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Sebelius Announces Changes to Timeline for Meaningful Use
November 30, 2011
In an effort to make it easier for health care providers and hospitals to qualify for meaningful use incentive payments, HHS has announced major policy changes. Under current regulations, eligible health care providers that attest to Stage 1 of the Medicare EHR incentive program this year would need to meet Stage 2 requirements in 2013. However, health care providers who attest to Stage 1 in 2012 would not need to meet Stage 2 requirements until 2014, but they still would be eligible for the same total incentive payment amount.
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What does this mean for Eligible Providers?
New FAQ posted here -- http://www.lssdata.com/govt/FAQs.php

Free MU Stage 1 Online Seminar
November 23, 2011
LSS Data Systems will be conducting a series of free online seminars over the next couple months titled "Meeting Meaningful Use Stage 1." The first seminar is on Thursday, December 1. LSS customers are encouraged to sign up here http://www.lssdata.com/customers/ under "Customer Trainings" (password required).

NCQA unveils 3 tiers of ACO accreditation
November 22, 2011
In an effort to provide some sense of certainty about an ACO's ability to reach the so-called triple aim of reducing cost, improving quality and enhancing patient experience, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) released on Nov 21 its standards and guidelines which are the basis of its ACO accreditation program.
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Six More States Open Enrollment for Medicaid EHR Incentive Payments
November 16, 2011
Six more states have opened registration for Medicaid incentive payments under the meaningful use program. Thirty-nine states have opened programs for Medicaid meaningful use payments, and 23 states have started making payments, according to CMS.
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Federal panel begins work on Stage 3 meaningful use
November 14, 2011
During a meeting on November 9, the Health IT Policy Committee began discussing provisions that could be included under Stage 3 of the meaningful use incentive program.
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SEC Clarifies Recognizing MU Incentive Payments
November 8, 2011
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new accounting guidance on recognizing income from EHRs meaningful use incentive payments under the HITECH Act. The SEC notes that the "gain contingency" accounting model is the appropriate income recognition model for HITECH incentive payments.
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ONC delays permanent EHR certifiers' program
November 3, 2011
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will delay the launch of the permanent program for certification of electronic health records (EHRs) until mid-2012 to coincide with the anticipated final rule for stage 2 of meaningful use and standards and certification criteria.
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HIMSS Analytics Report Confirms Increase in Hospitals Expected to Achieve Meaningful Use
November 1, 2011
When it comes to meeting Stage 1 of meaningful use, new research from HIMSS Analytics reported a 16% increase, from 25 to 41% in the seven months from February to September 2011, in hospitals being well positioned to meet Stage 1 of meaningful use. The data collected for this new HIMSS Analytics report, "Summary of Meaningful Use Readiness," indicates more eligible hospitals are likely to succeed in meeting the criteria for this first stage of meaningful use, an important step as healthcare providers strive to become meaningful users of health information technology.
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October 27, 2011 Update
On Oct 26, Rep. Tom Marino (R-Penn.) introduced legislation (HR 3239) that would create certain legal protections for Medicare and Medicaid providers who have implemented EHR systems. The bill -- called the Safeguarding Access for Every Medicare Patient Act -- would create a system for reporting potential medical errors that occur when using EHRs, but it would not allow such information to be used as legal admission of wrongdoing.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

October 20, 2011 Update
In final rules for Medicare accountable care organizations (PDF), published today, the CMS said it would no longer require all ACOs to face potential penalties, and it increased possible bonuses.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/

October 17, 2011 Update
CMS published guidance to hospitals preparing to attest under the Medicare electronic health record incentive payment program as a double-check that they have what it takes to become meaningful users of certified electronic health-records systems.
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/

October 5, 2011 Update
The number of physicians and hospitals that have registered for the Medicare or Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive program has surpassed 100,000, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

October 1, 2011 Update
LSS Data Systems is pleased to announce that its Client/Server Medical and Practice Management (MPM) v5.6.5 and MPM 6.0 v6.07 Electronic Health Records have received the federal government's "meaningful use" stamp of approval by earning modular certification for four modular components.
http://www.lssdata.com/news/viewnews.php?n=179

