January 5, 2011 – Integrated Systems Management Inc announced today that OmniMD™ EHR, Version 11.0 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on January 4, 2011 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable (eligible provider) certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

According to Divan Dave, CEO, of OmniMD™ “This certification is another step in our commitment to provide providers with intuitive, easy-to-use, affordable technologies that help them improve patient care, reduce their costs and qualify for government incentives”.

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology.

“CCHIT is pleased to be testing and certifying products so that companies are now able to offer these products to providers who wish to purchase and implement certified EHR technology and achieve meaningful use in time for the 2011-2012 incentives,” said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.S.S., Chair, CCHIT.

OmniMD™ EHR, Version 11.0 certification number is CC-1112-484340-1. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

The clinical quality measures to which OmniMD™ has been certified include:

NQF 0421 – Adult Weight Screening & Follow-Up
NQF 0013 – Hypertension: Blood Pressure Measurement
NQF 0028 – Tobacco Use Assessment and Cessation
NQF 0041 – Influenza Immunization
NQF 0024 – Weight Assessment and Counseling
NQF 0038 – Childhood Immunization Status
NQF 0034 – Colorectal Cancer Screening
NQF 0043 – Pneumonia Vaccination Status
NQF 0067 – CAD: Oral Antiplatelet Therapy
NQF 0084 – Heart Failure: Warfarin Therapy

OmniMD™ EHR Version 11.0 is also certified in CCHIT’s separate and independently developed certification program. OmniMD™ Version 11.0 is a pre-market CCHIT Certified® 2011, Ambulatory EHR. Integrated Systems Management Inc. has certified its EHR technology in both programs to provide greater assurance to its customers.

About Integrated Systems Management, Inc

Founded in 2000, OmniMD™ integrated Electronic Health Records and Practice Management (PMS) products and services, offers unparalleled reliability, ease-of-use, efficiency and customizability. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR has also earned a designation as a pre-market CCHIT 2011 Certification with the highest 5 Star Usability Rating ensuring OmniMD™ commitment to have a comprehensive, secure, scalable, intuitive and interoperable EHR system. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR Version 11.0 is CCHIT 2011 Pre-Market Certified, web-enabled and support devices ranging from Tablet PCs to Smart phones. OmniMD™ offers a comprehensive set of services such as Health Transcriptions, Document Management, Patient Portal, Patient Reminder and Eligibility Verification as part of an integrated solution under one roof helping practices to effectively addressing their financial, administrative, clinical, and regulatory needs. OmniMD™ Ambulatory EHR Version 11.0 is built as a true Software as a Service solution.  It can be deployed as an Enterprise or a Subscription based Service as per the practice requirements.  OmniMD™ is designed to exceed the present and future needs of the healthcare industry. OmniMD™ is robust, scalable, interoperable, secure, intuitive and customizable with rapid deployment model. OmniMD™ EHR has also achieved Surescripts® Gold Solution Provider status, which allows for interoperability with the nation’s community pharmacies – improving the safety, efficiency and quality of the prescribing process. Gold Solution Provider status is granted to vendors whose software products have surpassed Surescripts’ baseline product certification, by demonstrating a higher level of commitment to e-prescribing, enhanced security, excellent customer support and service. OmniMD™ is a division of Integrated Systems Management, Inc. – ISM Inc. – (www.ismnet.com) a leader in Software Development and Information Technology Consulting since 1989.

About CCHIT

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology.  The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB).  More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

About ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that EHR technology is capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The certifications include Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology and EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria. ONC-ATCB certification aligns with Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology published in the Federal Register in July 2010 and strictly adheres to the test procedures published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the time of testing.   ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Iowa will receive $1.6 million in matching funds.

“While Iowa is the first state to receive approval of its plan for implementing the Recovery Act’s EHR incentive program, a number of other states have submitted plans as well,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations at CMS.

Iowa will, according to CMS, use the funds for planning activities such as conducting an analysis to determine the status of health IT in the state, including barriers to EHR implementation, eligibility for EHR incentive payments and the creation of a state Medicaid health information technology plan.

Above article published http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=19710:iowa-gets-16-in-arra-funds-for-ehr-planning

A panel advising the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC) said it will heed the overwhelming consensus it has received in recent public comments to develop the simplest possible certification standards for accelerating health IT adoption.

The Health IT Standards Committee’s implementation workgroup reported today that it distilled the testimony of industry organizations within and outside healthcare, as well as contributors to its public blog. The participants provided details of their experiences with adopting standards.

