In addition to the government’s stimulus incentives, e-prescription incentives, and electronic health record (EHR) subsidies, physicians may also receive Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive payments from CMS equal to 2% of total estimated Medicare Part B PFS allowed charges during the reporting period for 2010.

To participate in the 2010 PQRI, practices must report information on individual PQRI quality measures or measures groups. An easy and quick way to submit required information is directly from EHR software.

However, the software needs to be “qualified” by CMS for electronic submission. Currently, only seven EHR systems have been qualified by CMS for electronic reporting purposes.

In order to qualify, each EHR vendor went through a thorough process to check the capability of providing the required PQRI data elements for 10 PQRI measures. These “qualified” EHRs capture the required data for the measure calculation, but also transmit the required information in the requested file format.

Products that have not been qualified by CMS may claim similar capabilities, but CMS cannot guarantee that these other products will be compatible for EHR based submission for PQRI.

Luckily, Healthcare DPS offers an EHR that has been qualified for electronic submissions, allowing physicians to easily submit for both PQRI and e-prescription incentives provided by CMS.

For more information, please contact 877-423-7701 or visit www.healthcaredps.com.

For more detailed PQRI information, please visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri/

Healthcare DPS certified EHR, CMS, e-Prescribe, electronic medical records, Healthcare DPS, medicare, physician fee schedule, stimulus package, subsidies

Before 2009 ended, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed the definition of “meaningful use” for electronic health record (EHR) technology and outlined the provisions for EHR incentive program qualifications.

The initial proposal defines standards to ensure an accurate and secure exchange of health information across a variety of EHR systems, as well as formats for clinical summaries and prescriptions, and terms to describe clinical problems, procedures and tests.

The regulations are a foundation for improving quality, efficiency, and safety through meaningful use of electronic health record technology.

“These regulations are closely linked,” said Charlene Frizzera, CMS acting administrator.  “CMS’s proposed regulation would define and specify how to demonstrate ‘meaningful use’ of EHR technology, which is a prerequisite for receiving the Medicare incentive payments.  Our rule also outlines the proposed payment methodologies for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs.  ONC’s regulation sets forth the standards and specifications that will enhance the interoperability, functionality, utility and security of health information technology.”

The incentives are scheduled to take begin October 1, 2011. Experts say providers should not waste time because there is a shortage of experts available to help. Healthcare DPS is fully versed in Electronic Health Record technology and has the software and ability to assist healthcare professionals in meeting the necessary requirements to collect incentives.

For more information, please contact 877-423-7701 or visit www.healthcaredps.com.

To read the full Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program document, click the following link http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-31217_PI.pdf

Healthcare DPS, Uncategorized certified EHR, CMS, EHR, EHR implementation, electronic medical records, Healthcare DPS, medicare, medicare reimburement, stimulus package

RHIOs which are Regional Health Information Organizations were created to facilitate the sharing of patient information among health care providers at the point of care within a community. The overall goal is to achieve dramatic improvements in healthcare in terms of safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity through the use of electronic health records.

The key factor that has hindered many physicians from switching from paper-based records to electronic format is the financial barrier. However, through government support, RHIOs all over the area are receiving grants to aid qualifying community physicians with EHR implementation. With the significant monetary assistance available, the barrier to adoption is removed. Physicians can easily adopt more efficient workflows and improve their practices as well as provide increased quality care to all patients.

For more information about available grants at participating RHIOs, please contact Healthcare DPS at 877-423-7701.

Healthcare DPS EHR implementation, grants, RHIO, subsidies

Based on current annual adjustments, CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) projected a -21.5% rate reduction in 2010 to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
The continuous negative updates have been a constant issue. To combat the reductions, CMS announced proposed changes to policies and payment rates for the 2010 MPFS, with expectations of increasing rates for primary care services.

CMS proposed to refine practice expenses, eliminate payment for consultation codes, and revisit treatment of malpractice premiums. These changes may increase payments to general practitioners, family physicians, internists, and geriatric specialists by between 6-8% which may reduce the number of years that physicians experience a loss.

