What’s the commonality among Medical Home, Telehealth, and Health IT/Information Exchange initiatives?
They all relate to care coordination. As shown in the diagram below from the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA), there’s a lot of overlap.
A larger copy of the slide is available in this March 2 PowerPoint presentation by Marcia Neilsen , Executive Director, KHPA.
What are some of the implications?
- States and other prospective funding beneficiaries of HITECH legislation should recognize the overlap and coordinate efforts across overlapping initiatives. The Calilfornia Healthcare Foundation published a helpful guide for prospective California HITECH funding beneficiaries.
- Vendors in these areas should also recognize the overlap. HITECH dollars are a means toward an end, not an end.
- The HITECH legislation does NOT directly compensate physicians and hospitals for buying EHRs; rather, HITECH rewards for “meaningful use” of certified EHRs. This diagram (and the accompanying PowerPoint) provides a helpful way to begin to think about the quality improvement and cost reduction RESULTS that will be a large part of “meaningful use” of EHRs to achieve care coordination. We’ll know more over the coming months when we see specific regulations that spell out criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of EHRs.
Discussion
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