On the blog, physicians and practices have reported that they have difficulty improving quality and productivity with their existing electronic health record systems. As a result, they are looking for the standards to provide a “pathway to success.” The blog will remain live until Dec. 1.

Under the health IT stimulus plan, health care providers will be entitled to receive federal incentive payments only if they purchase electronic health record certified to meet standards for interoperability and other features now being worked out by the committee.

Dr. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, emphasized that “experience in the field” embodied in the comments will inform how ONC will craft the health IT certification standards that ONC will release later this year.

ONC is expected to publish in late December an interim final rule on certification standards and a notice of proposed rulemaking for the certification process. The standards rule will detail standards for what constitutes a certified EHR.

Dr. John Halamka, vice chairman of the committee, said any  refinements to the standards would likely be applied to standards for 2013 and beyond than for 2011, the first year in which providers will be eligible to receive incentive payments under the stimulus plan. In 2011, providers must adopt standards to share medication lists, medical problems, allergies and laboratory reports.

“I think we have a basic set of requirements, and there may be some polish done to them based on the comments and principles. We’re just beginning the directional cycle for 2013 and 2015,” he said.

Physician and industry comments received by the panel overwhelmingly asked that the simplest standards be put forward to provide business value and rapid adoption.

“Our posts have led to conversations with committee members here who have taken them to their constituents,” said Aneesh Chopra, the administration’s chief technology officer and chairman of the committee’s implementation work group.

Among its guiding principles, the committee should concentrate on getting buy-in from physicians for standards required in 2011 to share medication lists, medical problems, allergies and labs before moving to more complex objectives, he said.

Halamka suggested that the committee continue to gather comments about 2011 information exchanges to determine if there are ways to improve testing platforms and implementation guidance.

Another guiding principle recommends that the committee separate content standards, such as those for continuity of care documents, from transmission standards, as well as separate the network layer standards from application layer standards.

Above article published http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72450

Healthcare providers will have the option to use electronic health record systems to report Medicare quality and electronic prescribing measures to CMS in some of its pay-for-performance programs next year, according to an announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The revisions are designed “to promote adoption and use of electronic health records and to provide both eligible professionals and CMS with experience on EHR-based reporting,” CMS said in the Oct. 30 announcement.

They run parallel to efforts by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to set up additional incentives for providers to measure and submit data measuring the quality of their treatments.

According to CMS, providers could use EHRs to submit information for the CMS’s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) program, which pays an incentive to eligible physicians and other healthcare professionals who report on specific quality measures for care for Medicare patients.

Providers also will be able to report e-prescribing usage through qualified EHR systems or registries, according to CMS. Currently, providers’ reports about e-prescribing are based on patient medical claims.

Under the fee schedule rule, providers for the first time will be able to count quality data submitted through electronic health record systems toward their eligibility for a PQRI incentive payment, CMS said.

Next year, those payments will be equal to 2 percent of their total estimated allowed charges for the reporting periods, CMS said. The final rule will appear in the Nov. 25 Federal Register.

The rule also streamlines reporting of e-prescribing and focuses on the actual use of e-prescribing by the provider. In 2010, providers will use one code for e-prescribing, but they “need to report this code at least 25 times during the reporting period to be considered a successful electronic prescriber,” CMS said.

The Medicare fee schedule puts into practice provisions of the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, which established a program for incentive payments for e-prescribing over five years. In 2012, CMS will impose penalties on providers who are not “successful e-prescribers.”

Once CMS publishes the rule, it said it will accept comments on designated provisions of the final rule until Dec. 29. The policies become effective Jan. 1, 2010.

Above article published http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72313

By Mitch Wagner, InformationWeek

Senator John Kerry introduced a bill designed to help family doctors fund conversion to electronic health records.

Kerry, D-Mass., a senior member of the Finance Committee, introduced the Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act of 2009 Tuesday. It would make family doctors and other small medical practices eligible for Small Business Administration loans to cover the cost of health information technology to create electronic health records and prescriptions.

“Electronic medical records and prescriptions are the common sense solution to restricting costs, reducing errors, and reforming a broken system. Doctors don’t need convincing — they’ve seen the results,” Kerry said in a statement. “This legislation helps small practices acquire the technology that will allow them to be more efficient and to focus on patient care.”

Loans would cover the cost of hardware, software, and other technology, Kerry’s office said.

A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in June by Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Pa.

Kerry introduced the Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection (E-MEDS) Act of 2007 to require physicians to use e-prescriptions. The provision passed into law last year as part of the Medicare bill.

