ONC Leadership Participate in NRHA Rural HIT Meeting, Seek Member Perspectives

Key members of the HHS Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT) joined NRHA’s Rural HIT Task Force’s second annual meeting today in Arlington, Va.

“They were specifically interested in hearing from our members serving on the frontlines of rural health,” said Alan Morgan, NRHA CEO. “It was a wonderful opportunity for rural HIT stakeholders to speak with ONC senior leadership about what they need to be successful.”

NRHA also presented the results of its nationwide critical access hospital survey on meaningful use readiness, which demonstrated to ONC staff that only about 30 percent of rural hospitals would presently qualify for meaningful use incentives.

ONC is the principal federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use advanced HIT and the electronic exchange of health information.

“It was important for them to hear innovative rural telemedicine success stories as well as our concerns and the daily challenges rural health providers face,” Morgan said. “They spent quite awhile discussing the issues and really valued our members’ perspectives. We’re grateful for ONC’s time and efforts and look forward to continuing this partnership.”

NRHA’s Rural HIT Task Force is supported by a grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

National Rural Health Association
521 E. 63rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64110-3329

Phone - 816.756.3140 Fax - 816.756.3144

REC Services for Hospitals Now Available – Sign Up Today!

The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) is now available to provide your hospital with no-cost Health Information Technology consultation as one of the Colorado Regional Extension Center (CO-REC) providers! Our REC services will help you assess, implement and adopt certified Electronic Health Records (EHR) and are intended to help you achieve meaningful use, which will allow your facility to draw down Medicaid and/or Medicare federal incentive payments!

Whether you already have an electronic system, or are starting from a paper-based system, we are here to help you create a roadmap to ensure you collect your incentive payment.

As a result of the federal funding for CO-REC partner, we are able to provide your hospital with no-cost consultation services through CRHC’s Technology for Healthcare Excellence Consortium. The services include:

• General Education and Outreach delivered through in-person and web-based tools on the effective strategies and practices necessary to select, implement and meaningfully use certified EHR technology including Health Information Exchange (HIE)
• EHR Vendor Selection and Group Pricing
• EHR Implementation and Project Management Services
• Inpatient and related Workflow Redesign
• Privacy and Security Best Practices including support for Hospital in implementing best practices with respect to the privacy and security of personal health information
• Progress towards Meaningful Use

These CO-REC services are only available through federal subsidy for two years, so act now to begin taking advantage of this valuable resource that can save you time, money and the headaches usually associated with adopting technology!

To begin working with us as your REC partner, please fill out the Hospital letter of agreement and fax a signed copy AND send us the original by November 12, 2010, to attn: Danette Swanson (303) 851-7496, at 3033 S Parker Road, Suite 606, Aurora, CO 80014.

**NOTE: REC services are available for both clinics and hospitals, so be sure you have submitted both a Provider Letter of Agreement and a Hospital Letter of Agreement so we can work with your facilities simultaneously to ensure effective integration of technology.

Feel free to email me with any questions you may have at cf@coruralhealth.org! We look forward to working with you.

800th Colorado Health Care Provider Signs-Up for EHR and 'Meaningful Use' Support from CO-REC

Colorado is One-Third of Its Way to Reaching Goal of 2,295 Primary Care Providers Signed Up for REC Services; Helping to Bring Federal Stimulus Monies to the State and Improving Patient Care

DENVER, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- With its 800th provider letter of agreement signed, the Colorado Regional Extension Center (CO-REC) announced today that it is one-third of its way to reaching its goal of signing-up a total of 2,295 primary care providers to receive support implementing and effectively using Electronic Health Records (EHRs).

CO-REC is an initiative of seven organizations led by CORHIO, the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization. CO-REC reached the 800-provider milestone in less than three months time. This exceeded the organization's goal to sign-up 600 providers in six months.

The CO-REC initiative goes beyond helping primary care providers implement certified EHR technology, it also provides in-depth guidance on how to optimize office processes to maximize the benefits of electronic systems and improve the quality of patient care. The CO-REC initiative additionally helps providers meet federal guidelines that help them qualify for federal 'Meaningful Use' reimbursements up to $63,750 each.

