Thoughts about Meaningful Use Regulations

From EHRscope blog

The widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) throughout the healthcare system received another boost last week when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its final criteria for the meaningful use of EHRs within the incentive program established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. After releasing preliminary meaningful use regulations back in January, the agency spent the past several months collecting the thoughts and opinions of anyone and everyone in healthcare who took the time to submit one. CMS has said these factored into the finished product quite heavily, so score one for transparency.

The final meaningful use regulations haven’t diminished the EHR incentive program’s impact on health plans, and its effect on health reform remains the same. If anything, they offer more flexibility than those proposed in January, which should increase EHR adoption within the plan’s first few years. The bottom line is that greater usage of EHRs will get electronic medical data flowing throughout the system. We’ll see more integration and sharing of information among payers, providers and even patients, which is a major step in the path to reform.

-Eric Demers

VP of Health and Life Sciences,MEDecision

Michigan hospitals brace for next hit

State Medicaid cuts, GM bankruptcy to add to woes

BY PATRICIA ANSTETT • FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER • June 12, 2009

The bankruptcy of General Motors Corp. and new state Medicaid cuts are expected to hit Michigan hospitals hard, on the heels of record losses from soaring patient debts and free care for the uninsured.

Around the state, hospitals are digging into budgets to find additional savings, in anticipation of the next hit. They are postponing new projects and freezing job openings, mostly outside of patient care.

Job seekers will notice fewer openings, as health systems, once a reliable source of employment and good benefits, cut their workforce. Patients may see longer waits, particularly in areas like imaging or surgery, hit by drops in business as people without insurance or higher co-pays postpone care. [Continue]