EHR Archive - OA Systems RxBlog

Archive for the ‘EHR’ Category

Important Dates for Federal EHR Incentives

Posted on: January 21st, 2012 by Omar Ahmed No Comments

As you may already know, the federal incentives in place to promote the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) began last year and will continue this year as well. In order to participate, you need to be an eligible healthcare professional. Below are some important dates to be aware of, courtesy of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

December 31, 2011: Calendar Year ends for those eligible professionals who participated in the CMS EHR incentive program for 2011, the 90-day reporting period must be completed by this date

February 29, 2012: In order to receive incentive payments for 2011, the eligible professionals must be registered for the EHR program by this date and also must have attested for “meaningful use” by this date as well. To register and/or attest, please see the following page: EHR Incentive Program Registration & Attestation System

An important note, according to CMS, “Medicare EHR incentive payments to EPs are based on 75% of the Part B allowed charges for covered professional services furnished by the eligible professional during the entire payment year. If the eligible professional did not meet the $24,000 threshold in Part B allowed charges by the end of Calendar Year 2011, CMS expects to issue an incentive payment for the EP in April 2012 for 75% of the eligible professional’s Part B charges from 2011.”

We hope that this information will come in handy for those of you who are planning to attest for EHR incentives based off of the 2011 Calendar Year. For more information, please review the EHR Incentive Program website.

Videos from “The Meaning of Meaningful Use” Seminar

Posted on: November 11th, 2010 by admin No Comments

On Monday October 18, 2010, OA Systems held a seminar titled “The Meaning of Meaningful Use” in Chicago, IL.

The invited speakers were Regina Holliday, a Patient Rights Advocate and Artist, and Brian Ahier, a Health IT Evangelist.

They spoke about the need for Electronic Health Records (EHR) and the upcoming HITECH Act program, including clarifying the “Meaningful Use” Rules. Please see below for the videos from the seminar:

This is Regina’s speech from the seminar:

This is Brian’s speech from the seminar:

This is the Question & Answer portion from the seminar:

Help Is On The Way

Posted on: September 17th, 2010 by Hanif Wardak No Comments

Amidst all the madness regarding government incentives and meaningful use, seeking quality advice and guidance could not be more necessary. According to Shahid Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Netspective Communications, physicians should use caution when seeking advice and guidance.

A great place to start is the newly introduced RECs (Regional Extension Centers). The upside to RECs is that they are not going to cost the physician anything. On the other hand, the downside is their inexperience.

In addition to RECs, knowledgeable consultants can offer helpful advice for those seeking. For instance, the advice from trustworthy and reputable consultants in the fields of Meaningful Use (MU), Electronic Health Record (EHR), IT, and Integration can be worthwhile investments.

For full article click on the following source link: http://tiny.cc/txtjj

The Charter for a Meaningful Electronic Revolution

Posted on: July 13th, 2010 by Omar Ahmed No Comments

Today is an unprecedented day and will be known in history for a monumental achievement. People will look back at Tuesday July 13, 2010 as a day which started an electronic revolution of sorts. Today marked the release of what thousands around the nation were eagerly waiting for: the final rule on certification criteria for electronic health records (EHR), better known as “meaningful use.”

We at OA Systems would like to applaud HHS and ONC for the publication of the final rule. Meaningful use will have a major impact on the health IT industry for years to come and thus is a key step in the right direction towards improving our healthcare system. We are still in the process of reading through the final rule, all 864 pages of it, so we will respond with more details as we discern them.

On the e-prescribing front, one thing is for sure: Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT at ONC said in this morning’s briefing that the new rule has relaxed the amount of prescriptions that must be sent electronically. Instead of the proposed interim guidelines which suggested that seventy-five percent of all prescriptions be sent electronically in order to qualify for meaningful use; that number has now been decreased to forty percent.

Let the electronic revolution begin!

Should Electronic Billing be Part of the EHR Meaningful Use Criteria (MU) for ARRA Incentives Payments?

Posted on: April 19th, 2010 by Asad Iqbal No Comments

Paid paperwork
While discussing billing software issues with one of our clients, I was able to get his perspective on including billing in meaningful use (MU) rules for EHR implementation. I feel that his support of the benefits of the integration of billing in the MU rules of EHR hit the nail on the head.

We agreed that a continuous stream of revenue is one of the most important factors for Independent Physician Associations (IPA) and small practices to sustain their medical practices and provide optimum medical services. The benefits of the integration of billing in the MU rules of EHR would be great. This may improve medical claims preparation by automatically populating patient diagnosis and services codes in a claim form. Now it takes a click of a mouse to send the bill electronically to the designated payers.

It would also be easier to retrieve patient medical records to work with rejected claims. Accurate and timely claims preparation and submission expedite claims processing and reimbursements for doctors. The best part is that the CMS EHR reporting requirements to qualify for the ARRA incentives will also be met through an integrated EHR! I’m sure those who read that last sentence are very excited! If one of our clients feels this way, I am sure many more of you are thinking the same way.

This sounds great for IPAs and small practices, but does it seem practical given the workflow of supporting staff in clinical settings? How can we address the challenges of training support staff without impeding the workflow of a clinic?

We want to hear some of your experiences and challenges in implementing healthcare technologies that range from electronic prescribing to electronic medical records.

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