Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2010

In July the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ended the waiting game for the HITECH privacy and security regulations, the meaningful use final rule, and the final rule on standards and certification.

HIM professionals and their organizations, anxious to familiarize thems....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2010

Last year saw movement on major HIM issues, starting in January with the publication of the ICD-10-CM/PCS final rule. This was quickly followed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which has dominated healthcare discussions all year, matched only by the healthcare reform d....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2009

This season Washington is like a healthcare cauldron, boiling away with bills and initiatives. Here’s a taste of a few that have come to the surface for HIM.
Healthcare Reform

As fall began, five congressional committees had released five different health reform bills. Pre....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2011

The theme of this month's Journal is very timely on two accounts. First, the process for implementing ICD-10-CM/PCS is heating up as the industry is now six months from what many consider the first national milestone: the January 2012 compliance deadline for the HIPAA 5010 transaction upgrade.....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2012

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), formally released three final rules around the the time of the Labor Day holiday. Appropriately enough, the arrival of these final rules spells out much work ahead for t....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2010

As this issue goes to press, healthcare remains unsettled, waiting on the publication of key rules related to ARRA and the HITECH Act.

Until these rules appear, providers cannot assess with any certainty their willingness and ability to apply for the meaningful use incentive program....

Author: Rhodes, Harry B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2013

Health information technology systems have supported the administrative functions of healthcare for more than a decade. Historically, these healthcare administrative systems primarily focused on performing fiscal transactions or supporting key ancillary departments. Widespread use of elect....

Author: Palkie, Brooke; Sandefer, Ryan; Low, Trina

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

INTRODUCTION

The College of St. Scholastica’s (CSS) Center for Healthcare Innovation, School of Nursing and the School of Health Science’s Department of Health Informatics and Information Management are collaborating with five rural Minnesota hospitals and their shared informa....

Author: Mills, Troy R.; Vavroch, Jared; Bahensky, James A.; Ward, Marcia M

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: April 2010

Abstract

The growth of electronic medical records (EMRs) is driven by the belief that EMRs will significantly improve healthcare providers’ performance and reduce healthcare costs. Evidence supporting these beliefs is limited, especially for small rural hospitals. A survey that focused on....

Author: Meigs, Stephen L; Solomon, Michael

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: January 2016

Abstract


Electronic health record (EHR) adoption among office-based physician practices in the United States has increased significantly in the past decade. However, the challenges of using EHRs have resulted in growing dissatisfaction with the systems among many of these physicia....

Author: McLendon, Kelly

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2010

Hospitals and providers seeking to receive payments under ARRA’s “meaningful use” incentive program must prove their eligibility by meeting objectives and associated measures for the use of their EHR systems. Some of the requirements of most interest to HIM professionals are related to a provi....

Author: Marcotte, Leah; Seidman, Joshua J; Trudel, Karen; Berwick, Donald M ; Blumenthal, David; Mostashari, Farzad; Jain, Sachin H

Source: External web site

Publication Date: May 14, 2012

An overview of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and guide for physicians in the process of how to demonstrate meaningful use of health information technology. (Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(9):731-736.)

Author: Levinson, Stephen R

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 29, 2010

Introduction


Current national policy is actively encouraging universal adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) as an initial step on the journey to systemic healthcare reform. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides incentive funds to....

Author: Levine, David L

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Background

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) authorized incentive payments in 2009 through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they use Electronic Health Records privately and securely to achieve specified improvements in ca....

Author: Leone, Robyn

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Background

In April 2009, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), provisions were included in the “stimulus bill” to fund health information technology grants across the country. These provisions were written under the Health Information Technology for Economi....

Author: Lamar, Marilyn

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2011

Cloud computing has been suggested as a cost-effective way to use electronic health records (EHRs), particularly for small providers that may not have an IT staff. Cloud-based EHRs store patient health records and the EHR software on computers operated by the EHR vendor.

The healthc....

Author: Kuhl, Joy

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: November 2012

Just because information can be exchanged electronically doesn’t mean it can be digitally analyzed. Data needs to be structured using clear electronic standards for HIM professionals and other health IT specialists to analyze and use the data. Much of the data generated in healthcare-like pro....

Author: Knighton, Michelle; Ray, Alisa

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Introduction

As hospitals anticipate the benefits of federal incentive payments for meaningful use of certified EHR technology, some face an unexpected hurdle. Many hospitals will be able to meet the EHR certification requirement through use of certified EHR technology purchased from vend....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires adoption of measures for the “meaningful use” of health IT in order to unlock billions of dollars in incentives. After years of growing support for health IT adoption that improves healthcare, this is the time to get specific abou....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2010

On January 13 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a notice of proposed rulemaking containing the stage 1 criteria for meaningful use of certified electronic health records. As this is the prerequisite to receiving incentive payments provided through the American Recovery a....

Author: Kallem, Crystal

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2010

One of the top health policy outcome priorities associated with meaningful use is to improve the quality and efficiency of care for Medicare and Medicaid populations. Eligible hospitals and providers that seek to apply for stage 1 meaningful use incentives will be required to capture and repor....

Author: Kadlec, Lesley; Kirby, Annessa; Shaffer, Heidi; Warren, Paula

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2015

As a nation, the United States has been focused heavily on engaging consumers in their overall health and wellness. This has been propelled by federal initiatives such as the “meaningful use” Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, mandated clinical quality measures based....

Author: Kadlec, Lesley

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2013

Prior to the widespread implementation of electronic health records (EHRs), problem lists were usually maintained by physicians through a simple documentation tool in the paper record, such as a "front sheet" or by copying a diagnosis list to a specified area within the paper chart and pla....

