EMR Implementation & HITECH Act Blog
A blog for doctors and medical office staff seeking assistance with EMR and the HITECH Act.
Monthly Archives: March 2010
2010
Another Country’s Experience: Health Information Technology (HIT) Can Work and Work Well
As the American health care system takes its first steps toward implementing a comprehensive national system of electronic medical records, can we learn anything from other countries? Is there anywhere else in the world that’s been there and done that?
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Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Implementation
Tagged: Electronic Medical Records, EMR, EMR Implementation, HIT
2010
HIT Safety Concerns Spotlighted by FDA, HHS and Senator Grassley
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We’re less than a year into the implementation of the HITECH Act signed into law by an administration that wants every American to have an EMR by 2014, and questions are already being raised as to the safety of Health Information Technology. It looks more and more like error and adverse event reporting will be an integral part of implementation of EHRs. Both Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to start tracking errors caused or created by EMRs, EHRs and other health information technologies.
Filed under: CPOE, EHR, EMR, HITECH Act
Tagged: CPOE, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, HITECH, HITECH Implementation
2010
Massachusetts Receives $24 Million in HIT Funding
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Massachusetts, long a leader in the delivery of quality medical care to its citizens, has just received more than $24 million from the federal government to speed the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) throughout the Commonwealth.
Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, HIT
Tagged: EHR Privacy, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, EMR Implementation, HIT, Meaningful Use
2010
Financing of EMRs Carries Both Risks and Rewards
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Physicians looking to adopt Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are facing an interesting dilemma. Incentive money won’t be available from the government for the the implementation of EHRs until 2011, but implementation will require spending substantial amounts of money now – as much as $25,000 to $50,000 per provider, by some estimates – to get the system up and running and qualify for those incentives.
Filed under: EHR, EMR, Electronic Health Records
Tagged: EHR, Electronic Health Records, Electronic Medical Records, EMR, EMR Software, HITECH Incentives
2010
Certification of EMRs Takes a Big Step Forward
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The two most important aspects of any electronic medical records system have been meaningful use and certification. Meaningful use, as we discussed in an earlier post, has finally been defined. Now the certification process is being clarified.
Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Meaningful Use
Tagged: Electronic Medical Records, EMR, EMR Compliance, EMR Implementation, HIT
2010
Business Associates Now Subject To Security Rules and Penalties
The HITECH Act was signed into law just one year ago. That wouldn’t be noteworthy, except that at the one-year anniversary of its signing, HIPAA privacy rules became applicable to business associates of covered entities.
Previously, covered entities weren’t subject to these rules, except to the extent that they were governed by their business associate agreements (BAAs).
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Filed under: HIPAA, HITECH Act
Tagged: HIPAA, HITECH Act, HITECH and HIPAA
2010
ONC Appoints New Chief Privacy Officer
When the HITECH Act was signed into law last year, it was evident that privacy would be a big part of compliance with the new laws. And sure enough, among the changes were the extension of HIPAA privacy requirements to business associates and other third parties, and increased penalties which now can run into the millions.Filed under: HITECH Act
Tagged: HITECH Act, Joy Pritts, ONCHIT
2010
Meaningful Use of EMR Has Finally Been Defined
One of the key factors in obtaining incentive funds from the government for the implementation of Electronic Medical Records is the definition of meaningful use. You must prove that you are using a certified system in a meaningful way to qualify for the $40,0000+ incentive payments available to eligible practitioners (EP).
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Filed under: EMR, Electronic Medical Records, Meaningful Use
Tagged: EMR, Meaningful Use, ONCHIT
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