You want irony? Try this: the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that we women are the ones make the health care choices for the kids in 8 out of 10 families. Yet women are far and away the minority gender in the world of health IT leaders. Health IT is one of the most important segments of health care, during a time of great change. If women are the ones who’ll be where the rubber hits the road when it comes to the future of health, why aren’t more of us, more involved, in determining what that future of health looks like?

While this is by no means the definitive list, I’ve done some research on the women who ARE making their mark in HIT. I list five to know below. They’ve been included both for their individual accomplishments and for the attention I think that’s due in the areas of health IT where they’re active.

Regina Holliday – The Patient Advocate

Regina uses art to lobby for attention to be paid to patients; she became a patient advocate after witnessing her late husband’s struggle to receive appropriate care for kidney cancer. She paints at big-time medical conventions, reminding attendees that Meaningful Use (MU) requirements of new electronic medical records programs–oft discussed today in the context of government payouts–were created with the intent to improve patient care and save lives. And she reminds us that electronic health records (EHRs) should be clear and transparent. Why does an artist get top billing in a piece on information technology? Because her point–the that the goal of the technology is to make it easier for people to be and stay well–is, well, pretty important.

Judith Faulkner – The Veteran

More than three decades ago Judith Faulkner started a small company, Epic, that has today grown into the provider of the EHR software for most of the largest hospitals in the US. Epic is also the system used by Kaiser Permanente, the biggest care provider in the country that’s not an arm of the government. And it’s in the running to be the solution used by the Veteran’s Administration (VA). Given that Faulkner is staunchly against an effort to have all EHRs move towards becoming interoperable with one another, this last fact has some folks mighty alarmed. Faulkner is still involved in any major company decision and drives the company’s unique corporate culture, and she’s got a seat on President Obama’s Health IT Policy Committee that’ll be making recommendations on “development and adoption of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient medical information.”

Susannah Fox – The Researcher

She’s responsible for studying what goes on at the crossroads of technology, health and the interwebs, as the Researcher on Health and Health Care for the Pew Internet Project. So Susannah Fox brings us some mighty interesting data about the habits of Americans when it comes to how many of us look online for health information (59 percent), what specific kinds of health information we seek (specific diseases or conditions, treatments or procedures, and doctors or other health professionals), and who we seek it from (increasingly, from other people who might have conditions similar to ours). Fox blogs regularly on e-Patients.net [http://e-patients.net/] and is helping researchers understand the habits of patients so that health IT can better meet those needs.

Halle Tecco – The Connecter 

The company she co-founded has yet to celebrate its second birthday. Yet Tecco’s Rock Health –an accelerator “powering the future of the digital health ecosystem” by providing capital and mentorship to health startups–has funding from giants like Microsoft and Quest Diagnostics, and two of its “graduates” have secured additional funding from other investors. Tecco was chosen because of the power of her idea: that innovators could put tools and systems out there that could rejuvenate healthcare, make it not “just okay” but make it really rock. She was also chosen because she shows you don’t need to have gone to medical school to make a big impact in medicine: Tecco’s background is in tech and business.

Amy Sheng – The Inventor

Sheng also co-created CellScope, Inc., with Erik Douglas, less than two years ago. CellScope uses optical attachments to transform smartphones into diagnostic-quality imaging systems. In the right hands, this technology has the potential to transform lives: in the developing world it can be used in village clinics, while here in the US consumers can use the CellScope to access expert diagnosis and advice. Sheng’s work demonstrates the great potential for telehealth solutions to break down the barriers separating developing countries from high quality health care.

Have I left anyone important off the list? Please email me at katie@softwareadvice.com with your suggestions and feedback. I sincerely appreciate it!

Katie Matlack is the Medical Analyst for Software Advice, a company where she blogs regularly about health IT and electronic health records. You can read the original article this version is based on here.   

I cover medical software and health IT for Software Advice, so I was curious to learn about some of the secrets to success when switching to an EMR that might not meet the eye. To find out what is it that separates the health care providers who truly reap the benefits of switching to EMR, from those who don’t, I interviewed representatives of three health providers who use EMRs now:

• Ian Kornbluth, the owner of two private practices in New Jersey
• Hal Daugherty, the practice administrator at a five-physician cardiology practice in Alabama
• Jeanette Christopher, Amanda Trujillo, and Samantha Walker, the team behind the EMR transition of a 26-physician group in Oregon.

Below are four pieces of advice from my conversation with them. For more tips, you can head over to the original article on the Software Advice blog.

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1.  Ask Your Doctors for Their Opinions
Ensuring that your doctors are fully involved in–and consulted on–the transition to EMR can be a key to a successful switch. To do this, be sure to ask your team of physicians for insight on what features they would like to see in the EMR product they’ll use. In the experience of the team at Northwest Primary Care Group in Oregon, getting this insight from the doctors laid the groundwork for a positive transition experience. It established that the doctors were involved in the process and were valued for their input. Also, practically speaking, consulting the doctors ahead of time really helped the team responsible for choosing an EMR to narrow down the options they considered.

2.  Get  Software for Your Specialty (or Plan for How You’ll Tailor It)
Getting a software product that’s right for your specialty seemed to be a core component of having a successful transition. After all, you should keep in mind that the better the “fit” of the EMR to your practice’s particular needs, the better it can support you in providing care and help you save time. The team at Northwest uses a product that they can quickly adjust themselves, while another health provider I spoke with, Ian Kornbluth, uses a specialty-specific solution, and recounted that his transition had been “painless” and straightforward.