September 26, 2011 Update
The federal government has distributed more than $653 million to health care providers participating in the meaningful use incentive program, according to data from CMS. Of the $653 million distributed, CMS paid $389 million through the Medicaid incentive program and $264 million through the Medicare incentive program.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

September 20, 2011 Update
Four more states recently opened registration for Medicaid incentive payments under the meaningful use program, joining 23 states with programs already under way. Jessica Kahn -- technical director of CMS' Center for Medicaid, CHIP, and Survey and Certification -- said of the 27 states with operational programs, 17 are making payments to health care providers for the meaningful use of EHRs.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

September 13, 2011 Updates
On Monday, President Obama issued a proclamation declaring Sept. 11 through Sept. 16 as National Health IT Week for the foreseeable future. Also on Monday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reported that as of this week, 80,000 health care providers had signed up to receive incentive payments for the meaningful use of health IT.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator, Dr. Mary Wakefield, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, announced awards of $8.5 million to 85 community health center programs, located in 15 of the 17 Beacon Communities throughout the United States.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/

September 12, 2011 Update
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today proposed new rules that would expand the rights of patients to access their health information through the use of health information technology (IT). Specifically, the new rules would empower patients and allow them to gain access to test results reports directly from labs.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/

September 7, 2011 Update
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has launched its Query Health project to come up with the standards and services to enable providers to send information requests and questions about population health to a variety of places where it is held, primarily certified electronic health records.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

September 1, 2011 Update
CMS has issued a final rule making changes to Medicare's Electronic Prescribing Incentive program. The rule is available now and will be published in the Federal Register on Sept. 6. As expected, CMS has finalized a proposal to better align the eRx Incentive program with the electronic health record meaningful use incentive program. Under the final rule, EHRs that have received meaningful use certification are deemed to qualify for the eRx Incentive program.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

August 28, 2011 Update
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has launched its program to approve organizations that want to certify electronic health records for meaningful use.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

August 24, 2011 Update
CMS is encouraging hospitals, physician practices and other provider organizations to apply to participate in one of four reimbursement programs under its new Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative. The initiative will bundle payment across provider sites for multiple services given during an episode of care, which is a single hospital stay and/or recovery from the stay.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

August 18, 2011 Update
The Health IT Standards Committee has endorsed a single set of vocabulary standards and a single guide for putting them in place for each area of quality reporting measures. The domains include medications, labs and allergies. The committee will recommend to the ONC to incorporate the vocabulary standards and implementation guides in certification criteria for EHRs for stage 2 of meaningful use.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

August 12, 2011 Update
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages provider organizations starting to look into the electronic health records meaningful use incentive programs to participate in a national teleconference on August 18.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

August 10, 2011 Update
ONC recently released the video, "The Future of Health Care: Electronic Health Records," which highlights the benefits of EHRs through commentary from health information technology leaders.
http://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/

August 4, 2011 Update
This week, Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) introduced legislation (HR 2729) -- called the Health IT Modernization for Underserved Communities Act -- that would allow physician assistants who meet certain requirements to qualify for incentive payments under the meaningful use program.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

August 1, 2011 Update
More than 56,000 providers have registered for the Medicare or Medicaid EHRs meaningful use programs through May 2011, officials from the CMS noted during a recent Health Data Management Web seminar. Robert Anthony, Health Insurance Specialist in CMS' Office of E-Health Standards and Services, advised registering long before being ready to attest for meaningful use to ensure any problems are resolved and attestation doesn't get delayed.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

July 28, 2011 Update
The HITECH Act has funded 17 "Beacon Communities" across the nation to serve as pilot sites for comprehensive use of health information technology. Now, a new initiative is designed to accelerate the documentation and dissemination of results and lessons learned in these communities.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

July 21, 2011 Update
The Health IT Standards Committee has been wrestling this summer with identifying standards for electronic prescribing of medications at hospital discharge, vocabulary for clinical quality coordination, and others to support stage 2 of meaningful use. A committee panel has recommended as minimal a number of vocabulary and code sets as possible, primarily SNOMED-CT and LOINC, to demonstrate meaningful use measures.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

July 12, 2011 Update
Arizona, Connecticut, Rhode Island and West Virginia have joined 17 other states in going live with their Medicaid EHRs meaningful use incentive programs. Most states plan to roll out their Medicaid MU programs during 2011; some are likely to not be ready until early 2012.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

