More docs gravitating to cloud-based EHRs

May 15, 2012 — 2:41pm ET | By Marla Durben Hirsch via FierceEMR.com

Physician practices are turning to Software as a Service (SaaS) electronic health record systems--and have several good options to choose from, according to a new report from Orem, Utah-based healthcare research firm KLAS.

The study, in which more than 290 providers using SaaS ambulatory EHR systems were interviewed, reported that SaaS EHRs are becoming increasingly popular. "These systems appeal to small organizations that want low maintenance, a quick go live, and small up-front investment," the report noted. "Providers must also be comfortable with clinical and patient data being stored off-site and limited flexibility in the system."

• EHR response time, such as the loading time between clicks
• Customer support, such as frequent updating and enhancements
• Product quality/usability
• "Bang for the buck", i.e. attractive pricing

The top ranked SaaS vendor/product was CureMD EMR, followed closely by Practice Fusion, athenahealth athenaClinics, MIE WebChart EMR, MedPlus/Quest Diagnostics Care 360 EMR, and Sevocity EMR.

One downside to SaaS EHR products, according to the report, is that many of them do not also offer practice management solutions. Of the top six products, only CureMD and athena sell practice management products in tandem with their EHR systems.

The report corroborates trends in hospitals, which also are embracing cloud computing for their EHR and HIE use.  Gartner recently predicted that cloud computing will take center stage by 2014.

Read more: More docs gravitating to cloud-based EHRs - FierceEMR http://www.fierceemr.com/story/more-docs-gravitating-cloud-based-ehrs/2012-05-15?utm_campaign=twitter-Share-NL#ixzz1v9ZesuL2
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Lawmakers speak up for healthcare IT | Healthcare IT News

From the October 2011 print issue HealthcareITNews

Push for legislation despite ‘tough year’ in Congress

Members of Congress have been absorbed this year in federal budget issues and the economy, but not all of them have forgotten the cause of healthcare IT advancement.

Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Tex.) was slated at press time to give a keynote at this year’s HIMSS Policy Summit in conjunction with National Health IT Week, Sept. 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

“When I came to Congress in 2003, I was not the biggest proponent of health IT,” Burgess told Healthcare IT News in an exclusive interview. But, events after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 changed his mind “in a big way.”

At a field hearing post-Katrina in New Orleans, Burgess said he saw “row after row” of paper records at Charity Hospital turned black from mold. Hazmat protection was required to touch the destroyed documents.

A few days after the hurricane, Burgess assisted other doctors in the Dallas Arena in treating victims of the hurricane. Many were in no condition to remember any of their medical history or the medications they were taking, he said. Walgreens was there with computers loaded on a truck, assisting victims who had used them as a pharmacy. They were able to look up prescription records electronically to get some of a patient’s medical history. “These were powerful images,” Burgess said.

[Continue Reading]

Federal workgroup wants encryption even for direct HIE

May 27, 2010 — 12:27pm ET | By Neil Versel on http://www.fierceemr.com

The privacy and security workgroup of the federal Health IT Policy Committee is recommending that providers encrypt any personally identifiable patient information whenever they share data with others, even when a third-party health information exchange is not involved.

The workgroup is asking HHS officials to set policies for data encryption, limits on specificity in message headers and identity verification of both sender and receiver, even in direct, one-to-one exchanges, as part of final rules for "meaningful use" of EMRs, Government Health IT reports. Such rules are what a "reasonable patient would expect," said workgroup co-chair Deven McGraw, director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

This recommendation takes into account new, tougher, HIPAA privacy and security rules, which come with increased penalties for violations. "If strong policies, such as the above, are in place and enforced, we don't think this scenario needs any additional individual consent beyond what is already required by current law," McGraw said.

Direct HIE likely will be a "stage 1" requirement of meaningful use. HHS promises a final rule in June.

Read more: http://www.fierceemr.com/story/federal-workgroup-wants-encryption-even-direct-hie/2010-05-27#ixzz0p9mEGO9P

Meaningful Use Rules Now Official

HDM Breaking News, January 13, 2010

Agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 13 officially published two rules covering the meaningful use of electronic health records provisions of the HITECH Act within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Publication of the rules starts the clock for the public comment period, with both rules having a March 15 deadline for comment. The proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defines "meaningful use" of electronic health records to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. It lays out a series of measures to collect and report data to government agencies. The rule is 169 pages long in a PDF format.

