data exchange

Satire looks slantwise at EMR vendors

Anne Zieger — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:42:31 -0400

Is your EMR certified by SEEDIE? How can you say you've done your job if your EMR doesn't meet the standards of the Society for Exorbitantly Expensive and Difficult to Implement EHRs? Just visit Seedie.org to learn more. And prepare to pump up your budget: After all, as SEEDIE notes, "While the other groups argue endlessly about which standards are most appropriate in pursuit of "plug and play" solutions, SEEDIE recognizes that data exchange should only occur after a lengthy and expensive custom integration process." And hey, they should know--as SEEDIE is funded by a select group of proprietary EHR vendors, including Extormity, the EMR "at the confluence of extortion and conformity." Website

Coalition wants e-prescribing included in Medicare reform

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

A coalition of 44 healthcare industry organizations have come together to ask Congress to to include e-prescribing mandates in Medicare reform legislation. The members want legislators to adopt the Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection Act of 2007 (E-MEDS), which would require Medicare providers to use e-prescribing technology. The group should have some clout, as it includes some heavy hitters, including the BlueCross BlueShield Association, AT&T, the National Business Group on Health, General Motors, WellPoint, CIGNA, Aetna and Verizon.

In recent times, it's begun to look like a Medicare e-prescribing mandate is all but certain. However, despite these endorsements, it hasn't happened yet, and it's not clear whether HHS is inclined to force the matter.

To learn more about this initiative:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Momentum growing for requiring Medicare e-prescribing
HHS head encourages payers to demand e-prescribing
Group says controlled-substance rules block e-prescribing
E-prescribing: What's holding it back?

ALSO NOTED: HIT execs want data security standards; AT&T, Tennessee create health data exchange; and much more...

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> A new survey concludes that HIT execs would like to see the industry adopt a uniform way for verifying healthcare data security. Article

> AT&T and the state of Tennessee have created the state's first health data exchange. Article

> New York plans to give some of its area physicians a push toward EMR use, by paying part of the cost of EMR adoption for physicians whose practice include 30 percent uninsured or Medicaid-eligible consumers. Article

> It's another victory for e-prescribing, however incremental. Aetna and Cigna have agreed to reimburse the physicians and dentists with upstart medical association the International Association of Dental and Medical Disciplines. Article

And Finally... Here's a controversial view. This large health plan says EMRs could turn out to be a waste of money. Article

Report: HIEs/RHIOs are states' top HIT priorities

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

States consider health information exchanges and RHIOs (pick your acronym) to be their top e-health priorities, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. When surveyed in 2007, 25 of 41 of states said that HIE adoption was one of their top two e-health priorities, and 12 said HIE policy development was a key initiative. Meanwhile, states cited the other usual suspects in third, fourth and fifth place as priorities, namely EMRs, e-prescribing and addressing health data privacy and security issues.

States said that the biggest obstacle to jump-starting HIE development efforts were getting together funding for implementation and long-term operations. (Reading between the lines, it appears that state policy-makers aren't too confident that HIEs or RHIOs can be self-financing, as some advocates seem to be.) Many said they had difficulty building a business case for HIEs, lacked adequate standards and shared terminology to use.

To learn more about the study's results:
- read this Government Health IT article

BCBS of MA plan requires hospitals to use CPOE

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

Hospitals participating in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will soon be required to used computerized physician order entry under the insurer's new incentive plan. Under the health plan's Primary Care Physician Incentive Plan and Hospital Quality Improvement Plan, both providers and hospitals will get incentives if they meet certain quality guidelines. Now, participating providers will need to meet standards established by the Massachusetts Hospital CPOE Initiative by 2012 if they want to eligible for these incentives. The Massachusetts CPOE Initiative has projected that 26 months after implementation, using CPOE will save $2.7 million per hospital, and a total $170 million per year for the state as a whole.

To learn more about the initiative:
- read this Healthcare IT News article

Related Articles:
Mass. BCBS to "tier" hospitals, MD. Report
Massachusetts e-prescribing volume hits 10.8 million scripts. Report
BCBS of MA plans reimbursement changes. Report
BCBS of MA begins physicians analysis program. Report

FCC offers $400 million to connect providers with NHIN

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:59:57 -0500

The Federal Communications Commission has set final plans to spend more than $400 million over the next there years to connect up providers with the up-and-coming National Health Information Network (NHIN). The monies are coming from the Universal Service Fund, which is supported by fees paid by long-distance phone companies to access local exchange carrier networks.

