CSRA MD Journal - Doctors Hospital

Health Information TechnologyNavigating the Electronic World in HealthcareBy Gloria M. DunbarElectronic Health Record Systems (EHRs), or the thoughtof them, are front and center in today’s medical offices, and hospitals.EHRs are a key component to health information technology.The systems enable clinicians to capture patient clinical dataand exchange the information among all providers participatingin the patients’ care. This exchange of accurate information iscritical to improving the health outcomes of patients. The convenienceof having the patient health information readily availabledramatically reduces commonplace issues such as duplicatetests,misread prescriptions and/or wasted hours (sometimesdays) waiting for records to be transferred from one health careprovider to the next. While the benefits of EHRs are numerous,the number of providers utilizing them is limited. However, thosenumbers are slated to increase considerably due to the currentfederal legislation--Health Information Technology for Economic& Clinical Health Act (HITECH).BackgroundThe HITECH legislation passed in February 2009 allocated59 billion dollars to the Department of Health and HumanServices. The goals of the HITECH Act is to utilize technologyto improve healthcare and reduce costs for all communities. Toensure the goals could be met, the funding created multiple programsthat States, Medical Communities, Community Colleges,HOMe OF THe “OrIGINaL” SMOak’S Bakery GIrLS!A Piece of Cake$5.00 OFFaNy Cake $30 Or MOre.Must present coupon when ordering. Not valid with any other offer. Expires 12/24/10.and individual Providers could participate in. Moreover, thelegislation mandated that Regional Extension Centers (REC) beestablished to help providers understand, adopt, and implementEHRs as well as HITECH policy components. Currently there are62 RECs throughout the country, and GA is home to one of them.GA Health Information Technology RegionalExtension Center (GA-HITREC)The National Center for Primary Care at the MorehouseSchool of Medicine was awarded named as the Regional ExtensionCenter for the state of Georgia. GA-HITREC was awarded19.5 million dollars to assist 5,000 primary care providers and 56Critical Access and Acute Care Hospitals with EHR vendor selection,implementation, and meaningful use certification. To ensurecoverage throughout the state, GA-HITREC chose 16 strategicpartner’s to work with Providers and Hospitals to achievemeaningful use with successful EHR implementations.The legislation also provided funding to reward eligible providersfor utilizing EHRs in their practices.As much as $27 billion will be dispersed over ten years to supportthe adoption of EHRs. Under HITECH federal incentive paymentswill be available to doctors and hospitals when they adopt EHRsand demonstrate use in ways that can improve quality, safety andeffectiveness of care.Sponsor 2010Physician’sGalaBakeryCakeS: Speciality, Birthday & WeddingBakeD GOODS: Cookies, Brownies & Petit FoursSMaLL PaSTrIeS: Cheese Straws, eclairs & Petit FoursDaNISH TrayS / SWeeT TraySA Piece of CakeBakery4015 C-2 Washington roadMartinez, Georgia(On the right before Gerald Jones Honda)706-922-2000Eligible Providers can receive as much as$44,000 over a five-year period throughMedicare.For Medicaid, Eligible Providers can receiveas much as $63,750 over six years.Your Incentive Questions AnsweredHow will Providers demonstrate thatthey have achieved the “meaningfuluse” objectives required by the regulation?In 2011, CMS will accept Provider attestationsfor demonstration of all the meaningfuluse measures, including clinicalquality measures. In 2012, CMS will continueattestation for most of the meaningfuluse objectives but plans to initiate theelectronic submission of the clinical qualitymeasures.Continued on page 28November / December CSRA MD Journal • 7