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meaningful use

Is HITECH Working? 7 Observations Mom Could Understand

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein

by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA

If you’re like many folks we talk with, you understand the importance of the HITECH Act legislation — yet feel overwhelmed by the complexity and details.

This series of blog posts is for you. We address the question “Is HITECH working?” with seven straightforward observations. We’ve worked hard to boil down the complexity and make it understandable to the casual industry […]

Complimentary Health 2.0 Webinar on EMRs, Meaningful Use, and Clinical Groupware

Tomorrow, March 30, 1 pm EST (archived version also will be available).

More information and registration here.

I’m honored to be a guest presenter, along with collaborators Lyle Berkowitz MD, Brian Klepper PhD, and Matthew Holt.

 

A Compendium of Perspectives on the HITECH Certification NPRM

Just the Facts 

Certification Programs NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking)

Health IT, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010

Certification NPRM

Facts-At-A-Glance

FAQ

 

Bookmarked version of Certification NPRM (much easier to navigate)

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; March 2, 2010

A Compendium of Resources on the Federal HIT Meaningful Use NPRM and Standards IFR

* = highly recommended

 

Descriptive Summaries and Documents

 

 *Dissecting the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule PowerPoint

eHealth Initiative Policy Webinar; January 8, 2010

 

*What You Need to Know About the Meaningful Use Proposed Rule, Standards and Implementation Specification, and Interim Final Rule Certification Criteria PowerPoint

Medicare’s Biggest Change in 40 Years on the Horizon?

Earlier this week CMS issued a typically cryptic Announcement indicating that they were shelving the Medicare Medical Home Demonstration (MMHD) and instead would focus on the recently announced Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Initiative (MAPCI). My blog post from Tuesday provides details and asks the question “What does all this mean?”

Today’s blog post will tackle:

Medicare’s biggest change in 40 years?
The rise of MAPCI
The fall of MMHD
Implications/discussion

Medicare’s Biggest Change in 40 Years?

HITECH Health IT Legislation: Opportunities for the DMAA Community

Dr. Don Storey and I spoke at the at The Forum 09 conference in San Diego earlier this week. The DMAA publication “The Continuum” had an excellent writeup of our enthusiastically received presentation. 

Here’s a copy of our PowerPoint slides…

HITECH Health IT Legislation: Opportunities for the DMAA Community
View more presentations from vincek.

and here’s DMAA’s writeup:

Helping physicians and hospitals meet the “meaningful use” criteria for federal support for health information technology under recently passed legislation represents a keen opportunity for the population health management industry, presenters at […]

The Third Rail in HITECH Implementation: “Please Don’t Make Us All Speak Latin”

By Vince Kuraitis and Steven Waldren MD, MS.  Dr Waldren is Director of the Center for Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP).

Two issues have rightfully surfaced front and center in the public’s understanding of HITECH Act implementation:

” definition of “Meaningful Use” of EHRs, and
” definition of “certification” process for EHRs

…and we applaud the progress of the workgroups and the HIT Policy Committee in addressing these issues constructively.

However…a THIRD issue lurks – “Data harmonization at the […]

CCHIT’s Latest Gambit

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 […]

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

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

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 […]

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