July 6, 2011 Update
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national health IT coordinator, said that he agreed with the conclusions of the Health IT Policy Committee for delaying until 2014 the start of stage 2 of meaningful use, essentially signaling to the industry that federal policymakers will follow the advisory group's recommendation.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

July 3, 2011 Update
The rule that details the requirements for stage 2 of meaningful use will "look a lot like" the measures that the Health IT Policy Committee recently endorsed, said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national health IT coordinator. The measures focus on patient-centered, safe and coordinated health care, he added. The ONC and CMS anticipate releasing their proposed rules on meaningful use of EHRs and standards and certification criteria by the end of the year or early 2012, accepting public comments about it, and finalizing it next summer.
http://govhealthit.com/news/

June 27, 2011 Update
With the deadlines to qualify for and receive the meaningful use incentives for calendar year 2011 just around the corner, LSS is offering a series of free online ARRA seminars for customers. These online seminars will review the core and menu requirements for meaningful use and how the LSS MPM system can be configured to accommodate those requirements through Documenting, Ordering, Engaging Patients, Reporting and Sharing Data. To register visit the Customer Trainings section of the website (password required).

June 21, 2011 Update
The National Library of Medicine has formally launched MedlinePlus Connect. The free service allows health organizations and health information technology providers to link patient portals and EHR systems to MedlinePlus.gov. Since MedlinePlus Connect helps EHRs identify patient-specific education resources, MedlinePlus Connect may assist eligible healthcare providers in meeting one of the criteria for meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
http://govhealthit.com/

June 13, 2011 Update
LSS Data Systems' Medical and Practice Management (MPM) 6.0 v6.07 Electronic Health Record Receives ONC-ATCB Certification by Drummond Group. And LSS's MPM MAGIC Version 5.6.4 Electronic Health Record Receives ONC-ATCB Modular Certification by Drummond Group.
http://www.lssdata.com/news/viewnews.php?n=175

June 10, 2011 Update
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will be the sole authorized accreditor of organizations that want to certify electronic health records (EHR) for meaningful use under the permanent certification program for health IT.
http://govhealthit.com/

June 8, 2011 Update
The meaningful use workgroup of the Health I.T. Policy Committee, which advises the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is recommending that Stage 2 of electronic health records be delayed by one year to 2014 for providers who attest to Stage 1 meaningful use in 2011.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

June 3, 2011 Update
The ONC is seeking comments on approaches that will enable providers and other healthcare entities to obtain and manage digital certificates that are cross-certified with the Federal Bridge. The HIT Standards Committee's Implementation Workgroup is also seeking comments on the EHR temporary certification program for Stage 1 of meaningful use.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/

May 28, 2011 Update
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule making changes to the Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program. The changes are designed to better align the eRX Incentive program with the electronic health record meaningful use incentive program.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

May 26, 2011 Update
CMS announced that more than 300 health care providers have received a total of $75 million in Medicare incentive payments for demonstrating meaningful use of electronic health records.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

May 20, 2011 Update
CMS has released five new frequently asked questions about the meaningful use incentive program. The questions cover exchange of clinical information, CPOE measure calculation, and the counting of patients in swing beds, nursery day patients and lab tests.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

May 18, 2011 Update
CMS this week will start issuing the first Medicare incentive checks for meaningful use of EHRs authorized under the HITECH Act. The number of checks being issued has not yet been determined. Attestation of meaningful use started on April 18, and 150 providers successfully attested that day, CMS has previously stated.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

May 17, 2011 Update
In addition to MEDITECH's complete EHR inpatient certification for Magic 5.6.4, Client/Server 5.6.4 and 6.05, MEDITECH is now providing customers with new "modular certification" options for qualifying for the Meaningful Use funding under ARRA.
http://www.meditech.com/

May 16, 2011 Update
The ONC's HIT Standards Committee (HITSC) Implementation Workgroup is gathering public comments from now through June 17 on the temporary EHR certification program that supports Stage 1 of the meaningful use program. Following analysis of the comments received through the approximately 30-day public comment period, the HITSC Implementation Workgroup intends to make recommendations to the HITSC regarding the EHR certification program for Stage 2 meaningful use.
http://www.cmio.net/

