standards report

Health IT standards development likely to speed up

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

With some core data already defined, it's looking like the pace of health IT standards development is likely to pick up. According to John Halamka, chairman of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), with standards in place for some areas--including biosurveillance, consumer empowerment and electronic health record exchange of lab data--moving ahead is going to be easier than it has been in the past. Halamka, CIO of Harvard Medical School, says that this year, HITSP will focus on patient-provider secure messaging, personalized healthcare, public health case reporting, remote monitoring/consultations and care transfers. As soon as 2009, vendors should begin to incorporate HITSP standards into their products, he predicts.

To learn more about health IT standards development progress:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece

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Groups say IT changes must be part of national reform

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

A pair of lobbying groups have been pushing hard to see the U.S. Congress pass health IT legislation that establishes national technology standards, before technology vendors go further down the road toward developing incompatible systems. The groups include the Health IT Now Coalition, which includes former U.S. Representative Nancy Johnson, and the Information Technology Industry Council. They'd like to see Congress move ahead on bills like the Promoting Health Information Technology Act, which would, among other things, establish a public/private group to recommend IT standards and would set aside $163 million per year to help providers adopt key HIT products. The reality, however, is that many advocates had similar ambitions for 2007, and they weren't able to get anything through. Maybe the election year will change things?

To learn about other pending HIT legislation:
- read this PC World piece

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CMS drops e-prescribing loophole

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

CMS is getting serious about e-prescribing. The agency is eliminating a regulatory loophole that allowed providers and pharmacies to fax prescriptions rather than send them electronically. The change should take effect in 2009, which should give providers and pharmacies enough time to prepare, observers say.

CMS officials said they're changing the rules because few pharmacies or prescribers have used e-faxing as a bridge to e-prescribing. According to SureScripts, which operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, only 20 percent on independent pharmacies can send and receive e-prescriptions in the standard National Council for Prescription Drug Programs' Script format.

To find out more about CMS's proposed rule:
- read this Health Data Management item
- read this iHealthBeat article

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Federal bill would promote health IT standards

Mon, 28 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

A member of the federal House of Representatives has introduced a new bill which ask an arm of the government to develop health integration standards for the U.S. The bill, filed by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), would authorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create guidelines and mechanisms for smoothing the HIT integration process. Gordon was spurred, in part, by a 2005 Health Affairs study which found that the health system could save $77 billion if it had a completely interoperable network in place. NIST is already looking at ways to integrate EMRs, but the bill will give the agency new authority to further this process. Perhaps even more importantly, the bill would establish an interoperable federal HIT infrastructure, tying together such disparate systems as the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Meanwhile, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced his own package of HIT bills, arguing that it's critical to coordinate health IT efforts by business and technology leaders.

To find out more about the bill:
- read this HealthDecisions.org piece
- read this iHealthBeat article

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HHS promotes international EMR standards

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:37 -0400

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt isn't just jazzed about U.S. EMR adoption--he's now joined an international effort to establish standard clinical terminology for use in EMRs. Here's what's going on (amidst a blizzard of acronyms): The U.S. is now one of nine charter members of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHT-SDO). To kick off its efforts, IHT-SDO is using language developed by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), known as the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT).

The IHT-SDO hopes to make the SNOMED CT standard available in developing countries, making sure that it fits with public health standards such as those available through the World Health Organization. IHT-SDO will also maintain and distribute SNOMED CT with support from CAP, which has signed a three-year contract to provide help with SNOMED products and services.

To find out more about this effort:
- read this HHS press release

ALSO: Healthcare IT standards body HL7 has developed a profile for emergency care based on its EHR System Functional Model. Release (.pdf)

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Cerner, partners offer HSA-driven payment card

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

Medical IT giant Cerner has launched a new card which will make health savings account (HSA) money immediately accessible at the point of care. Known as a "Healthe," the card will not only serve as a health plan ID, but will also allow consumers to debit HSAs. Healthe cards will also offer consumers the option of linking the card to a line of credit. Cerner is launching the Healthe card in partnership with Greenwood Village, CO-based First Data Healthcare Services and Kansas City-based UMB Healthcare Services. UMB Healthcare is a subsidiary of UMB Financial, which holds more than $80 million in HSA deposits.