Currently, one-third of written prescriptions require follow-up clarification, and medication mistakes cause 7,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries per year, according to Kerry’s office, citing a study from the Institute of Medicine.

EHRs are a major component of U.S. health and economic policy; the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $20 billion in February to convert American healthcare practices to e-health records.

Above article published http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/EMR/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221700080

By Audra Mahlong, Journalist

The start-up phase for its national electronic health record system will finally begin in 2010, says the Department of Health.

While progress has been slow on the implementation of the system, the department says it will be ready to implement the system next year.

It says all the relevant documentation for the start-up phase of the project has been finalised with the State IT Agency (SITA) and the SITA board. It also reports that consultations with all stakeholders in the private and public sectors have been completed.

SA has embarked on a process of developing a national electronic health record (EHR) for all patients in public hospitals. An EHR is a database of patient health information, which will include demographics, vital signs, medical history, medications, procedures, laboratory data and radiology reports.

SITA and the department were tasked with establishing the requirements for implementing an electronic record system.

The department is also creating an e-health strategy, which will guide all its ICT projects. While noting that existing challenges include adequate ICT infrastructure, bandwidth capacity and meeting approved standards, it says the electronic record is still “paramount”.

Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi previously stated the current fragmented health information systems and sub-systems would be integrated into a single, national system. The focus of the department would be to establish an integrated national data warehouse for all data sources and tracking of human resources equipment, physical status of facilities and expenditure.

The collection, organisation, reporting, storage and use of data for planning, management and healthcare services would strengthen existing health programmes and help the department achieve its priorities, it notes.

Privacy and confidentiality of individuals’ health records will be secured before embarking on the implementation of the system, adds the department. Approved standards, by a recognised body that provides rules and guidelines, would also be in place before the start-up phase.

“This would help the department to achieve its priorities and strengthen health programmes through the development of a nationwide integrated system.”

Above article published on http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27735:electronic-health-records-for-2010&catid=69:business&Itemid=58#1

The new Medicare Part B fee schedule for 2010 is encouraging doctors to adopt EHRs by, for the first time, allowing practices to use real clinical data from EHRs and e-prescribing systems to report quality measures for the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and e-prescribing incentive programs. The change, according to CMS, is “to promote adoption and use of electronic health records and to provide both eligible professionals and CMS with experience on EHR-based reporting,” Government Health IT reports.

Whether the incentive payments are large enough to spur many practices to switch to EHRs ahead of the 2011 debut of the federal stimulus program is uncertain, however. PQRI participants can earn 2 percent on top of their total Medicare Part B fees for reporting quality data in 2010, and another 2 percent for writing electronic prescriptions. The e-prescribing bonus drops to 1 percent in 2011 and penalties for not e-prescribing begin in 2012. CMS is trying to simplify reporting of e-prescribing by requiring a single code to be eligible for the bonus next year.

Above article published on http://www.fierceemr.com/story/cms-allow-ehr-reporting-pqri-e-prescribing-bonuses-2010/2009-11-05#ixzz0W4sPa8Kn

The survey was conducted in collaboration with the JHD Group, a noted healthcare management consulting and technology firm. Since more than 85 percent of AMGA member medical groups have already adopted EHRs, this survey focused on use and benefits. Exactly how are groups using EHRs, and what benefits have they achieved in patient care, practice productivity, and clinical quality? Results indicate that these groups view EHRs as essential tools and that experienced users universally expressed increased optimism regarding the value they expect to capture from their continued use of the systems. Experience with the systems has raised their expectations of the impact EHRs will have on clinical quality, patient communications, and office efficiency.

Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, President and CEO of AMGA, commented, “It’s important to understand what techniques have worked for groups that have led the way in EHR adoption. Other practices can learn from their experience, and it’s gratifying to see that these pioneers are now even more optimistic about health IT than when they began their journey. Even the groups that adopted EHRs several years ago haven’t achieved everything they originally expected. But our members tend to be systems thinkers with a commitment to patient-centered care, and they now see even greater potential for health IT.

“Groups of all sizes believe that disciplined use of EHRs, including e prescribing and patient registries, not only enhances quality and promotes care coordination. They also see it as critical to improving efficiency and controlling costs.”

Hank Duffy, Founder and President of the JHD Group, added, “We are very pleased to partner with AMGA on this survey, and we are not surprised that the participation rate was extremely high. That’s because EHRs are so central to the efficient administration of health care today–and to achieving effective clinical integration. Efficient and effective delivery of health care is at the top of the nation’s strategic agenda, and there’s a focus on health IT, with significant stimulus funding available.