May 12, 2011 Update
Pamela McNutt, senior vice president and CIO at Methodist Health System (Dallas, TX) recently shared her experiences in meeting Meaningful Use at the MEDITECH CIO Technology Forum. Listen to Pam's perspective on preparing for Meaningful Use in this new video interview posted on-line.
http://www.meditech.com/interoperability/pages/0511_meaningfuluse.htm

May 11, 2011 Update
The draft proposals for measures for meaningful use stage 2 are taking definite shape. The panel has incorporated more emphasis on making the patient an active participant in health care and more exchange of health information as central to a number of the objectives. An advisory panel presented its draft proposals for the next stage of meaningful use to the Health IT Policy Committee at a meeting May 11 in a step towards establishing the near-term agenda.
http://govhealthit.com/

May 5, 2011 Update
Indiana and Ohio Medicaid EHR incentive programs are now open, and Medicaid-eligible professionals (EPs) as well as eligible hospitals can register for incentives. As of May 2, 15 states had launched their Medicaid EHR incentive programs, and seven states had issued incentive payments to Medicaid EPs and eligible hospitals.
http://www.cmio.net/

May 2, 2011 Update
The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) has made available $12 million in grants for rural healthcare network organizations to help them become meaningful users of certified electronic health records. The grants may support health IT activities, such as development of a strategic plan for EHRs, workforce analysis, purchase of health IT equipment and installation of broadband for connectivity.
http://govhealthit.com/

April 30, 2011 Update
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted a frequently asked question and answer regarding the attestation statements that providers must agree to in order to successfully demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records and receive an incentive payment under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

April 21, 2011 Update
LSS Data Systems is pleased to announce that its Client/Server Medical and Practice Management (MPM) v5.6.5 Electronic Health Record has received complete EHR ambulatory certification, deeming the electronic health record (EHR) software capable of enabling eligible providers to meet the Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
http://www.drummondgroup.com/html-v2/ehr-companies.html

April 18, 2011 Update
CMS today began the attestation process for demonstrating meaningful use of EHRs to qualify for Medicare incentive payments. The EHR Incentive Programs Web site now has a new attestation page for information on the process and to actually attest to compliance with meaningful use criteria. The Web site includes a meaningful use attestation calculator enabling providers to confirm they meet criteria before attesting to it and print a summary. Eligible professional and hospital user guides on the site walk providers through the attestation system prior to attesting.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

April 15, 2011 Update
An advisory panel is wrestling with competing visions of how bold to make measures for the next stage of meaningful use of EHRs. Time limitations underlie many of the tensions in deciding their path. Vendors need time to develop new software and healthcare providers to install it and then report on quality measures to qualify for stage 2 incentives. To accommodate time constraints for software development, committee members explored a phased-in approach that separates existing and new functionalities, according to Dr. Paul Tang, committee vice chair at the April 13 meeting.
http://govhealthit.com/

April 11, 2011 Update
Alabama and Missouri recently launched Medicaid EHR incentive programs, bringing the number of states participating in the CMS program to 13. States are responsible for administering the Medicaid incentive program, while CMS oversees the Medicare incentive program.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

April 8, 2011 Update
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has named Farzad Mostashari, MD, to replace David Blumenthal, MD April 8 as national coordinator for health information technology.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/

April 4, 2011 Update
Boulder Community Hospital is the first provider in Colorado to go live on CORHIO, the designated state health information exchange funded in part through grants from the HITECH Act. CORHIO also operates CO-REC, a federally funded regional extension center offering services to help providers select and implement EHRs.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

April 1, 2011 Update
The new proposed regulations on accountable care organizations, released March 31 by the Department of Health and Human Services, show the government planning to link the HITECH meaningful use incentive program with its plans for ACOs.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/

March 31, 2011 Update
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released proposed new rules to help doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers better coordinate care for Medicare patients through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs create incentives for health care providers to work together to treat an individual patient across care settings – including doctor's offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. The Medicare Shared Savings Program will reward ACOs that lower health care costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and putting patients first. Patient and provider participation in an ACO is purely voluntary.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/03/20110331a.html

