Farzad Mostashari, MD, gave the health information technology community a glimpse of where he’d like to see ONC focus its attention in the upcoming months during the HIT Policy Committee’s April 14 meeting. Mostashari, whose appointment as the new National Coordinator replacing David Blumenthal, MD was announced earlier this month, outlined a set of priorities
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Today, attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins. This means that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) can attest through the CMS web-based attestation system and be on their way to receiving Medicare EHR incentive payments. Several new CMS resources can help navigate the Medicare EHR Incentive Program: A new attestation
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Healthland announced that its client, East Carroll Parish Hospital, has received its initial Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) adoption incentive payment. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, East Carroll Parish Hospital received $1.2 million in stimulus funds. Based in Lake Providence, Louisiana, East Carroll Parish operates a 23-bed acute care hospital
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today launched two strategic plans aimed at reducing health disparities. The HHS Action Plan to Reduce Health Disparities outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. HHS also released the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, a common
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Reinventing the wheel every time it wanted to exchange health information wasn’t cost-effective or efficient for the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). So when leaders at the Minneapolis, MN-based health system were approached by ABILITY (formerly VisionShare) to participate in a Direct Project pilot, they saw a way to streamline their efforts. “The exciting thing
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If your organization doesn’t have policies and procedures in place to demonstrate privacy and security compliance, be prepared for big penalties if the HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) comes knocking.
With the announcement in February of steep monetary penalties involving HIPAA privacy violations (see sidebar below), the OCR signaled that it is serious about its enforcement of privacy and security breaches and is ready and willing to use the enforcement tools authorized by HITECH.
The telehealth market continues to flourish as providers seek new ways to expand patient care and reduce costs. Recently Humana Cares, a division of the Louisville, KY-based insurer Humana, initiated a remote patient monitoring program that incorporates a few unique elements, including member coaching, education, and health support. Humana Care rolled out its biometric monitoring
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The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) announced that its affiliate, the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP), is launching a new initiative to provide the public, media, and policymakers with resources and information about the value of care coordination and accountable care to national health care reform. The campaign, called www.5RealAnswers.org, features a series of three
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e-MDs announced it has been selected as an EHR vendor partner by HITArkansas, the state’s federally designated Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (HITREC). HITArkansas works to promote the adoption and use of health IT by offering guidance, technical assistance and financial incentives to health care providers who want to make the transition to
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Sage Healthcare Division, a unit of Sage North America and a major provider of electronic health records (EHR) and practice management software and services, announced today that it is collaborating with the Medical Society of Virginia to participate in a new program called Health Information Technology Select. Medical Society of Virginia’s EHR vendor program is
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