An interim final rule from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology sets initial standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria for EHR technology. The rule is 33 pages long in a PDF format. A forthcoming rule will establish an EHR certification program.

The rules are available at gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.htm

HHS defines rules for receiving billions for e-health systems

BY ALIYA STERNSTEIN 01/04/2010

From http://www.nextgov.com

Recently released government standards for electronic health record systems show what medical professionals must buy to receive some of the nearly $20 billion in stimulus funding set aside to encourage the development of technology, and Web-based technologies that Google and Microsoft developed may be eligible purchases in the future, IT specialists say.

The Health and Human Services Department issued preliminary guidelines on Dec. 30, 2009. Medical professionals who make "meaningful use" of certified electronic health records, as defined by the department, will be eligible for up to $44,000 in Medicare bonus payments during the next five years.

One preliminary rule dictates the types of technologies providers must use to be eligible for the incentives, setting initial standards and criteria for certifying the systems. A separate proposed rule defines meaningful use as complying with specific procedures -- including the reliance on certified technologies -- in ways that enhance the coordination of care, engage patients and families, and ensure privacy. [Continue Reading]

New Open Display Unit

We've made the open display unit for over 10 years. We dramatically redesigned the 2842OD to bring it together in the stylings of our award winning collection.

The wall-mounted computer workstation with open display works great with a touch screen monitor or all-in-one but also has enough room to house an small or ultra small form factor computer (depending on depth of cabinet).

The fold out keyboard tray flips open when longer input is required.

No vendor is perfect on 'meaningful use,' report concludes

June 08, 2009 | Bernie Monegain, Editor

OREM, UT – Even as the healthcare IT industry awaits the official definition of "meaningful use" from the federal government, a new report from KLAS examines which electronic medical record products should fit that description.

The report, "Meaningful Use Leading to Improved Outcomes," assesses how well core clinical vendors are delivering solutions for CPOE, nursing automation, medication administration and other key areas.

Nine EMR vendors are profiled in the report: Cerner, CPSI, Eclipsys, Epic, GE, McKesson, Meditech, QuadraMed and Siemens.

"Since the introduction of the stimulus package and its provisions for health IT, much of the market rhetoric and industry debate has centered on the concept of meaningful use – what will it entail and how will it impact the receipt of stimulus dollars," said KLAS Founder and Chairman Kent Gale. "Whatever the final definition of the term, if improved patient outcomes are indeed the ultimate goal, then some form of clinician adoption will be critical."

"In particular, deep adoption among physicians is pivotal to the overarching success of an EMR implementation," Gale said. [Continue Reading]

Kaiser's Long and Winding Road

Howard J. Anderson, Executive Editor

Health Data Management Magazine, August 1, 2009

Electronic health records are in the spotlight, thanks to the federal economic stimulus package. Many hospitals and physician groups are scrambling to draft strategies to fully implement EHRs in time to qualify for maximum federal incentive payments. Relatively few have rolled out every component of a truly comprehensive EHR.

But Kaiser Permanente is entering the home stretch in what's turned out to be a seven-year drive to implement comprehensive EHRs, personal health records and related systems at all of its hospitals and clinics. The experiences of the Oakland-Calif.-based not-for-profit organization, which owns 431 medical offices and 35 hospitals plus a large health plan, provide valuable insights for others that aren't as far along.

Continue Reading

Federal Work Group Calls for Multiple EHR Certifying Groups

From iHealthBeat

On Thursday, the Health IT Policy Committee's certification and adoption work group recommended that multiple organizations be allowed to provide "HHS certification" for electronic health record systems, Health Data Management reports.

To receive HHS certification, EHR systems must meet a minimum set of functional criteria and achieve the "meaningful use" objectives of the federal economic stimulus package. Under the stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs will receive Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.

The work group called for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to define HHS certification criteria and separate the process from the influence of certifying organizations.

Continue Reading

New Leasing Options Now Available

In light of today's economy every facility is looking at cash flow. At Cygnus, we recognized the need for facilities to have purchasing options available.

With a lease a facility can implement new technology without the upfront cost of the equipment and save valuable capital funds for other projects.

Check out more information about our leasing programs here.