“The foundation of healthcare reform will be based not just on adoption, but meaningful use of EHRs in all delivery settings, including practices, clinics and hospitals. Medical groups participated because they want to know how others are faring and benefitting from their EHRs, and to understand how they can improve.”

Respondents included clinical leaders and executives from nearly half of AMGA’s 345 member organizations, plus 39 non-member medical groups. More than one-third of respondents have been utilizing their EHR for 5 years or longer, about one-fourth for less than 2 years.

Post-survey phone interviews with selected respondents provided an opportunity to glean in-depth insights regarding actual implementation experiences and organizational issues. Workflow redesign was a consistent theme. Adopting an EHR “is like moving from an ax to a chainsaw,” one medical director noted, saying that you can do a better job and be much more productive, but you need a different technique. Many groups reported that EHRs can enhance team-based care. “The EHR … allows for true collaborative care,” one practice CEO observed. A physician administrator said, “Our nurses have told me they like ‘being a nurse again.’”

Still, there are delicate balances to strike. The physician executive responsible for primary care in a large integrated system said, “The physician now orders everything through the system rather than telling the staff to make orders. It seems like clerical work for the physician, but actually it’s good, because the person making the order is also responsible.” Several respondents said the EHR was critical to growing the practice. Some focused on workflow efficiencies, others on the ability to recruit young physicians.

Patience and persistence are among the most critical success factors. The groups realizing the greatest benefits from their EHRs are those who introduced functionality in stages, allowing time for physicians and staff to develop proficiency in subsets of capabilities at a pace they were able to absorb. Groups with the longest experience reported greater overall satisfaction and greater success in capturing benefits.

The survey also obtained details on important technical issues such as orders/results interfaces for key diagnostic services and the use of templated documentation and patient problem lists. Integration of advanced functionality like e prescribing, patient registries, and patient portals, requires substantial investment and sustained effort, and ongoing attention to workflow and training is critical.

In active online conversations facilitated by AMGA, members of the group’s CMO Leadership Council are sharing experiences and advice on topics such as adjustments to productivity-based compensation formulas during EHR implementation. Many respondents have recalled aspects of the experience of implementation that were painful, but most agreed with one physician executive who said, “Our doctors would never go back. Happy or unhappy, they would never go back.”

Above article published on http://www.chiroeco.com/chiropractic/news/8742/1112/Survey:-EHR-expectations-increase-with-use/

Healthcare providers will have the option to use electronic health record systems to report Medicare quality and electronic prescribing measures to CMS in some of its pay-for-performance programs next year, according to an announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The revisions are designed “to promote adoption and use of electronic health records and to provide both eligible professionals and CMS with experience on EHR-based reporting,” CMS said in the Oct. 30 announcement.

They run parallel to efforts by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to set up additional incentives for providers to measure and submit data measuring the quality of their treatments.

According to CMS, providers could use EHRs to submit information for the CMS’s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) program, which pays an incentive to eligible physicians and other healthcare professionals who report on specific quality measures for care for Medicare patients.

Providers also will be able to report e-prescribing usage through qualified EHR systems or registries, according to CMS. Currently, providers’ reports about e-prescribing are based on patient medical claims.

Under the fee schedule rule, providers for the first time will be able to count quality data submitted through electronic health record systems toward their eligibility for a PQRI incentive payment, CMS said.

Next year, those payments will be equal to 2 percent of their total estimated allowed charges for the reporting periods, CMS said. The final rule will appear in the Nov. 25 Federal Register.

The rule also streamlines reporting of e-prescribing and focuses on the actual use of e-prescribing by the provider. In 2010, providers will use one code for e-prescribing, but they “need to report this code at least 25 times during the reporting period to be considered a successful electronic prescriber,” CMS said.

The Medicare fee schedule puts into practice provisions of the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, which established a program for incentive payments for e-prescribing over five years. In 2012, CMS will impose penalties on providers who are not “successful e-prescribers.”

Once CMS publishes the rule, it said it will accept comments on designated provisions of the final rule until Dec. 29. The policies become effective Jan. 1, 2010.

Above article published on http://www.govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=72313

Although EMR and EHR are very familiar terms, there are some distinct differences between these two terms. Let me bold those differences:

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that can be created, gathered, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within one health care organization.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one health care organization.

OK, for the sake of completeness, I’ll throw in this definition as well:

Personal Health Record (PHR)

An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be drawn from multiple sources while being managed, shared, and controlled by the individual

Above article published on http://www.medicineandtechnology.com/2009/10/emr-vs-ehr.html