"CO-REC and its six partner organizations are working aggressively to ensure Colorado maintains its reputation as being a leader in health care technology and innovation," said Robyn Leone, Director of CO-REC. "I want to thank our partner organizations for their dedication to getting Colorado health care providers the support they need to successfully implement electronic health records systems and to achieve meaningful use of these systems."

The six community partners that are part of the CO-REC include the Colorado Community Managed Care Network, Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, Colorado Rural Health Center and ClinicNET, Health TeamWorks, Physician Health Partners and Quality Health Network.

"The board of directors and staff of the Colorado Medical Society deeply appreciate CO-REC's mission of helping provide higher quality, better coordinated care through health information technology," said Alfred Gilchrist, CEO for the Colorado Medical Society, the state's largest physician organization. "Colorado patients and physicians are incredibly fortunate to have CO-REC working on their behalf."

CO-REC is one of 62 Regional Extension Centers around the country designated to offer health care providers technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care provider efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs.

Unlike regional extension centers in most other states, CO-REC does not charge health care providers for its consulting services. Leone credited its cost structure as being one reason CO-REC has quickly gained the participation of so many Colorado healthcare providers.

CO-REC is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to support practices and small, rural hospitals to achieve meaningful use by providing services, at no charge, that help providers:

• Effectively select, implement and meaningfully use an EHR.
• Negotiate purchases of, and pricing for, EHRs including standard interfaces.
• Progress towards meaningful use of an existing EHR.
• Optimize practice workflow to ensure improvements in the quality of care.
• Understand and negotiate favorable EHR contract language regarding health information exchange (HIE) interfaces before selection of an EHR so that the provider can position itself to take full advantage of interoperability, and at lower costs.
• Protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients' health records.
• Meet the qualifications for incentive payments from Medicaid or Medicare.

To read the article, click here.

About CORHIO and CO-REC

CORHIO is dedicated to improving health care quality for all Coloradans through health information exchange (HIE). As the state designated entity for HIE, CORHIO collaborates with health care stakeholders including physicians, hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, laboratories, health plans and patients to develop secure systems and processes for sharing clinical information. CO-REC, a CORHIO initiative with six other organizations, assists primary care providers in adopting, implementing and becoming meaningful users of electronic health record (EHR) systems. CORHIO is a not-for-profit supported by grants from The Colorado Health Foundation and from federal ARRA HITECH funds. For more information about CORHIO, please visit http://www.corhio.org/.

Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs Webinar - October 28th

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Regions VII and VIII Offices invite you to participate in a toll-free Webinar/Audio Conference regarding the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs.

The call will take place on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 4:00 – 5:00 PM Mountain Time.

This event will provide a basic overview of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs as related to Eligible Professionals. Ample time will be reserved to allow participants to ask questions.

Pre-Registration for this call is not required.
To join this webinar, click here at the scheduled time.

Date: Thursday October 28, 2010
Time: 4:00 to 5:00 PM (Mountain Time)
Audio Conference Line #: (800) 603 - 1774
Conference ID: 14477750

Blumenthal: Federal Program Will Ease IT Worker Shortage

Worried that you won't have enough IT staff to complete an EMR implementation toward achieving "meaningful use," or perhaps making the conversion to ICD-10 coding? National health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal wants you to relax.

"Help is not only on the way--it's here," Blumenthal says in his latest public letter, touting the $84 million federal Health IT Workforce Development Program.

"In fact the data indicate a shortfall over the next five years of about 50,000 qualified health IT workers required to meet the needs of health professionals and hospitals as they move to adopt EHRs. As one vendor recently said, what we need is a 'small army,'" Blumenthal writes, acknowledging the extent of the problem. But he says the federal training effort will alleviate 85 percent of the shortage.

He notes that the University of Texas at Austin, a beneficiary of some of the government funding, recently graduated its first class of health information management and exchange specialists, and that the school will add three more health IT certificate programs next year.

"Right now, most of the graduates are looking to enter--or have already entered--the health IT workforce. Graduates are landing jobs with consulting firms, software vendors, technical assistance companies, and healthcare providers," Blumenthal writes.

