Check out this link Health IT Certification . Has anyone had any experience with this organization.
Looks like there are four ways that the educational programs and certification for CPEHR, CPHIT and CPHIE can be taken:
I am looking at signing up for the EHR Cert.
The U.S. health care system lags behind many other industrialized nations in health IT adoption and other measures related to health care access and quality, according to a new study.
The study was published online today in the journal Health Affairs (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 11/5).
For the study, researchers surveyed more than 10,000 primary care physicians in 11 countries between February and July 2009 .
The study found that 46% of U.S. physicians use electronic health records, up from 28% in 2006.
The researchers found that 99% of doctors in the Netherlands use EHRs. Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the U.K. also reported EHR adoption rates of 94% or higher.
Among the surveyed countries, only Canada lagged behind the U.S., with an EHR adoption rate of 37% .
The study also found that advanced EHR use in the U.S. tends to occur in large, integrated group practices. Researchers noted that the countries with the highest EHR adoption rates reported no significant differences in rates of advanced use among physician practices of different sizes (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 11/5).
Researchers found that at least half of the physicians in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have a process to track adverse medical events.
They noted that 20% of U.S. doctors said they have an effective risk monitoring system, while a third of U.S. physicians said they have no such system.
Here is a link to the full study – http://spedr.com/5wb7m
It would appear that MDs have limited knowledge of the American Recovery and Reinvestment provisions, according to a recent online survey of 1,001 physicians, and they are still reluctant to adopt information technology.
Ingenix, a healthcare IT company and consulting firm conducted a survey. While financial incentives and penalties drive physicians to adopt health IT, the survey showed, they continue to be worried about upfront cost and workflow disruption.
The survey showed more than half ( 58 percent) of the respondents have little or no familiarity with ARRA, with 42 percent indicating some familiarity.
82 percent cite investment reimbursement as a motivator for implementing an electronic health record system, with 77 percent citing penalties as a motivation to implement.
Not surprisingly, cost and workflow disruption were listed as the two greatest risks for EHR deployment, with 82 percent citing cost and 74 percent citing workflow disruption.
The shift to adopt health IT is happening – thanks to the stimulus funds and CMS incentives – albeit slowly, said Kim LaFontana, vice president of Ingenix. “There is a growing awareness that the reason to adopt makes sense,” she said.
The industry needs to educate the independent physicians who have not had a compelling business case to adopt in the past, LaFontana said. The legacy vendor community has largely focused on the multi-specialty, complex healthcare systems with deep pockets, she said.
With ARRA and a larger market of small physician offices, vendors have an incentive to develop innovative next-generation electronic health records, she said. Hosted EHRs with monthly subscription fees are providing much-needed new business and technology models for independent physicians.
The way physicians are educated on health IT and EHRs also needs to change, LaFontana said, adding, “This is an opportunity to start talking about capabilities in the physician’s office.”
Technology should be seen as an enabler that brings new capabilities and efficiencies to a physician’s office, she said. Physicians will be more receptive to health IT if the conversation is around better care and more efficiency of the whole system. For instance, physicians would value an EHR with its ability to identify their diabetic patients who have not had a hemoglobin A1c screening test in the past year.
The primary care physician’s world is changing rapidly, LaFontana said. Fee and reimbursement schedules are changing, models of care such as the patient-centered medical home are being introduced, reporting quality meausures is required for participation in pay-for-performance programs. The small physician offices are overwhelmed with administrative complexity, clinical protocols and revenue cycle management issues, she said.
Legacy vendors have under-invested in the small group practices in the past. “You have to look at the entire physician’s office,” LaFontana said. Vendors and independent physicians need to establish the foundational capability in the office and the workflow around that in order to reap the benefits of health IT implementation.
I have a Blackberry Tour and its a great smartphone. In fact I’m typing this blog entry from my phone – very cool. Just found a great app – its the TIME magazine app- great news articles and very easy to read on the device. Check it out.
Have you any experience with Practice Fusion? Check out www.practicefusion.com. This is a FREE online EMR system. Looks like its revenue model is via advertising on the screen – there is an advertising free version which you have to pay for. I have been playing around with it and it looks very impressive. The company claims that it will meet all the “meaningful use” criteria and they guarantee you will get your 44-64 K – a big promise!
I opened an account to use for an overseas project. I am going to Nicaragua in February with ‘Operation Rainbow’ – check out www.operationrainbow.org. I thought we would keep electronic records on all the patients we see on the trip. I am trying to find out how good the internet service is in Nicaragua – anyone know? I will continue to look at this product as I think it looks very promising.
The use of Twitter in the healthcare space is intersting. This posting from a blog outlines a way to record health related activities, symptoms and other related activities. Check this out http://spedr.com/31kr7
I recently attended the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco. One of the companies that was highlighted at the meeting was ‘American Well’. An impressive company that has created an online care system that allows instant connection between a patient and a provider. Using a web cam and VOIP technology the concept of online care becomes fairly straightforward. Their current partners include Blue Shield, Blue Cross, Optum Health and Tri West Healthcare Alliance. Check them out at www.americanwell.com. I will be following them very closely as I think this space in healthcare is set for huge expansion.
I have just added an interesting white paper entitled – Total Economic Impact Of
VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure . Please feel free to download it.