Even with the potential reform to payment rate, physicians need ways to increase revenues while reducing costs in order to receive the maximum return for their hard work. Healthcare DPS offers various solutions to bring a practice to its fullest potential, allowing physicians to work efficiently while enhancing revenue and decreasing costs. For more information regarding Healthcare DPS offerings, please visit

www.healthcaredps.com

For the full story click here

Healthcare DPS CMS, fee reduction, medicare, medicare reimburement, physician fee schedule

As reported by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, small practices provide about 75% of U.S. ambulatory care, but many lack the resources to implement EHRs, improve care quality, or serve diverse populations. Legislative awareness of this barrier to adoption helped introduce a bill that will encourage small practices to implement health IT technologies. The bill, the Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act, was introduced by subcommittee Chairwoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.) to help providers overcome the financial barriers for HIT adoption. The bill would establish a loan program specifically for small practices who want financing to invest in health IT.

Healthcare DPS

The University of California, Berkeley, experienced a security breach when hackers attacked the campus’ health services center and retrieved confidential information such as social security numbers, health insurance information, and medical information.

In Virginia, a hacker claims to have stolen confidential medical information from the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program (VPMP) which contained patients’ personal and prescription drug information. The hacker claims to have encrypted it with a password and deleted the back-ups.
As the future of healthcare progresses to the modern age of technology, physicians must be aware of security and privacy breaches that may threaten the confidentiality of protected health information. Are your health records safe?

Constant monitoring and auditing are key factors in preventing privacy and security breaches. In addition to firewalls, encryption, and backups, facilities must have measures in place to track who has access to the information and what changes are being made, when, and why. Healthcare DPS can assess your system and provide solutions to meet all your security and privacy needs. For more information, please visit www.healthcaredps.com or speak with a representative (877) 423-7701

For the full Berkeley story http://datatheft.berkeley.edu/news.shtml
For the full Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program story http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hacker-says-he-stole-confidential-medical-data-8-million-virginia-residents

Healthcare DPS

Medical Image Archiving presents many daunting challenges. Typically, electronic archiving of medical images requires dozens of terabytes (TBs) of digital storage and rapid access to all the images. As the amount of medical information continues to grow exponentially, retrieving information quickly and reliably becomes a challenge, especially during a medical emergency, where speed and accuracy are critical. Also, increased regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, are mandating the retention of medical images as well as specifying rules regarding the security and privacy of this information. Maintaining archive capacities sufficient for increasing medical storage needs that comply with all the regulations becomes a budget challenge as well as a burden for practitioners.

Healthcare DPS provides a simple solution that overcomes the storage and regulation challenges faced by the medical community. Using Healthcare DPS to store, protect and manage your growing volumes of medical images provides several advantages. Our Medical Image Archiving solution efficiently consolidates medical images, improves storage, and quickly restores necessary medical information while reducing compliance risk.

To reduce costs, medical data is assigned to the most cost-effective storage tier based on specified criteria, such as recovery time requirements. To improve recovery, all data is self-contained which enables the system to quickly respond to a restore request. Additionally, our archiving solution supports HIPAA and regulatory requirements for disaster recovery planning and the storage, transmission, and protection of patient data. For example, our archiving solution produces a “destruction certificate” confirming that backed-up data was destroyed as required under the HIPAA security rule.

Using a centralized medical image archiving solution allows a provider to achieve long-term accessibility and security for all their medical data, reduce recovery time during disaster situations, and reduce long-term costs.

For more information regarding Medical Image Archiving, visit  www.healthcaredps.com/data-protection-and-archiving.html

Healthcare DPS

Often court discovery timelines are short and healthcare professionals must provide necessary information to a legal team quickly. Professionals must effectively manage litigation and regulatory scrutiny by providing lawyers with what electronically stored information (ESI) exists, where it is stored, and its level of accessibility. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Amendment details the duty to preserve and produce electronically stored information (ESI) for litigation or pending litigation. E-discovery describes the retrieval of ESI in response to legal proceeding.

