HRSA Webinar: Tips for Going Live with a Health IT System

Friday, October 21, 2011 – 12:00-1:30 PM MDT

This webinar will explore the experiences of safety net providers who have gone live with a health information technology (IT) system in the last 18 months. Even with much preparation, it is difficult to prepare for all the unexpected bumps in the road. Speakers will present lessons learned and provide tips for successfully planning and triaging problems during the first weeks of going live. Topics include:

• The impact on a provider’s clinical and business workflow;
• Making critical changes with your health IT vendor;
• Meeting meaningful use stage 1 functionality; and
• Identifying useful resources and/or training.

Speakers will also provide advice on change management and how to ensure that this period does not affect patient care. The webinar will cover both primary and inpatient care for rural and urban safety net providers. Presenters include:

• Kirby Craft, Chief Information Officer, Magee General Hospital
• Francis Aframgyening, Executive Director, Care Alliance Health Centers
• Lynn Hudson, Consultant, South Carolina Regional Extension Center

Register at: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=99703614

Key EHR Incentive Program Registration Dates Reminder from CMS

CMS wants to remind eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) of the key registration dates for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, and provide information to help them successfully register and start their path to payment for 2011.

Important Registration Dates to Remember:
 Nov 30, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals and CAHs to register and attest to receive a Medicare incentive payment for FY2011.
 Feb 29, 2012 – Last day for EPs to register and attest to receive a Medicare incentive payment for CY2011.

When Should Providers Register?
CMS encourages providers to register for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program(s) as soon as possible to avoid payment delays. Note that not all states have launched a Medicaid EHR Incentive Program yet; providers in Colorado will be able to register for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program in Spring 2012.

Registration Resources
CMS has a number of resources to help providers successfully register for the EHR Incentive Programs:
 Step-by-step registration guides, available on the CMS EHR Registration page
 A number of FAQs about registration on the EHR Incentive Programs website
 Webinars on YouTube to help guide providers through the registration process – one for EPs and one for hospitals

HIT Adoption Toolboxes developed by HRSA's OHITQ

HRSA's Office of Health Information Technology and Quality (OHITQ) has developed a series of HIT Adoption Toolboxes to help implement health IT applications. The toolboxes are designed to serve the needs of a broad audience within health centers and other safety net providers. Key IT stakeholders have reviewed and contribed to the toolboxes to ensure they are accurate, relevant, and effective in supporting health IT in safety net organizations.

Rural Health IT Adoption Toolbox
Contains a range of resources for rural health providers as they consider implementing health IT. Topics and modules include telehealth; health IT selection and implementation; project management and staffing; financing and sustainability; opportunities for collaboration; and patient quality improvement, evaluation and optimization.

Health IT for Children Toolbox
A compilation of health IT information targeted at children's health care needs, ranging from pediatric electronic medical records to children's health insurance coverage. Provides specific health IT resources online to support information technology in children's health promotion and disease prevention, and identifies opportunities to link other systems that serve children, including Head Start, schools, foster care, etc.

For more information on the above toolkits, click here.

Materials from CMS' “Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Registration and Attestation for Eligible Professionals” Call Now Available

CMS hosted a National Provider Call on Fri Sep 9 on the topic of Registration and Attestation for Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs for Eligible Professionals, including:

 Path to Payment
 Highlights of Registration and Attestation Processes
 Third Party Proxy
 Troubleshooting
 Helpful Resources
 A question & answer session

The presentation, transcript, and audio recording from this call and other selected calls can now be found under the “Presentations for Providers” section on the Educational Materials page of the CMS EHR website.

Please refer to the transcript for clarifications to the audio recording for the Fri Sep 9 call.

CRHC’s First Rural Clinic Reaches Meaningful Use and Attests to Medicare for Incentive Funding

The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) started working with MidValley Family Practice as their Regional Extension Center (REC) partner in June 2011. At that point, Dr. Glenn Kotz and his practice manager, Joyce, were well on their way to reaching Meaningful Use (MU) and they began their 90-day reporting period on June 26th. During their 90-day reporting period, CRHC assisted in performing four Meaningful Use Gap Analyses which assessed the measures the practice was meeting and which measures still needed adjustments, including changing current workflows to accommodate the collecting the new measures. In addition, MidValley performed a data exchange test with a pediatric practice in Boulder also using Centricity’s software.

The practice initially struggled with delivering the mandatory clinical summaries to patients after each visit which are both time consuming and require printing off mass amounts of paper. However, they were able to find a temporary solution which will be fixed once a patient portal is implemented and patients can access their summary electronically after their visit.

MidValley Family Practice successfully attested with Medicare on September 26th and takes great pride in the fact that they are the first to attest to MU as a CRHC REC partner. CRHC is delighted to have had the privilege to work with MidValley Family Practice and help them achieve MU which shows their commitment to providing excellent patient care. Congratulations MidValley Family Practice!

CRHC Congratulates Montrose Memorial Hospital on Successfully Attesting to the Medicare Program

CRHC wishes to congratulate Montrose Memorial Hospital on being one of the first rural hospitals in Colorado to successfully attest to the Medicare Incentive Program as a Meaningful User of their EHR system. Montrose Memorial Hospital attested on September 29th further proving their committment to excellent patient care.

Congratulations Montrose Memorial Hospital!

CMS Has Two New YouTube Videos

CMS has posted new videos to the CMS YouTube page, including:

• An overview video, titled EHR: Delaware Meaningful Use Recognition Ceremony, where providers participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program were honored.
• An overview video, titled EHR: Cherokee Nation Receives Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment, where Dr. Woitte and the Cherokee Nation were honored for participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and for being the first tribe to receive an incentive payment.

Make sure to visit the CMS YouTube page to see the rest of our EHR Incentive Program videos.