By Sarianne Gruber – In a letter from Mr. Jim Daley, Past–Chair of WEDI, to Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary Department of Health and Human Services, Daley accounts that the “delay has had a negative impact on some readiness activities”. The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) released the results of its February 2015 ICD-10 Industry Readiness Survey.
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In the film Lost in Translation as the end of their time together approaches, Scarlett Johansson tells Bill Murray “Reality changes things…we can’t stay here forever.” One of the core reforms in the SGR bill (H.R. 2) is a move from a physician payment system that rewards volume to one that rewards value. The move to measuring and paying for value means the reality of SGR has changed things.
On April 10, 2015, CMS issued a new proposed rule for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to align Stage 1 and Stage 2 objectives and measures with the long-term proposals for Stage 3, to build progress toward program milestones, to reduce complexity, and to simplify providers’ reporting.
By William Hersh MD – It is hard to believe that the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed into law five years ago, in 2009, and at the end of the year, the massive legislation was shaped into a program that has profoundly altered the informatics world, not to mention all of healthcare.
By John Halamka MD – Over the next 3 months, the HIT Standards Committee will review every detail of the 431 page Certification rule. We’ll also be holding calls to look at the rule as a whole. At least one call will be open to the general public. Think of this as reviewing the “trees” and the “forest”.
By Jim Tate – Lost in the furor and excitement of the recently released Proposed Stage 3 MU Rule something slipped by us. Robert Frost would say it “came on little cat feet”. John Lennon would say it came in “like a lizard on a window pane”. What is it that crept in through the cracks in the floor and why should we care?
By Jim Tate – “Things don’t change until they do.” I think Albert Einstein said that. Maybe it was Cat Stevens, I’m not really sure. We go along in our merry little lives content with the knowledge that the sun will come up tomorrow and summer will follow spring. All the rules that we rely on help us make sense of a chaotic universe.
By Matt Fisher – Advisory Opinion 15-04 issued by the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) on March 25, 2015 offers some warnings when entering into preferred provider agreements. The new Advisory Opinion arose in the context of laboratory services, but the principles discussed are easily applicable to any preferred provider arrangement. The advice and insight are important in light of the increasing desire among providers to identify and enter into preferred provider agreements.
CMS issued a new proposed rule for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to align Stage 1 and Stage 2 objectives and measures with the long-term proposals for Stage 3.