This map above provides a status report on where states stand in distributing Medicaid incentive payments for adoption of health information technology based on the latest data that was provided by CMS October 2011. The 2009 economic stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama contained $27 billion in federal funds for eligible health providers who install electronic health records and follow government “meaningful use” guidelines to improve patient care. This portion of the law — known as
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Healthcare Policy Regulation & Reform | News, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
Guest Post: 5010 Discretionary Period
This guest post was provided by Brien Keller, Senior Manager of Santa Rosa Consulting, Inc.: The recently announced 90-Day Period of Enforcement Discretion for the HIPAA transaction standards (ASC X12 Version 5010, NCPDP Telecom D.0, and NCPDP Medicaid Subrogation 3.0) is precisely as it is described…a Period of Enforcement Discretion. It is not a delay in the compliance deadline, nor is it an extension on the continued use of today’s HIPAA transactions standards. There are three key
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Video: Why Everyone in Your Practice Needs Basic Medical Coding Training
In this new video podcast, Lyndsey Coats of Nuesoft speaks with Mary Pat Whaley, FACMPE, owner of Manage My Practice, LLC about the importance of education in medical coding and awareness for all members of the medical practice. Medical practices can be silos of duties and job descriptions, but to provide high-quality patient care those silos should be torn down (to a degree) so administrators, billers, nurses and doctors alike can come together and share knowledge. In this podcast we will
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NCQA Accountable Care Organization Accreditation Overview
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is launching a new accreditation program for Accountable Care Organizations on November 21st. ACO accreditation is an independent evaluation of healthcare delivery organizations' ability to coordinate the high quality, efficient, patient centered care expected of ACOs. I decided to write a brief comprehensive overview based on the presentation and white paper provided by NCQA. Why ACO Accreditation Matters: Variation in capabilities
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AMA Votes to “Vigorously” Stop ICD-10
Yesterday, the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association voted "to work vigorously to stop implementation of ICD-10," according to the news release on AMA's website. AMA's presdient, Peter W. Camel, MD stated, "The implementation of ICD-10 will create significant burdens on the practice of medicine with no direct benefit to individual patients' care. At a time when we are working to get the best value possible for our health care dollar, this massive and expensive undertaking will
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CMS releases Medicare Shared Savings application
After the anncounement of the final rule on 10/20, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) has released the 2012 application for their Medicare Shared Savings program. Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) that are interested have the option of two start dates of April 1, 2012 and July 1, 2012. The following is the outline steps to the Medicare Shared Savings Program Application Process Step 1: Submitting the NOI is the first step in our application process. If you are interested in
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Video: The Biggest Challenges HIM Depts Are Facing
While at AHIMA 2011, Connie Tohara, Director of HIM at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, sat down with Nuance Healthcare to discuss some of the biggest challenges the HIM departments are facing today.
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Siemens to Buy MobileMD Inc.
Siemens Healthcare is buying US based Mobile MD Inc, a healthcare technology company that helps connect healthcare providers and physicians through cloud computing. Siemens Healthcare did not disclose the terms of the transaction. The Yardley, PA based tech company utilized a "cloud" based health information exchange software allowing physicians to share patient data in real time regardless of their location or hospital affiliation. Mobile MD currently has about 110 hospitals and more than
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Will State Health Information Exchanges Cross State Lines?
This is a great article written by Josh Israel and Kimberly Leonard from iWatchNews that addresses the interoperability of state health information exchanges ability to communicate with other states and regions of the country. As 56 U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia inch toward a 2015 deadline for creating “exchanges” allowing health providers to share electronic medical records, those on the front lines of the effort are expressing concern about whether these systems will
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Video:ACO: Summary and Final Analysis of Final Rule
The Dept. of Health and Human Services recently issued its final rule on Medicare accountable care organizations. So what does this all mean? MedeAnalytics recently released this short video providing a short and concise summary and analysis of the ACO final rule. Click HERE to download the ACO Final Rule
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