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May 25, 2010: Oregon HIE (Health Information Exchange) Public Forum at the Oregon Convention Center.

Below is registration information for the public forum coming up on May 25th.  This is a timely topic and should prove to be very interesting. 

The event is free, but requires registration. 

Please forward this information to anyone you think might be interested.

http://ochcp.org/default.asp?id=131

Electronic Exchange of Health Information:

What Does It Mean and How Do We Make It Secure, Private and Meaningful?

You are invited to participate in a forum to learn about what this means and to express your opinion as to how it should be set up.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

9:00am - 11:00am

Oregon Convention Center, Room D136

777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd

Portland, Oregon 97232

 

May 25 Public Forum_Invitation 

(with directions and parking information) 

 

Please register at http://ochcp.org/default.asp?id=131

 

There is NO registration fee.

 

Who Should Participate?

Patients ° Health Care Providers ° Employers who purchase employee health coverage ° Consumers and Patient Advocates ° Case Managers ° General public - since we all need health care at some point in our lives

Paper medical records are cumbersome and costly. They make it difficult to transfer your medical information from one provider to the next - or to you if you want to see your record.

Change is coming: electronic records provide better efficiency and enable transfer of information readily.

Due to federal incentives, many providers will be moving from paper charts to electronic systems in the coming years. These incentives allow providers to use health information exchange (HIE) systems to transmit patient information to other providers, pharmacies, hospitals and labs.

Please join this critical discussion to share your thoughts about electronic medical records with the Governor-appointed Health Information Technology Oversight Council (HITOC). HITOC is developing a statewide plan for HIE.

 

» Contact: HITOC.info@state.or.us  » Convention Center Access and Street Map


1/13/10 Meaningful Use defined. ARRA Stimulus Incentives for physicians.

Notice of Proposed Rules

Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology: HHS: Interim Final Rule

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program; Proposed Rule: CMS

Agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 13 officially published two rules covering the meaningful use of electronic health records provisions of the HITECH Act within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Publication of the rules starts the clock for the public comment period, with both rules having a March 15 deadline for comment. The proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defines "meaningful use" of electronic health records to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. It lays out a series of measures to collect and report data to government agencies. The rule is 169 pages long in a PDF format.

An interim final rule from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology sets initial standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria for EHR technology. The rule is 33 pages long in a PDF format. A forthcoming rule will establish an EHR certification program.

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Stimulus Package: Final version published


HITECH Act: p. 112

Medicare Incentives: p. 353

Medicaid Incentives: p. 375


Authentic Version PDF, published by the Government Printing Office

(PDF document searchable by keyword)


www.recovery.gov

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Medicare Reimbursement Incentive Schedule

$44,000 per 'eligible provider' over a 5 year period. 

Note the higher reimbursement rates each year before 2013, and decreases after 2014.


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Pulling Forward the Benefits of Healthcare IT

Posted by Aneesh Chopra on October 29, 2009 at 09:52 AM EDT

Today, the Health IT Standards Committee within the Department of Health and Human Services will begin an unprecedented effort to get the public’s view on how our work might "pull forward" the benefits of healthcare information technology (IT).  Specifically, we’re interested in uncovering new strategies to accelerate the adoption of health IT standards.  This effort began with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling for recommendations on standards to promote safe, secure, healthcare information exchange.

“Standards” are really the guardians of quality, consistency, and interoperability.  Without thoughtful, clear and uniform standards, we cannot enable the seamless and secure exchange of electronic health information (or the benefits that accrue to providers and patients from such protected exchanges).

So, while the exploration of technical standards may seem mundane to some, it is foundational to electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic health information exchange more broadly.  In other words, it’s worth paying some attention to, and voicing your opinions.

Our process continues with a public hearing today in Washington, DC. Find out how to participate via phone and webcast here. We are convening four panels of experts with on-the-ground experience in interoperability standards - providers, quality stakeholders, health IT vendors, and a group with lessons drawn outside of healthcare. Thanks to HIT Standards Committee member Judy Murphy for her leadership on this effort.