The grants, which expands the Rural Health Care Pilot Program, should connect 6,000 providers to the NHIN, including hospitals, clinics and public health agencies. The FCC plans to pay as much as 85 percent of the costs of constructing dedicated broadband networks within a state or region. The FCC has received 81 applications for funding from 42 states and three U.S. territories, and will begin handing out money to chosen applicants this month.

To learn more about the grants:
- read this Government Health IT piece

Related Articles:
IBM tests tech for NHIN. Report
HHS awards $22.5 million in NHIN contract. Report
NHIN, RHIOs and all that. Article

Report: Local RHIOs aren't likely to become national

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:59:55 -0500

A new report suggests that despite its popularity, the dominant model for developing a national health information network may not be working. The report, from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, argues that we're not likely to see a U.S. health data exchange by building local RHIOs and interconnecting them. Why? While more than 100 RHIOs have been launched nationwide, most aren't making it financially, and few are sharing data due to problems with developing data standards, author Daniel Castro notes.

To foster HIE interconnectivity, Congress will need to pass strong legislation promoting EMR use and tighter health data standards, create a legal template for health record databanks, facilitate access to such data banks and make medical practices disclose health information electronically upon request, the report suggests.

To learn more from the report:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece
- read the Foundation's report (.pdf)

Related Articles:
National health networking: It takes a government. Editorial
Why RHIOs shouldn't exist. Editorial
Report: RHIOs need governance, technical standards. Report
Study: RHIOs grow slowly, rely on grants. Report
Study: RHIOs/HIEs back by states will win. Report
Long-lived CA RHIO shuts down. Report
A solution for RHIO privacy issues: EHR/EMR "banking." Editorial
Philly RHIO users visit competing providers. Report

SPOTLIGHT: Building on French data exchange success

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:52 -0400

To date, here in the U.S., health data sharing efforts aren't very robust or widespread--and certainly, we have nothing like a national health data exchange in place yet. However, that's not the case in France, where its Ministry of Health has been running seemingly successful EMR projects across its 22 regions since 2004. So what do they know that we don't? Article

Trend: Momentum builds for e-prescribing tech

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:59:54 -0400

E-prescribing continues to be popular with state and federal officials, with a growing number either funding new initiatives or demanding that affiliated physicians get on board. Among the most recent players to take up the e-prescribing cause is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), whose administration now requires doctors contracting with the state's employee health plan to enter and submit prescriptions electronically. By 2011, doctors who have state employees as patients must also use e-prescribing by 2001.

E-prescribing is also getting steadfast support from pharmacy benefit companies like Medco Health Solutions, CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, along with e-prescribing vendors like Allscripts, which is giving away software to physicians. In the mean time, however, some providers are pushing back, arguing that demands for e-prescribing participation are "unfunded mandates." However, their protests don't seem to be slowing the train much.

To get more background on this trend:
- read this article from the Chicago Tribune

Related Articles:
Study: E-prescribing cuts med errors 66 percent. Report
E-prescribing apps still dogged by problems. Article
Ohio health system rolls out e-prescribing. Report
NH governor backs e-prescribing. Report
Here's proof: E-prescribing saves bucks, lives. Report

Study: RHIOs/HIEs backed by states will win

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

UPDATED 5/7/08

For the RHIO/HIE movement to really explode, it will take help from states, according to a new consulting firm study. The IDC Research company Health Industry Insights study looked at 20 software products and determined to what extent they could service the RHIO market. The consulting firm concluded that given these RHIOs' financial constraints, states will have a major role in fostering the development of the federal Nationwide Health Information Network.

This is, in part, because the states can address RHIO needs on an individualized basis. Right now, there are about 150 to 200 RHIOs and HIEs in existence nationally, but their level of sophistication varies greatly, according to Health Industry Insights program director Marc Holland. States will be in a good position to know the strengths and weaknesses of their regional and statewide HIEs. RHIOs that rely on federal funding, however, may not enjoy this advantage, according to other experts.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece

Related Articles:
NHIN, RHIOs and all of that. Report
Rhode Island awards $1.7M HIE contract. Report
Report offers HIE keys to survival. Report
What is the business model for sustaining a RHIO? Column
CalRHIO gets $1 million from Sutter Health. Report