From outside Washington, we see that the IT field in general is booming. According to Menlo Park, Calif.-based IT placement firm Robert Half Technology, starting salaries for IT professionals should increase by 3.4 percent in 2011, and healthcare has a large role in that projected growth. "We've seen a strong demand for IT professionals, from developers to help desk, to assist with the conversion to electronic medical records," John Reed, executive director of Robert Half Technology, says in a press release.

To learn more:

• read Blumenthal's letter [1]
• see this Healthcare IT News story [2]
• take a look at this Robert Half Technology press release [3]

Tips for Using EHRs to Improve Quality of Care and Health Outcomes Webinar

Register Now!

Date: Friday, October 22, 2010
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:30pm ET

As HRSA grantees and the safety net community implement electronic health record systems (EHR), one of the most important issues is how to use this health information technology as a tool for improving quality and patient outcomes. The presenters will illustrate and provide tips in how they use their EHRs and patient data from their EHR systems to provide better quality care to their safety net patients. In addition, the presenters will also address how this subject fits within the scope of “Meaningful Use”. This webinar’s presenters listed below are experienced experts who come from a variety of HRSA grantee perspectives within the safety net community including rural and health center leadership roles within this topic area.

Registration link for attendees: https://fedgov.webex.com/fedgov/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=990202779

Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 1-866-699-3239
Access code: 990 202 779

Presenters:

Richard Kalish, M.D., MPH
Medical Director, Boston HealthNet

Ray Lavoie
Executive Director, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, Inc

Darlene Bainbirdge
D.D. Bainbridge and Associates Inc.

New Incentive Payment Calculation Tips from CMS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services EHR Incentive Programs website now has new resources for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Click on this link to access the resources below: http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms!

• NEW: Medicaid Hospital Incentive Payment Calculations
Which hospitals can participate in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program? Learn about Medicaid patient volume requirements, payment amounts, and the timeframes for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

• NEW: EHR Incentive Program Timeline

• EHR Incentive Program for Medicare Hospitals
Learn which hospitals are eligible for Medicare incentive payments. (See the separate tip sheet for Critical Access Hospitals below.) This sheet discusses the factors which impact incentive payment amounts and provides sample payment calculations.

• EHR Incentive Program for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
How are Medicare incentive payments calculated for CAHs? When can they be earned? Learn more in this informative discussion of the calculation of Medicare incentive payments. Sample calculations are provided. This sheet also provides information on how Medicare reimbursement will be reduced for CAHs which have not demonstrated meaningful use of certified EHR technology by 2015.

To access the resources above, click here, and select the “Hospitals” tab on the left, and then scroll to “Downloads.”

Register Now - Updated Agenda & Scholarships Available- EHR Vendor Selection Symposium

October 13-14, 2010; Red Lion Hotel, Aurora, CO

Don't miss out on an opportunity to simultaneously evaluate some of the top EHR systems available! Registration and scholarships are still available for THE Consortium's one-time-only, one-of-a-kind EHR vendor fair and educational symposium. Vendors will provide information and/or demonstrations of the key functionalities of their software using a “scenario driven” approach specifically tailored to Rural Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics and Community-Funded Safety Net Clinics. The vendors have been hand-selected as the best systems available to fulfill the needs of small clinics and hospitals so you can make a fully-informed, strategic HIT decision. In addition, education on meaningful use criteria, vendor selection, contracting, and negotiation, and HIPAA compliance training will be featured on the agenda.

Vendors demonstrating their product include:
Allscripts
Amrita
Clinic Services
eClinicalWorks
Meditech
NextGen
Raintree
RT Welter

Exhibitors include:
Cerner
Healthland
McKesson
Sage

Thanks to the generosity of COPIC Insurance, we are able to offer 20 scholarships for $50 each to help Rural Health Clinics and Community-Funded Safety Net Clinics cover half of the registration fee to attend. Scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis by emailing your name and organization to Sarah Mapes at sm@coruralhealth.org.

REGISTER NOW to reserve your place--only $99 for a two-day event!

The first 33 ONC Meaningful Use EHR approvals Oct 1, 2010

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) announced October 1st that it has tested and certified 33 Electronic Health Record (EHR) products under the Commission’s ONC-ATCB program, which certifies that the EHRs are capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria supporting Stage 1 meaningful use as approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Certification is required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The certifications include 19 Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology, and 14 EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria. To access the full story, click here.