The public hearing draws to a close this afternoon but we will continue the conversation through an Online Forum over the next two weeks.  Thanks to Committee Member Cris Ross for his leadership on this effort.  Given the breadth of interests, we have arranged a series of Committee Member blog posts to begin the dialogue, starting with HIT Standards Committee Vice-Chair John Halamka's summary of our work to date, which will post on Friday.  We will concurrently enable ongoing discussion threads on the following topics:

  1. Proposed Standards (General Discussion)
  2. Interoperability
  3. Vocabularies
  4. Privacy
  5. Security
  6. Quality
  7. Implementation Case Studies (Your Story - the good, bad and
    in-between)

We have also enabled a "voting" feature on submissions to allow you - the public - an opportunity to emphasize points raised in a given post. Our goal is to harness the shared wisdom of our community to inform the work of the HIT Standards Committee in the weeks and months ahead.

The tight schedule of this process is designed to ensure that your ideas inform the HIT Standards Committee at its November 19th meeting.  However, your ongoing feedback on our efforts is also encouraged via written submission or public comment at any of the subsequent monthly meetings of the HIT Standards Committee.

The process of accelerating the adoption of health IT standards will not end this week, this month, or this year. This is an ongoing effort, and your participation will continue to be essential to its success.


Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/10/29/pulling-forward-benefits-healthcare-it
"Because of what we did, lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records."    

                                                        -President Barack Obama

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    HEALTHCARE I.T. STIMULUS NEWS

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    June 16, 2009

    Details for: MEDICARE AND MEDICAID HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: TITLE IV OF THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT

    full text


    May 18, 2009


    Stimulus: Health Information Technology Plan presented to Congress

    Health Information Technology, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) Implementation Plan Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

    download pdf

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    March 2, 2009 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama announced his choices for two key health care positions on Monday, tapping Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for health and human services secretary and former Clinton administration official Nancy-Ann DeParle as White House health care czar.

    Sebelius said that health care reform "isn't a partisan challenge; it's an American challenge."

    As director of the White House Office on Health Reform, DeParle will work with Sebelius as the president's point person coordinating outreach to Congress on the administration's ambitious health care reform agenda.

    "If we are going to help families, save businesses, and improve the long-term economic health of our nation, we must realize that fixing what's wrong with our health care system is no longer just a moral imperative, but a fiscal imperative," Obama said at the White House.

    "Health care reform that reduces costs while expanding coverage is no longer just a dream we hope to achieve -- it's a necessity we have to achieve."

    Obama also announced the release of $155 million in stimulus package funds to establish 126 new health centers. The centers will be designed to help provide primary and preventive health care services to people without health insurance.

    They also will support 5,500 new jobs, according to a White House news release.


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    The White House Blog

    President Obama delivers first Weekly Address  January 24, 2009

    (highlights from the President's new blog)

    In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discusses how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.

    "This is not just a short-term program to boost employment," he said. "It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century."

     

    To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health record in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we’ll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

     

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/president-obama-delivers-your-weekly-address/


    GO GREEN! THE PAPERLESS PRACTICE & REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
    Find out how to reduce your carbon footprint, increase efficiency, increase revenue through effective information management, securely backup data offsite, reduce costs, create great P.R., do we need any additional incentives to go paperless?  Oh yeah, one more, doing your part to help save the environment is not just good P.R., it's the right thing to do.

    GOT SEARCH?
    Free Online Strategy Tips:  You have a web site for your practice, (even if you don't, you can still benefit by listing your practice online) congratulations you have staked out your corner of the internet.  Don't stop there though, make sure to have your website listed with the major search engines so that people can find your practice when they go to search online. 
     
    Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN (and many others) all offer free listings for businesses including maps.  Check with your local and professional organizations as well, the more links to your site, the easier it will be for someone to find you.
     
    Go Local. Here's a great article from Entrepreneur magazine if you want to take it a step further and utilize an online advertising service.  They are usually pay per click and provide highly targeted advertising.
     
     www.entrepreneur.com/advertising/adsbytype/onlineads/article174914.html