President Obama to Sign ARRA’s HITECH provisions

From HIPAA.com
Ed Jones, Author & Healthcare Authority

The Senate joined the House on Friday evening, February 13, 2009, in passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes provisions relating to Health Information Technology. Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B together are known as the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act” or the “HITECH Act.” We will be highlighting attributes of the HITECH Act through the end of February. READ MORE>>

COW's=Computers on Wheels, Computers on Walls

We know what WE call our products but what do our customers call them when they are in use? I recently received some results from a poll of nurses, doctors, healthcare IT staff and others about what THEY call our type of products.

One response was Computer on Wall, which really made lots of sense. The computers on wheels (or COW) is a popular option across many facilities. There are, however, some issues with this form of point-of-care computing. Besides the issue of battery life and charging (which usually happens in hallways), carts have a large footprint in a room and are cumbersome to move around all day. Not to mention that most hospitals have dead zones of wireless connectivity. We actually visited a facility that had colored tape on the floor to signify dead zones. With a wall mounted charting desk a network drop can be added to directly wire the CPU to the network.

What we do at Cygnus is take the technology of a cart and put it in a stationary, secure, wall mounted enclosure. Our cabinets become attractive fixtures on the wall, leaving the entire floor unobstructed. So, I guess that Computer on Wall isn't so far off.

ThoughtFlow vs WorkFlow

I'm a member of several LinkedIn groups that deal with healthcare IT. One group, aptly named Healthcare IT, has been in a mildly heated debate over the process of implementing IT. Some individuals say physicians just don't get it and other talk about the lack of understanding of technology integrators.

Dr. Sam Bierstock, physician & speaker, has a seven minute presentation which talks about his thoughts on the a process called ThoughtFlow. Dr. Bierstock lays out the difference between standard IT workflow the way an IT designer would think of programming and how a physician would actually process information.

Check out this interesting presentation here.

Tablets in Healthcare? Are you using one?

The popularity of tablet computers seems to be growing. What we've found is that users like to have a place to dock, charge and store their device.

When we see a certain model is popular, we create a workstation solution. We have several specific models we've designed for the Motion C5. 20" Tablet Station 36" Tablet Station.

Are you using a tablet? If so, what kind are you using? Your comments are greatly appreciated.

A more strict HIPAA?

The HIPAA regulations are pretty strict and there is a rumble that HIPAA slows down research and gets in the way of standard medical practice. But should there be concern with making regulations tighter when no one enforces it as it is? Check out this recently posted is this article by Anne Zieger, editor of FierceHealthIT.

Why toughen HIPAA when nobody enforces it? January 25, 2009 — 7:25pm ET | By Anne Zieger
This week, House Ways and Means Committee members should be considering an economic stimulus package that includes provisions to beef up HIPAA. Yes, you heard me right--they're thinking about adding more stringent protections to a law that virtually never gets enforced anyway. READ MORE>>

Tough economic times? Cutting IT budget is not the way to go

The natural instinct during a weak economy is to pull back the reigns and freeze spending. IT infrastructure is growing in importance, taking a leading role in admissions, record keeping, diagnostics and communication.

Tom Adams of HP Financial Services writes in HealthcareIT News, "Facing the most uncertain economic climate in decades, frugality has become the predominant instinct among healthcare organizations. However, when it comes to technology - and IT infrastructure in particular - the impulse towards frugality must be combined with the intelligent implementation of industry."
READ MORE >>

Panel releases details on $20B in health IT spending

We're finally starting to get a sneak peak at the proposed incentive package promised by the new administration. There certainly appears to be a big push to get physicians and health care facilities on board with electronic health records. Below is a great article from Alice Lipowicz on the Federal Computer Week website.
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The House Ways and Means Committee is calling for $20 billion in spending to encourage the adoption of health information technology, including payments of as much as $65,000 to physicians who can demonstrate that they are using electronic data. The committee's chairman, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), released details Jan 16 of the Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which is to be included in an economic stimulus package.

The bill seeks to advance the use of health IT, including electronic health records, Rangel said in a news release. The measure would spend $20 billion on incentives to encourage doctors and hospitals to use health IT, the news release states. The incentives include payments of $40,000 to $65,000 to doctors who can show they are "meaningfully utilizing health IT, such as through the reporting of quality measures," the release states. READ MORE >>>