This is not just a medical banking initiative, however: Cerner seems to be looking at an even bigger picture. Cerner's Healthe products include the Healthe Hub, an interoperability solution for RHIOs, and Healthe Connect, which allows RHIO participants to message consumers and providers securely, as well as enabling e-prescribing transactions. Cerner has been testing the card concept in-house, at its worksite-based Healthe Clinic. The Healthe Clinic has drawn the attention of at least one Fortune 100 company, which has asked Cerner to build one on its premises.

To get background on the effort:
- read this piece from The Kansas City Star

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Ohio health system rolls out e-prescribing

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:01:34 -0400

Another health system has jumped into e-prescribing with both feet. This time it's Columbus, OH-based OhioHealth, a health system including 15 hospitals, 20 health and surgery centers, home health and DME services. Working with e-prescription vendor RxNT of Annapolis, OhioHealth has rolled out e-prescribing to its 2,300 physicians. RxNT's technology allows physicians to both transmit prescriptions and receive messages back from pharmacies, including electronic refill requests. The RxNT system also allows physicians to access it via Pocket PC and Palm OS as well as with desktop PCs. To transmit the prescriptions, RxNT's system is connected to the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts. According to SureScripts, upwards of 95 percent of pharmacies are connected to the Exchange. Now, the question is whether physicians will actually use the system as planned; studies have suggested that physicians have trouble using more-advanced e-prescribing features.

To find out more about the implementation:
- read this press release

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CMS approves Part D e-prescribing standards

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

CMS has put its stamp of approval on three e-prescribing standards for use in Medicare Part D transactions, after testing them jointly with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. CMS tested a larger group of standards with five pilot sites in eight states, with participants including Eden Prairie, MN-based Achieve Healthcare Information Technologies, Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, Santa Monica, CA-based Rand, Alexandra, VA-based SureScripts and University Hospitals Health System of Cleveland, OH. The three standards that worked are designed to convey formulary and benefit information, exchange of medication histories and fill status notifications. However, the other three standards, which dealt with structured code sets for patient instructions, clinical drug terminology and prior authorization methods, didn't pass muster with AHRQ and CMS. The research, which also tested out e-prescribing in long-term care for 12 months, found that nursing and pharmacy staffs weren't satisfied with the technology.

To find out more about the tests:
- check out this Healthcare IT News item
- read this Modern Healthcare article (sub. req.)
- see the CMS report (.pdf) summarizing the study findings
- read the long-term care report (.pdf)

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HHS backs genetics-driven, HIT-focused healthcare

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt unveiled a new initiative on Friday which would rely heavily on advanced health IT tools to individualize and improve patient care.
Leavitt's "Personalized Health Care" program will link genetic information with traditional health records on a large scale, in an effort to predict and thereby prevent the onset of many diseases. Leavitt has said that this effort will be one of his top priorities for the next two years.

Overall, HHS agencies like the NIH, FDA and CDC will spend $277 million on personalized health care efforts this year, and should up that spending to $352 million in fiscal 2008. To boost this effort, President Bush has included $15 million in funding in his 2008 budget to create a new electronic network linking together data repositories across the U.S., Leavitt noted. To make sure these efforts don't compromise privacy efforts--or expose consumers to discrimination--HHS is beginning a comprehensive review of how the aggregation of this information will impact individual consumers. It will also work with the American Health Information Community to develop health IT standards for including genetic data in EMRs.

To learn more about how this initiative is playing out across HHS:
- read HHS's press release
- check out this United Press International item
- review the HHS overview of the program

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Schwarzenegger issues HIT mandate

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Jumping on board an initiative kicked off by HHS secretary Michael Leavitt, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed an order pushing healthcare providers to adopt more health information technology and make pricing and quality information more readily available. The state, which has set a goal of 100 percent electronic data exchange within 10 years, will now push for HIT by supporting organizations that use e-prescribing and other health data exchange technologies.

The California Medical Association reacted somewhat negatively to the governor's announcement, stating that while it's all in favor of health IT adoption, it's against anything that imposes new costs on practices that can't foot the bill. "Many small practices and practices operating in poor and rural areas cannot afford some technologies and, in some cases, don't have high-speed Internet access," noted a CMA statement. "Without financial assistance, the governor's mandate would be an undue burden for these doctors."

To learn more about the new requirements:
- read this Sacramento Business Journal article
- see the California Medical Association's press release
- read the governor's executive order

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