Mostashari anticipates 'big win' in HIE in 2012
February 1, 2012
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national health IT coordinator, expects health information exchange to ramp up significantly in 2012 because the necessary elements of interoperability will be in place. Health information exchange will be a critical part of the meaningful use of EHRs as it moves to stage 2 in order to coordinate care and to share data to demonstrate improved patient outcomes.
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Chopra resigns from White House
January 30, 2012
Aneesh Chopra, the federal government's first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February.
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CMS fills out details for EHR incentive appeals
January 24, 2012
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is filling in more details about how physicians and hospitals may appeal decisions that prevent them from receiving or keeping payment as part of the EHR Incentive Program.
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Participating Physicians in 2011 EHR Incentive Program Must Attest by Feb. 29
January 18, 2012
CMS released important deadlines for participants in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. February 29, 2012, is a two-fold deadline. Physicians who used certified EHR technology during 2011 have until Feb. 29 to register and attest to meeting meaningful use requirements in order to receive incentive payments. Feb. 29 is also the deadline for eligible professionals to submit 2011 Medicare Part B claims.
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CMS EHR programs paid $2.5B in 2011
January 10, 2012
The Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record program has paid more than $2.5 billion to physicians and hospitals in incentive payments for all of 2011, with December contributing to the steep growth curve. In 2011, 176,000 providers have registered in total for the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs, said Robert Tagalicod, director of CMS' Office of eHealth Standards and Services, which advises the ONC.
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Mostashari: Momentous Progress for HIT
January 9, 2012
In a new blog posting, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology, calls 2011 a year of "momentous progress" for adoption of EHRs and other I.T. tools. He highlights 10 notable achievements, starting with launching of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR meaningful use incentive programs and certification of more than 1,500 complete or modular EHR products.
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Free MU Stage 2 Online Seminar
January 5, 2012
LSS Data Systems will be conducting a free online seminar titled "Meaningful Use - Stage 2 Recommended Measures" on Monday, January 30. LSS customers are encouraged to sign up here http://www.lssdata.com/customers/ under "Customer Trainings" (password required).

ONC Outlines Five Steps for EHR Implementation
December 28, 2011
With 2012 around the corner, the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology has outlined five steps for hospitals, physicians and other providers to start the transition to an electronic health record platform if they have not started already.
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32 Pioneer ACOs named by HHS
December 19, 2011
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the 32 health organizations that will take part in the Pioneer ACO initiative, striving for more coordinated care that could save up to $1.1 billion over five years.
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CMS Nears $2 Billion in Meaningful Use Payments
December 8, 2011
Through November 2011, Medicare and Medicaid have each paid nearly $1 billion in electronic health records meaningful use incentive payments during the first year of the program.
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MEDITECH & LSS: Preparing You for Stage 2
December 5, 2011
While MEDITECH & LSS continue to support our customers attesting for Stage 1 Meaningful Use, we're also diligently preparing for Stage 2. We have assembled two brief, yet comprehensive, overview documents for our customers: MEDITECH Prepares You for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use for Eligible Hospitals and MEDITECH Prepares You for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use for Eligible Professionals. While these documents are obviously somewhat preliminary in nature (the government's Final Ruling is still several months away from completion), they do provide our customers with valuable insights into MEDITECH's approaches and plans. We urge you to read them and to discuss the content with your relevant MEDITECH customer support representatives.