March 27, 2011 Update
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is reminding healthcare providers that attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins on April 18. In order for providers to receive their Medicare EHR incentive payment, they must attest through CMS' Web-based Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs Registration and Attestation System. Providers can now preview selected screenshots of the system to help them understand what the attestation process will involve.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/

March 25, 2011 Update
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) today announced an open public comment period on the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2011-2015 ("the Plan"). The Plan reflects ONC's strategy, developed in collaboration with other federal partners, over the next five years for realizing Congress and the Administration's health IT agenda.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/03/20110325a.html

March 20, 2011 Update
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has added 11 new questions to its EHR Meaningful Use Frequently Asked Questions Page, and updated numerous existing FAQs.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/

March 19, 2011 Update
MEDITECH announced that all three platforms--MAGIC 5.6.4, Client/Server 5.6.4, and 6.05--are certified as complete EHRs by the Drummond Group, under the Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) program. In addition to that, MEDITECH is working towards providing customers with new "modular certification" options for qualifying for the Meaningful Use funding under ARRA.
http://www.meditech.com/

March 18, 2011 Update
The ONC could include in the requirements for the next stage of meaningful use some functions that would build toward the comprehensive information exchange system that a presidential commission recommended last year. These functions could include a patient's ability to download information to a personal health record (PHR), simple search by providers and sharing immunization data, according to an advisory panel that is examining the report of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
http://www.govhealthit.com/

March 16, 2011 Update
A panel of the Health IT Policy Committee is exploring gaps in the infrastructure of health information exchange, solutions for which will be critical to some of the proposed objectives for stage 2 of meaningful use, such as incorporating lab results in structured data. The meaningful use work group wants to be sure that technologies, policies and standards will be in place in 2013 to support exchange goals.
http://govhealthit.com/

March 8, 2011 Update
Many physicians are eligible for federal incentive payments for the meaningful use of electronic health records but lack a basic EHR system, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs. Overall, researchers found that nearly 83% of office-based physicians are eligible for either the Medicare or Medicaid incentive program.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

March 4, 2011 Update
The ONC, through its regional extension centers, has started recruiting "physician champions" who are well on their way to becoming meaningful users of EHRs to help others in their area get over the hurdles of digitizing their medical records. Meaningful Use Vanguard (MUV) participants work with their area extension center to assist providers who are struggling to deploy EHRs and become meaningful users, so they can qualify for incentive payments from CMS.
http://govhealthit.com/

March 1, 2011 Update
The American Medical Association and 38 other medical organizations recently sent a letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT suggesting that many specialists and other physicians might not participate in stages 2 and 3 of the meaningful use incentive program because it would require them to gather patient data that they typically do not collect.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

February 24, 2011 Update
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT hopes to demonstrate and test in late summer tools that will make it easier to share patient data, and to include them in the next stage of meaningful use criteria. ONC wants those tools and specifications in the proposed rule for stage 2 of meaningful use standards and certification criteria, due by yearend, said Dr. Doug Fridsma, director of ONC's Office of Standards and Interoperability.
http://www.govhealthit.com/

February 23, 2011 Update
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal said that the Obama administration sees the health IT industry as an economic engine that could grow domestically and internationally. The keynote speakers delivered their addresses at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's (HIMSS) 2011 conference in Orlando, Fla.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

February 22, 2011 Update
More than 21,000 healthcare providers have registered to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services EHR incentive program, with about two thirds ready to confirm that they have met the meaningful use requirements when CMS activates the software for that.
http://www.govhealthit.com/

February 21, 2011 Update
The Regional Extension Center (REC), Vendor Selection and Management Community of Practice (VSM CoP) and the HIMSS EHR Association (EHR Association) announced today the formation of a joint initiative, the EHR Vendor Communications Workgroup, in recognition of the need for long-term cooperation and collaboration among RECs and EHR companies to benefit healthcare providers and their patients as they implement EHRs and work toward meeting meaningful use requirements.
http://www.prnewswire.com/

February 17, 2011 Update
The National Quality Forum has converted 113 quality measures of health care performance from a paper-based format to an electronic format. HHS requested the conversion so that the measures would comply with requirements in the HITECH Act, which is part of the 2009 economic stimulus package.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

