Keep the public informed regarding the event4) Plan to address the emotional and/or physical needs of the affected patients after the event
Read the full story:http://www.cmio.net/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23959:nejm-tips-for-handling-disclosure-of-large-scale-adverse-events
Today, HHS announced that Detroit and Cincinnati will round out the Beacon Community list. Cincinnati will receive $13. 8 million and Detroit will be given $16.2 million.
Specific goals for Cincinatti will focus on quality improvement and care coordination of patients with pediatric asthma, adult diabetes in addition to encouraging the cessation of smoking. Detroit will use its funding to work on prevention and management of diabetes, which is prevalent in the area.
Read the full story:http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23953&division=hiit
CMS recently named the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Drummond Group as Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies for EHRs, with more organizations to follow.
CCHIT will be hosting a conference call on September 20, 2010 to go through its particular application and testing processes, while the Drummond group has already issued a document outlining pricing, processes, etc. and is now accepting applications. Both organizations and those that will be chosen at ATCBs in the future will support remote and onsite testing of EHRs.
Read the full story:http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/health-care-technology-news-ehr-certification-drummond-40956-1.html
The Kaiser Family Foundation polled a set of 1,203 American adults and found that the number of people that view the Health Reform Law as positive had fallen to 43% from 50%, while 45% of Americans view the law negatively. Overall, there hasn't been much movement in the last couple of months as to Americans' feelings toward the healthcare reform law.
Read the full story:http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/August/31/august-tracking-poll.aspx
Even though much of the MU guidance still needs to be created by the HHS, hospitals and physicians are urged to start their EHR implementation process right away. One of the largest question marks is who will be in charge of certifying the EMRs and what will their process be. These decisions will be determined by 2012, making it very difficult for providers to start making EHR decisions now.
Read the full story:http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/consultant-meaningful-use-fire-ready-aim-absence-hhs-guidance/2010-08-30
Input, a market research firm, completed a report on future health IT spending. The report predicted a 19% increase in spending over the next 5 years (from 8.3 billion to 9.9 billion) due in large part to meaningful use of EHRs. In particular, the bulk of the money will be spent on EHR incentive payments.
Read the full story: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/health-it-work-abounds-state-and-local-projects
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), released top 10 meaningful use challenges lists for Eligible Hospitals and Eligible Professionals.
The top two MU challenges for hospitals are:
1) Performing CPOE correctly on the first attempt2) Helping to make the physician's transition to EHR a smooth one
View the rest of the list:http://assets1.csc.com/health_services/downloads/CSC_Meaningful_Use_for_Hospitals_2010.pdf
The top two MU challenges for professionals are:
1) Capturing data2) Creating effective workflows that reinforce their data entry
View the rest of the list:http://assets1.csc.com/health_services/downloads/CSC_Meaningful_Use_for_Eligible_Professionals.pdf
Read the full story:http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/health-care-technology-news-meaningful-use-hitech-40937-1.html
Yesterday, the White House released a report on the stimulus package. The report highlights how the stimulus package is helping the advancement of health information technology. Specifically, the report outlines funding that has been provided under the ARRA, how states are using the stimulus funds, and other related projects in the works.
View the report:http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/Recovery_Act_Innovation.pdf
Read the full story:http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/8/25/biden-federal-stimulus-package-is-working-to-enhance-health-it.aspx
Of the $32 million, about $4 million will go to telehealth projects such as the Telehealth Network Grant Program and the Telehealth Resouces Center. The bulk of the money will be put towards the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which is meant to improve critical access hospitals in a variety of ways.
Read the full story:http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/8/24/hhs-funding-includes-4m-in-support-of-rural-telehealth.aspx
After receiving criticism from lawmakers saying privacy regulations were not extensive enough, HHS will be rewriting the medical privacy rules they had proposed. The issues with the regulations centered upon the fact that medical providers and healthcare insurance companies weren't required to provide notifications of breaches to patients and/or customers if they decided it did not cause them any harm.
Read the full story:http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/8/23/obama-administration-seeks-to-strengthen-medical-privacy-rules.aspx