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The patient-centered medical home model can potentially address many current safety concerns in primary care, wrote Mark Graber, MD, of Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, and Hardeep Singh, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, in a commentary published in the July 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
There is no EHR on the market today that does all of the steps required for physicians to successfully meet Stage 1 meaningful use criteria, according to an American Medical Association (AMA) statement released this week.
Since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision to eliminate payments for consultation codes began Jan. 1, 83 percent of physicians said that total practice revenues have declined, and 30 percent said they have already cut back on services to Medicare patients, according to a survey of 5,500 physicians conducted by the American Medical Association that was published June 25.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Tuesday released the long anticipated final rules for identifying the criteria for hospitals and eligible providers to become meaningful users of health IT. Prominent professional societies have responded with supportive materials for eligible providers and hospitals, as well as reactions to the final rules.
A survey of physicians finds that while most support the professional commitment to report other physicians who they feel are incompetent or impaired, such as from alcohol or drug use, when faced with this situation, many did not follow through on making a report, according to a study in the July 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Senate passed a bill June 18 to block the 21 percent cut to fix to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for six months, after failing to pass larger tax extender legislation that also included the Medicare provision.
The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, enacted April 15, extended the zero percent update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule through May 31. Now, Congress is still debating the elimination of the negative update that took effect June 1; however, in hopes of legislation passing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is holding claims through June 17.
Peter W. Carmel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon from New York City, with a practice in Newark, N.J., was named president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA). He will assume the office in June 2011.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will further delay enforcement of the Red Flags Rule until Dec. 31 at the “request of several members of Congress” to narrow the scope of the regulation. The rule was set to take effect today.
The American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association and the Medical Society of the District of Columbia have filed a suit in federal court seeking to prevent the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from extending identity theft regulations to physicians.
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Written by Gina Narcisi
Like the old adage goes: no pain, no gain. CPOE is one of those areas where the pain of implementation and physician training is certainly worth the gain of better patient care.
President Barack Obama signed into law the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which delayed the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician pay...again.
Between 75 percent and 85 percent of physicians with EHRs are already using functions that meet some of the proposed criteria for demonstrating meaningful use, according to analysis from Seth O. Hogan, survey director, and Stephanie M. Kissam, health services research associate, at RTI International in Chicago.
A number of healthcare organizations are urging Congress to pass legislation to stop a 21 percent cut in physician payments for Medicare that is scheduled to go into effect today. Meanwhile, in a replay of the situation that took place a month ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed contractors to hold Medicare claims for the first 10 business days in April in order to give Congress time to pass legislation.
President Barack Obama will reportedly nominate Donald M. Berwick, MD, as the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), according to a variety of media sources.
The passage of the healthcare reform bill will have a “devastating impact” on physician-owned hospitals and virtually destroy the more than 60 hospitals that are currently under development, according to Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America.
The House of Representatives Sunday approved the Senate version of healthcare reform legislation by a vote of 219-212. Later in the evening, the House cleared its package of amendments, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, by a vote of 220-211. The reconciliation bill will now go to the Senate, where Democrats need 51 votes to send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law.
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation that will delay the date of a 21.2 percent Medicare payment cut to physicians until Oct.1.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and Dell are collaborating for health IT adoption for such technologies as EMRs, e-prescribing and laboratory services through the AMA’s new health information solutions platform for physicians.
A study conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that within 24 of the 43 reporting states in the study, two large insurance payors had a combined market share of 70 percent or more, and that overall competition in the health insurance industry is decreasing.
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“We’re beginning a revolution the way information is collected, managed, used and purposed for patients in the U.S. healthcare system,” said David Blumenthal, MD, chair of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, in opening remarks at an audioconference training session on meaningful use and EHR certification last week.
In Part 1 of our closer look at the final rules for meaningful use and EHR certification standards, CMIO’s Jeff Byers spoke with David Blumenthal, MD, chair of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. In Part 2, CMIOs weigh in with mixed reviews.
The framework for meaningful use is “something that had to be done and has been started intelligently,” John P. Glaser, PhD, vice president and CIO of Partners HealthCare System told CMIO. However, the challenges of becoming meaningful users and optimizing health information exchange will require unprecedented levels of communication within organizations and among healthcare systems, he said.
The contractual obligations in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on modifications to the HIPAA privacy, security and enforcement rules under the HITECH Act for business associates and downstream entities are game changers, according to Amy S. Leopard, JD, from Walter and Haverfield, during a webinar sponsored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Standardizing performance measures, with the help of health IT, will make it possible to collect the right data at the right time to support performance measurement, clinical decision support, clinical research and quality improvement, said Janet M. Corrigan, PhD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF) during a webinar hosted by the forum on June 17.