February 15, 2011 Update
The administration has requested $57 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT in the proposed budget for fiscal 2012, a 37 percent increase on the amount it received in 2010. ONC would also receive additional funds from other sources, such as reimbursements from the Public Health Service Act, for a total of $78.4 million in 2012 compared with $60.5 million in 2010, according to the Health & Human Services Department.
http://govhealthit.com/

February 10, 2011 Update
The Department of Health and Human Services has sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review a proposed rule to modify disclosures of information under the HIPAA Privacy rule. OMB review, which can take a very short or very long time to complete, is one of the last steps before a rule is published in the Federal Register. The rule would implement the accounting for disclosures provisions of Section 13405 of the HITECH Act.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/

February 8, 2011 Update
Dr. David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, national coordinator for health information technology in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) today announced an additional $12 million in new technical support assistance to help critical access hospitals (CAHs) and rural hospitals adopt and become meaningful users of certified health information technology.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/02/20110208b.html

February 3, 2011 Update
Dr. David Blumenthal announced this afternoon he will leave his post as health IT coordinator to return to Harvard, where he previously has served as a professor of medicine and healthcare policy. "David will leave his post having built a strong foundation, created real momentum for (health information technology) adoption, charted a course for the meaningful use of (EHRs) and launched a new phase of cooperative and supportive work with the health care community, states, and cities across the nation," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a memo.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/

February 2, 2011 Update
The ONC announced today that providers and public health agencies in Minnesota and Rhode Island have begun securely exchanging health information online as part of the Direct Project. The Direct Project establishes secure, scalable and standards-based specs to transfer encrypted medical information to trusted recipients over the Web. The ONC calls the Minnesota and Rhode Island pilots "a significant step" toward making health information exchange "accessible and practical for all the nation's clinicians" in support of Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110202a.html

January 27, 2011 Update
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has awarded a total of $80 million more for its regional extension center, state health information exchange and community college workforce programs to boost their support of providers becoming meaningful users of electronic health records. More funds will strengthen the momentum of these programs, which ONC launched last year, as physicians and hospitals begin to register for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
http://govhealthit.com/

January 21, 2011 Update
LSS Data Systems is pleased to announce that its Client/Server Medical and Practice Management (MPM) v5.6.4 Electronic Health Record has received complete EHR ambulatory certification, deeming the electronic health record (EHR) software capable of enabling eligible providers to meet the Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
http://www.lssdata.com/news/viewnews.php?n=162

January 20, 2011 Update
The ONC plans to develop a clearer set of technical descriptions for establishing the standard clinical document formats for exchanging summary information as patients move across settings of care. ONC will also consolidate into a consistent template-based guide the advice offered by multiple organizations for implementing the standard document formats used to share data about patients' medications and problems. These are among the first projects that ONC has launched for its Standards & Interoperability Framework, which will tackle persistent challenges that healthcare providers face in successfully exchanging information in order to meet meaningful use requirements of EHRs, according to Dr. Doug Fridsma, director of ONC's Office of Standards and Interoperability.
http://govhealthit.com/

January 13, 2011 Update
Four-fifths of the nation's hospitals, and 41% of office-based physicians, currently intend to take advantage of federal incentive payments for adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology, according to survey data released today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
http://www.hhs.gov/news/

January 12, 2011 Update
Medical images should have a role in the next stage of meaningful use of EHRs because of the wide use of radiologic and other images in diagnosis and treatment in healthcare, according to health IT experts. Dr. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, gave support to considering the concept at the advisory Health IT Standards Committee meeting Jan. 12, saying "the role of imaging as a meaningful use aspect raises a number of important and interesting questions that I think we will be looking at tackling."
http://govhealthit.com/

January 9, 2011 Update
Kentucky and Oklahoma have become the first states to issue Medicaid incentive payments to health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs. In Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Healthcare received $2.8 million and Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington received $1.3 million from the Medicaid incentive program. The two hospitals were the first in the U.S. to receive checks under the stimulus package.
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/

January 3, 2011 Update
The ONC today issued a final rule to establish the permanent certification program for health information technology. The permanent certification program provides new features that will enhance the certification of health information technology, including increasing the comprehensiveness, transparency, reliability, and efficiency of the current processes used for the certification of EHR technology. Meaningful use of "Certified EHR Technology" is a core requirement for eligible health care providers who seek to qualify to receive incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs as authorized by the HITECH Act.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/

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