Author: Hyde, Linda A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2010

In October 2008 a Journal article titled "HIM Jobs of Tomorrow" profiled 11 new and revised jobs representing changes in HIM.1 One of the jobs highlighted was health data analyst.

Data analysis is not a new role in HIM, but it has been evolving appreciably. In the two years since th....

Author: Holmes, Casey

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2011

The meaningful use program requires that problem lists in the EHR use a common dictionary through coding. It is a good first step in boosting the usefulness of problem lists, but getting to the next level will be a harder challenge-agreeing on standardized content and use.

Last mont....

Author: Holmes, Casey

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2011

Yesterday's problem lists aren't suited for tomorrow's electronic systems. Standardizing the content and use of problem lists will help leverage new tools, and new tools can help improve problem list accuracy.

The problem list, that cheat sheet to patient health, originated with Law....

Author: HIT Policy Committee

Source: Government (U.S.)

Publication Date: July 16, 2009

Author: HIT Policy Committee

Source: Government (U.S.)

Publication Date: July 16, 2009

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2012

In March, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT published a proposed rule on EHR certification, a companion to the proposed rule on stage 2 of the meaningful use EHR incentive program that was published on the same day by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2010

Improving the ability of patients to understand and apply health information goes hand in hand with designing systems that deliver it. Both are needed to improve outcomes and reduce disparities.

Recent federal initiatives to promote health IT, including the “meaningful use” EHR incen....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2011

Perhaps one of the biggest jobs related to implementing the ARRA provisions right now is keeping track of the moving parts. Publication of the act in 2009 was a kind of Big Bang-an explosion of provisions that rocked the healthcare universe. Since then, however, the pieces have traveled at dif....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2012

Last summer the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT heard repeatedly from providers and vendors that they would not have time to prepare for stage 2 of the meaningful use program. With a final rule on stage 2 not expected until summer 2012, vendors and hospitals did not see how th....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2011

Approximately 77,000 healthcare providers had registered for the meaningful use EHR incentive programs through July, program officials told the Health IT Policy Committee at its August 3 meeting. That is a significant number, but it leaves plenty of eligible providers and hospitals still to re....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2011

This spring, as the first providers began attesting to their performance in stage 1 of the meaningful use program, the rest of the industry seemed too absorbed with the program's next phase to take much notice.

Through the spring a subgroup of the Health IT Policy Committee was prepa....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2012

There are few surprises in CMS's proposed rule on stage 2 of the meaningful use program. The provisions generally reflect the recommendations of the Health IT Policy Committee made last year, and in the case of the intended change to the timeline, an announcement was made last December.
....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2012

In a January 6 blog post, Farzad Mostashari, MD, national coordinator for health IT, summarized a busy year at his office, highlighting 10 of 2011's "most notable developments in the world of health information technology and ONC."

Among these were 62 regional health IT extension ce....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: May 26, 2015

Letter to Andrew Slavitt, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: December 15, 2015

Letter to Andrew M. Slavitt, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: May 02, 2014

AHIMA comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

Author: Fuller, Sandra R.

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: April 29, 2009

Author: Fuller, Sandra R.

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: April 29, 2009

Author: Eramo, Lisa A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2011

The stage 1 meaningful use criteria do not require that eligible providers (EPs) and eligible hospitals (EHs) create patient portals, but portals may be the best option for meeting certain stage 1 patient access and electronic communication-related provisions. Portals may also be mandatory in....

Author: Eramo, Lisa A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2013

When Deborah Kohn recently logged onto her healthcare provider's patient portal to view her X-ray reports, she immediately knew something wasn't quite right. She'd undergone one X-ray of her left hand and another of her right hand. The problem?


Both X-ray reports were identi....

Author: Emery, Steven; McDavid, Jan P; Robb, Deborah

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 25, 2010

Introduction

Nearly ten years since the Office of Inspector General (OIG) first issued guidance for physician practices on compliance with federal legislation, many physician practices still lack a proactive, cost-effective approach to achieving compliance. Taking this critical step can....

Author: Emery, Steven; McDavid, Jan P

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2011

Registration for the meaningful use program opened in January, and many HIM professionals and chief information officers are preparing their organizations to meet stage 1 meaningful use criteria. Two of the objectives directly affect an organization's release of information (ROI) process. Part....

Author: Downing, Kathy; Mason, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2015

A NEW REPORT to Congress from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), released in April, has put information blocking in the spotlight.1 The ONC report comes out on the heels of a recent article written by five US senators titled, “Where Is HITECH’s $35 Billion Dollar....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle; Williams, Margaret; Millenson, Michael; Harvell, Jennie

Source: AHIMA report | U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | U.S. DHHS. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Publication Date: June 2013

Report to Congress on the extent to which and manner in which payment incentives should be made available to health care providers receiving minimal or no payment incentives or other funding under HITECH.

Author: Dooling, Julie A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2013

Health information exchange (HIE) continues to evolve and change, thanks in part to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), which has been encouraging new ways of exchanging and sharing health information that foster trust, drive efficiencies, and ultimately place the i....

Author: Dolin, Robert H; Goodrich, Kate; Kallem, Crystal; Alschuler, Liora; Holtz, Patrice

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2014

Federal quality reporting initiatives are expected to improve our ability to measure the quality of care provided to patients. As Scottish mathematician and physicist Lord Kelvin said more than 100 years ago, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” Measurement, in tu....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: February 2011

Editor’s note: In the cover story to this month’s print issue, Journal writer Chris Dimick explores the patient-centered measures in the meaningful use EHR incentive program. As experts tells him, the current stage 1 measures are a good start to getting patients more informatio....