Responding to a legal discovery request requires a message archive system that is indexed, available, and searchable. An efficient email archiving and e-discovery solution serves as an insurance policy against the consequences of the inability to locate a message in response to a legal request.

Healthcare DPS offers a fast and accurate e-discovery response. The hosted email archiving solution enables healthcare providers to overcome the challenges of ensuring the security, privacy, and availability of protected health information through an affordable and simplified solution. Rather than dealing with the burden of email compliance and storage management, healthcare providers can focus on the quality of patient care. For details regarding E-Discovery, please visit: www.healthcaredps.com/email-compliance.html

Healthcare DPS e-discovery, email archive, Healthcare DPS, legal discovery, message archive, protected health information

The HIPAA Security Rule mandates that every covered entity is required to follow the Contingency Plan Standard must determine its risk in the event of an emergency that would result in a loss of operations. Those who have not taken steps to meet the Safeguards, Standards, and Implementation Specifications outlined in HIPAA are vulnerable to potential civil and criminal penalties.

The Contingency Plan Standard is one security rule required by HIPAA. Under this standard, all covered entities must establish and implement policies and procedures for responding to emergencies or other occurrences which could damage systems containing electronic protected health information (EPHI). Understanding the detailed rules and regulations of contingency planning can be overwhelming. For example, there are some specifications which are required and others which are recommended. Misinterpreting the information can lead to non-compliance and ultimately can take money out of your pocket.

Subsequent to disseminating the information and understanding the requirements, another daunting task approaches. The next step is to establish and implement a plan to satisfy the requirements. Contingency plans could range from simple manual processes to highly complex automated procedures. As each business is unique, a contingency plan must be specific to the nature and configuration of a practice.

Healthcare DPS removes the complexity of contingency planning and provides a blueprint for responding to emergencies. By addressing all the components required and suggested by HIPAA through a review and analysis of each organization, Healthcare DPS devises customized plans that define procedures tailored specifically to your practice, whether it is small or large.

For more information regarding Simplified Contingency Plans or the difference between required & recommended implementation specifications, visit Contingency Planning http://www.healthcaredps.com/contingency-planning.html

Healthcare DPS Contingency Planning, data backup, EPHI, Healthcare DPS, HIPAA, hipaa compliance, hipaa safeguards, implementation specifications, Security Rule

With the passage of Obama’s stimulus package, physicians gain additional incentive in the form of US government funding. The funding is designed to accelerate Electronic Health Record (EHR) use, ultimately increasing the quality of patient care by reducing cost, enhancing revenue, and optimizing efficiency. In order to begin receiving the incentive payment being offered by the government, healthcare professionals must implement a certified electronic health record system. One particularly enticing incentive in the stimulus package is the 2% Medicare reimbursement which is available to all providers who use an e-Prescription software such as E-Prescribe.

Healthcare DPS offers a CCHIT Certified® EHR solution that includes e-Prescription thus allowing its clients to take advantage of the 2% Medicare reimbursement. Aside from the cost savings, the benefits of using e-Prescription include: creating prescriptions quickly and easily, improving patient safety, reducing adverse drug interactions and ensuring correct dosages.

In addition to e-Prescription, the Healthcare DPS EHR solution includes many other features including: Document Management, Drug Interaction Alerts, e-Labs, e-Radiology, Encounter Notes & Template Creation, Patient Charts, Disease Management, Care Plans, Continuing Care Documents, Patient Portals & Handouts, and Remote Access.              

All of these great features are incorporated into a user-friendly system that has the functionality and flexibility to suite the way your practice works best; the application adapts to your current workflow and integrates into existing practice management and billing software. The easy-to-use features increase efficiency allowing workers to focus on more personalized patient care rather than tedious paperwork.

The Healthcare DPS EHR system meets your practice’s expectations of being an affordable and simple transition to paperless records, ultimately saving time and money, and providing enhanced patient care. For details regarding Electronic Health Records, please visit: http://www.healthcaredps.com/practice-management-and-ehr.html

Healthcare DPS certified EHR, e-Prescribe, EHR, EHR implementation, electronic medical records, Healthcare DPS, medicare, stimulus package