The Senate Finance Committee voted today in favor of its version of proposed healthcare reform legislation in a 14-9 vote, including the approval of Olympia Snowe, R.-Me.
Each member of the Committee had an opportunity to speak on the bill–and healthcare reform generally–beginning at 10:00am this morning.
Committee Chair Max Baucus, D.-Mont., had opened the hearing, stating: “This is our opportunity to make history,” and reviewed the “exhaustive” process that brought them to this point of vote.
Snowe, who was considered the swing vote, supported the bill in its current iteration, but withheld agreeing to support future versions.
In a statement preceding the vote, she said: “Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it. But when history calls, history calls and I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.” Yet, she added that her “vote today is my vote today, it doesn’t forecast what my vote would be tomorrow.”
She became the first Republican in Congress to support a healthcare reform bill, as the five other healthcare reform bills that passed in House and Senate committees did not receive any Republican votes.
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said that “[d]oing nothing is not an option;” a sentiment echoed by Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Jay Rockfeller, D-W.Va., implied that this version of healthcare reform legislation is just a beginning.
Conrad congratulated the bill’s lack of a government-sponsored healthcare insurance plan, or public option, and cited the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report of how the Finance Committee’s bill will reduce the federal deficit.
Late last week, the CBO released a preliminary analysis, estimating the bill would $829 billion in credits and subsidies over the next ten years.
The Finance Committee’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, gave voice to the GOP’s concerns about the bill, saying it was “moving on a slippery slope to more and more government control of healthcare.”
John Cornyn, R-Texas, claimed the bill will cut Medicare and Medicaid services while raising existing healthcare insurance premiums. Other Republicans on the Committee expressed their worries that taxes will have to be raised to pay for the bill.
John Kerry, D-Mass., said that “it is fair to ask medical device manufacturers to bear some of the burden of the cost of the healthcare; however, I do not believe we have adequately assessed how much of a contribution these technologies make to decreasing the costs of delivering healthcare.” Kerry urged that this aspect of the legislation be revisited as the bill moves forward as he believes the current version asks for “too much” from medical device manufacturers.
I must admit that I am NOT a Reader’s Digest fan – we probably have a few paper copies in our waiting room. However, I was attracted to this list that is reproduced from their web site. It lists 18 different areas in the battle to reform healthcare. Good to see e-prescribing and EMRs listed. Here’s their list. Any others you might add?
1. Fight the Big Five
Find out how to take proactive steps if you’re managing a chronic disease at fightchronicdisease.org. Read Health Care Reform Now! A Prescription for Change by George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.
2. Reduce Medical Errors by Thinking Like an Airline
You can subscribe to an e-mail newsletter about developments in health policy at mayoclinic.org. And find out more about patient safety reform from the National Patient Safety Foundation, npsf.org.
3. Get It Right the First Time
Inquire about a second-opinion program at your job, or encourage your employer to enroll in one like Best Doctors at bestdoctors.com.
4. Pay Employees for Healthy Habits
Learn how businesses and organizations are coming together to fix health care at coalition4healthcare.org. See how Steve Burd made it work at Safeway. Watch his address on health care at safeway.com.
5. E-Prescribe
Visit ehealthinitiative.org to find out about studies, conferences, and events on e-prescribing.
6. Use Retail Clinics for Routine Care
Find a retail health clinic in your area at ccaclinics.org.
7. Share Information to Fight Cancer
Learn more about collaborative efforts to implement faster, safer, and smarter FDA-approved prescription drugs and medical products at c-path.org.
8. Measure Results and Make Them Public
Get ratings for hundreds of Minnesota health-care providers at mnhealthcare.org.
9. Stop Unnecessary Treatments
Do you really need the medical procedure your doctor recommends? Learn how to have a two-way conversation with your doctor at overtreated.com.
10. Reduce Infant Mortality
Help save the lives of premature newborns: Log onto marchofdimes.com/prematurity to be a part of the Prematurity Campaign and make a donation.
11. Make Schools Healthier
Make the sugar-free case to the principal and PTA at your child’s school. For more information, go to healthykidssmartkids.com.
12. Don’t Hire Smokers
Grab health care by the horns like Jim Hagedorn. To find out how to develop a wellness plan like his, go to takecareemployersolutions.com.
13. Electronic Medical Records
Get savvy with your own electronic medical records. Sign up for free at google.com/health or at healthvault.com.
14. Save Primary Care
Connect with others and help save primary care at the AMA Patients’ Action Network, http://patientsactionnetwork.org/index.aspx.
15. Award Prizes for Affordable Drugs
Read blogs, articles, and more at James Love’s homepage, keionline.org, to learn about innovative ways to reward breakthrough medicines.
16. Visit a Virtual Doc
Find out how to reach a doc 24/7 at americanwell.com.
17. Team Up in Hospitals
To find out more about the Cleveland Clinic’s multidisciplinary approach to health care, go to clevelandclinic.org. Read the book that inspired the plan, Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, by Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg (it was named 2007 book of the year by the American College of Healthcare Executives).
18. Let Everyone Shop for the Best Plan
See how members of Congress shop for health insurance at lewin.com. Search for Healthy Americans Act. Also see opm.gov for more information on FEHMP.
