CRHC Congratulates Spanish Peaks Family Clinic on a Successful Implementation of an EHR!!!!

March 3rd marked the beginning of a new era for the Spanish Peaks Family Clinic as they successfully implemented an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system! The implementation of an EHR is a huge project and one that cannot be done with the full support of the providers and staff and clearly, Spanish Peaks Family Clinic worked together as a team to see the project completed.

Bill Bolt, CIO/Practice Administrator for the clinic, wrote this in an email thanking his staff just minutes after going live on the EHR, “Just in case those of you on our campus felt a gust of wind about five minutes ago, it was all of us at the clinic breathing a big sigh of relief. Why? Because as of 4:30pm today the clinic is officially on the Physician Documentation/Electronic Health Record.”

Bolt went on to express his gratitude for all the hard work his staff and providers went through to make this monumental change in delivery of care. “Each provider medical team, which are the providers and their respective Medical Assistants now are EHR certified and have began to see patient in the electronic mode as of today. I would like to give all the clinic staff, a big thank you for their patience and culture change to get the clinic into this new technological providing of medicine and medical care.”

Spanish Peaks Family Clinic, along with over 50 other rural health and safety net clinics in the state are participating in the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program that officially launched in January 2011.

USDA Invites Applications for Grants to Bring Improved Health Care and Educational Services to Rural Communities

The USDA is accepting applications for telecommunications grants to provide access to education, training and healthcare resources in rural areas. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program provides funds to improve rural access to education and health care.

DLT grants can be used for the purchase of eligible equipment and to provide technical assistance. To be eligible, applicants must serve a rural area, demonstrate economic need, and provide at least 15 percent in matching funds. Awards range up to $500,000.

Completed applications must be received by April 25, 2011. For further details about eligibility rules and application procedures visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/UTP_DLT.html.

USDA Announces the Community Connect Broadband Grants

$25 million is available for grants from prior year appropriations with a minimum grant amount of $50,000 and maximum grant amount of $1,500,000 for FY 2011.

Eligibility:

1. Only entities legally organized as one of the following are eligible for Community Connect Grant Program financial assistance:
a. An incorporated organization,
b. An Indian tribe or tribal organization, as defined in 25 U.S.C. 450b(b) and (c),
c. A State or local unit of government,
d. A cooperative, private corporation or limited liability company organized on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis.
2. Individuals are not eligible for Community Connect Grant Program financial assistance directly.
3. Applicants must have the legal capacity and authority to own and operate the broadband facilities as proposed in its application, to enter into contracts and to otherwise comply with applicable federal statutes and regulations.

Application:

The application guide, copies of necessary forms and samples, and the Community Connect Grant Program regulation are available from these sources:

1.The Internet: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/utp_commconnect.html

2. The Rural Development Broadband Division, for paper copies of these materials: (202) 690–4673.

Full details are outlined in the attached Notice and in the application guide at the website.

Update: Registration for the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs through CMS

On a recent call with CMS and Eligible Providers (EP) regarding the registration for the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, we learned that, due to some software limitations, each EP needs to register individually before they can attest for Meaningful Use and cannot designate another member of the practice such as the office manager or IT professional to register for him/her.

CMS explained that a software update will be made this spring which will allow EPs to designate their registration to someone else in their practice and has advised that if you have not yet registered, please wait until this spring. As soon as CRHC receives information about this update, we will post it to this blog.

It is important to note that this only affects EP registration and eligible hospitals and CAHs can register at any time. For more information about registering for the Medicare of Medicaid incentive program, please click here.

THE Consortium in the News!

Recently The Holyoke Enterprise published an article about the Family Practice at Holyoke's transition to an electronic medical records (EMR) system and the work that has been done and is continuing as they strive towards reaching Stage 1 Meaningful Use.

David Ginsberg, Senior Advisor to THE Consortium, CRHC's Health Information Technology program, was quoted in the article discussing Holyoke's successes and outlook for the future along with work being done with Melissa Memorial Hospital to implement an EMR.

To read the entire article, click here. To learn more about THE Consortium, visit CRHC's website.

National Provider Call on Registration for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program for Eligible Professionals

Friday, Feb. 18
1-2:30 p.m. EST, 11-12:30 p.m. MST

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites you to a national provider call addressing how eligible professionals can register for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Learn if you are eligible for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, how to register, and what other steps you must take to receive an incentive payment. CMS will also discuss switching between the Medicare and Medicaid programs, reassigning incentive payments, and how to get help. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

The target audience for this call is eligible professionals under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, including:

• Physicians (primarily doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy);
• Nurse practitioners;
• Certified nurse-midwives;
• Dentists; and
• Physician assistants who furnish services in a federally-qualified health center or rural health clinic that is led by a physician assistant.

To qualify for an incentive payment under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, an eligible professional must meet Medicaid patient volume criteria.

In order to receive the call-in information, you must register for the call. (Note that if you are planning to sit in with a group, only one person needs to register to receive the call-in information.)

Registration will close at 1p.m. EST on Thursday Feb. 17, or when available space has been filled. Click here to register. Click here to access materials for the call.

THE Consortium Webinar: Meaningful Use - Menu Set Objectives

Join us for the February Consortium webinar on Thursday, February 17th from 12:00-1:15 pm MT where we will learn more about the Meaningful Use Menu Set Objectives - each provider/clinic and each CAH/hospital must choose 5 of the 10 available and this webinar will help you understand each one along with any exclusions.

To register for this webinar, click here.