HIE

CCHIT’s Latest Gambit

September 9, 2009

by Glen Laffel MD, PhD

Many of us have enjoyed a few good minutes of fun having our fortunes told by soothsayers who claim they can predict our future based on patterns of tea leaves in a cup or the playing cards we’ve pulled from a deck.

We pay a few dollars for the entertainment and if the fortune teller is skilled, we are temporarily impressed by his “insight.” But once we leave the carnival, we come back […]

Part II — The Medicare Medical Home Demonstration: Crawling Out From Under the Rock

September 3, 2009

In Part I of my guest post on The Collaborative Forum blog, I wrote that the Medicare Medical Home Demo is in BIG Trouble. Here’s a recap:

Political reality dictates that the MMHD must save costs.
As currently structured, the MMHD cannot achieve cost savings

In any given year, only a small percentage of patients account for the vast majority of costs
Lessons from previous Medicare disease/care management demonstrations has shown that effective care coordination interventions must be targeted at this population
Medicare has structured the […]

PR Blunder of the Year: Federation of American Hospitals Says Meaningful Use Should Not Tie to Quality Improvement

August 27, 2009

These guys really don’t get it, and they need to be called on the carpet, taken to the woodshed, or pick your own favorite cliche.

The Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) sent a letter to Dr. David Blumenthal (National Coordinator for Health IT) arguing that “Meaningful Use” funding should not be tied to achievement of quality measures. The FAH is the trade association for for-profit hospitals; the letter is dated August 26 and a copy is available on […]

HIT Policy Committee Recommends “Minimum” Certification of EHRs

August 16, 2009

At last Friday’s meeting, the HIT Policy Committee adopted the recommendations of the Certification and Adoption Workgroup.

Between the initial recommendations in July and the adopted recommendations in August, one critical word was added to the definition of “certification”. That one word is “minimum” — and this one word expresses the correct approach and philosophy for the government’s role in the certification process for EHRs.

In this post I’ll address why a “minimum” approach toward certification makes […]

“Meaningful Use” Criteria as a Unifying Force

August 13, 2009

by Vince Kuraitis, Steve Adams, and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA

Over the past several years, many diverse initiatives have arisen offering partial solutions to systemic problems in the U.S. health care non-system.

We see Meaningful Use Criteria recommended by the HIT Policy Committee as a unifying force for these previously disparate initiatives. These initiatives have included:

Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs)
Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs)/Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
Payer Disease/Care Management Programs
Personal Health Record Platforms — Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, Dossia, health banks, more to come
State/Regional […]

Medicare Medical Home Demo (MMHD) is in BIG Trouble

August 4, 2009

Between the time the MMHD was authorized in 2006 and now, we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work in Medicare care coordination programs. The MMHD is between a rock and a hard place — conflicted by two “must achieve” objectives that are diametrically opposed:

As a political matter, the MMHD must save money
As currently structured, the MMHD cannot save money

Please read my guest post

The Medicare Medical Home Demonstration (MMHD): Between a Rock and a Hard Place

over at […]

Overcoming The Penguin Problem: Setting Expectations for EHR Adoption

August 2, 2009

Economists call it “The Penguin Problem” — No one moves unless everyone moves, so no one moves.

The role of user expectations is crucial in getting penguins to move off of ice floes and in the successful adoption of new network technologies. I’ll cover two main points in today’s essay:

How “The Penguin Problem” Helps Explain Low EHR (electronic health record) Adoption To-Date
How Recent Federal Actions Are Setting Higher Expectations for EHR Adoption

The Penguin Problem and Low EHR Adoption To-Date

While not the only factor, […]

RHIOs Emerging From Coma

July 25, 2009

A subtle but profound shift is occurring in the world of RHIOs/HIEs (Regional Health Information Organizations/Health Information Exchanges).

…and the title of the eHealth Initiative’s Sixth Annual Survey of Health Information Exchange says it all:

Migrating Toward Meaningful Use

What’s happening here?

Geek Wisdom: “Interoperability” Must Include Process Collaboration

July 13, 2009

I know — you’re thinking that using “geek” and “wisdom” in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Bear with me — I’m trying to make a really important point in today’s posting.

Interoperability has multiple dimensions — and I’d bet that most of us have never thought of interoperabilty as involving “process” — people working together and collaborating; I know I hadn’t.

The Interoperability Work Group of HL7’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) Technical Committee was formed in April 2005 to attempt to define […]

“EHR 2.0″ Complimentary Webcast Presentation — BrightTALK e-Health Summit

July 6, 2009

BrightTALK is sponsoring a complimentary series of e-Health Summit webcasts this Wednesday, July 8.

Here’s a full listing of the six eHealth Summit topics (Eastern Time). Click on the links to attend any or all of the webcasts. The series will be recorded for future on-demand access.

EHR 2.0: Federal HITECH Act Creates Opportunities Beyond EMRs

8 Jul 2009 11:00 am

Presenting Vince Kuraitis, Principal Better Health Technologies

Data Convergence in Life Sciences and Healthcare

8 Jul 2009 12:00 pm

Presenting Greg Nelson, President […]