By Paul Allen – Resources are limited, funds are limited, and time is invaluable. What should an organization do to maintain their legacy system during the installation of a new system? It’s impossible to ignore the compliance, patient service needs, and required enhancements to your current system. What should you consider to remain compliant? What can be done to make the go-live more productive and seamless?
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Now that the holidays are behind us and the new year is upon us, we can settle in to what’s in store. Healthcare costs, interoperability, EHRs, and patient engagement are not going anywhere and will continue to be in the spotlight. Here are what some of the the leaders in the industry are expecting this year.
Findings from the 2016 HIMSS Health Information Technology (IT) Value survey found that 88 percent of organizations with advanced EHR environments identified at least one positive outcome from their use of an EHR, with 83 percent reporting benefits in Clinical Staff Quality Performance.
By Harpreet S. Sood MD, David Bates MD & Aziz Sheikh – The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 invested $30 billion to stimulate the adoption and “meaningful use” of electronic health records and related infrastructure—with the belief that such heath information technology (HIT) can help achieve the “triple aim”: better care experiences, better population health, and reduced per-capita costs.
By William A. Hyman – A recent press release and report from AHRQ asserts that 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in costs have been saved as a result of safety improvements. This reduction in hospital-aquired conditions (HAC) is said to be “thanks in part to provisions of the Affordable Care Act”, and Medicare incentives.
By William Hyman – A prevailing feature of Meaning Use (MU) is that certain things must be done by or with the EHR. Even if we assume that at least some of these dictated things are in fact important, the need to do them within or from the EHR has replaced the merit of simply doing them.
CMS is reporting these events, updates and deadlines for providers and hospitals. These items focus on the agency’s EHR Incentive programs as well as their eHealth and health IT programs and initiatives. All eyes still on ICD-10 claims this week.
The comment period for the RFI for MACRA, which was originally 30 days and scheduled to close on November 2, 2015, will now close on November 17, 2015.
By Angela Hunsberger – For many practices, fluctuating program guidelines combined with the rushed pace of technology adoption has resulted in an overconsumption of software products. Focusing on a moving target makes it difficult to spot areas that could be unnecessarily costing your organization.