3.  Get Your Team Comfortable with Computer Hardware
Some doctors who’ll be expected to use an EHR aren’t familiar yet with how to work a computer (if this is surprising to you, remember that working on paper charts can permit doctors to work quite fast). Before you ask your team to capture important data on a computer, make sure they are comfortable doing routine tasks on a computer. One team I spoke with, at Northwest Primary Care Group in Oregon, said that they gave their doctors the exact computers they’d be using several months ahead of time, so that they could practice on the computers at home. Doing so helped the doctors learn the basics of how to open and organize files, join wireless networks, or even know what to do if the battery runs out. This meant that doctors would be comfortable with these tasks and be able to focus on the newness of mainly the EHR–not the hardware, too–once the switch happened.

4.  Appoint Decisionmakers For the Process
While getting everyone’s input is key for garnering full support for your transition, it’s equally important to define a clear leader of the process. After you get insight from your entire group, your defined leader will then have the final say. The team at Northwest, whose Medical Director played this role, stressed the importance taking this step and making it absolutely clear who had the final authority on EHR-related decisions. They explained the impact of doing so: “The doctors knew our Medical Director listened to their input, but also knew that the final decision was up to him, and they defer to him.” The takeaway? Spell out who has the final say in advance, and you’ll neutralize time-consuming power struggles and hair-splitting debates before they arise.

The author, Katie Matlack, covers electronic medical record software and HIT news for the Software Advice, a free resource, and writes a blog on medical software and HIT news.

Learn More

For more information about Electronic Medical Records, simply complete our Information Request Form or call 1-800-899-4237.

Medicaid State Information
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides resources for states to understand the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and learn more about what is required to offer the programs. States may voluntarily offer to their Medicaid eligible professionals and eligible hospitals.  Is your state one of the 43 that has already launched its Medicaid EHR Incentive Program?
https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/40_MedicaidStateInfo.asp#TopOfPage

CMS Nears $2 Billion in Meaningful Use Payments
Health Data Management reports that through November 2011, Medicare and Medicaid have each paid nearly $1 billion in electronic health records meaningful use incentive payments during the first year of the program.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ehr-electronic-health-records-meaningful-use-43723-1.html

AMA releases EHR tutorials
The American Medical Association’s (AMA) recently released online educational tutorials that are designed to help physician practices better implement new health IT. For more information, go to the AMA’s health IT webpage.
http://www.govhealthit.com/blog/ama-releases-ehr-tutorials

Medical: Number of diagnostic codes multiply ad nauseam
By LEE BOWMAN – Scripps Howard News Service
The nation’s health care industry will be hustling to complete a $1.6 billion upgrade of diagnostic codes known as ICD-10, which will increase the number of codes used to classify illness and injury from 18,000 to more than 141,000.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/medical-codes011812/medical-codes011812/

Version 5010: How Health Care Providers Can Ensure a Smooth Transition
The CMS website posted this PDF sheet that helps answer some of the most frequently asked regarding Version 5010 in order to help providers maintain continuity of operations in their practices as they prepare to complete the testing and implementation.
http://www.cms.gov/ICD10/Downloads/Versions5010D0FAQs.pdf

Also, you can visit the ADS website to get more information to help prepare you for the upcoming 5010 transition or check out our Stimulus Center for additional resources to help you understand how the HITECH Act and other provisions of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act may affect your practice.

For more information or to schedule a live demonstration, contact us at 1-800-899-4237, or submit an information request form.

12 Months of Health Information Technology: A Year of Momentous Progress
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, recaps the 10 biggest developments in the world of health information technology and ONC.
http://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/from-the-onc-desk/12-months-health-information-technology-year-momentous-progress/

HHS pushes back Stage 2 of Meaningful Use to 2014
The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has announced its intent to delay the start of Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use requirements from 2013 to 2014.
http://www.fierceemr.com/story/hhs-pushes-back-stage-2-meaningful-use-2014/2011-11-30

The Benefits Of Health Information Technology: A Review Of The Literature Shows Predominantly Positive Results
Authors from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published a review in the March issue of Health Affairs focusing on the effects of health information technology (health IT). The study showed better Patient Outcomes with EHRs including improved diabetes management, asthma care and more.
http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/health-it-data-and-studies#axzz1VwxxbwdS

Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentives & Certification
Learn more about EHR implementation and the available incentive programs, meaningful use, and the certification process of EHR technology at HealthIT.gov website.
http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/ehr-incentives-certification

Version 5010: How Health Care Providers Can Ensure a Smooth Transition
The CMS website just posted this new PDF fact sheet that discusses the steps providers can take to maintain continuity of operations in their practices as they prepare to complete the testing and implementation of Version 5010.
http://www.cms.gov/ICD10/Downloads/ICD10RiskMitigation20111208FINAL.pdf

Also, you can visit the ADS website to get more information to help prepare you for the upcoming 5010 transition or check out our Stimulus Center for additional resources to help you understand how the HITECH Act and other provisions of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act may affect your practice.

For more information or to schedule a live demonstration, contact us at 1-800-899-4237, or submit an information request form.

According to the Health Care IT News web site, HIPAA 5010 carries at least 1,331 modifications over HIPAA 4010. In its ten years of operation, vendors have reported many difficulties in using 4010, hence the upgrade to 5010. Thus, Version 5010 is an effort to correct the many “bugs” in the system, and to ensure uniform accessibility to medical records throughout the health care system.

In use and functionality, there are three major differences between the two versions:

1. Version 5010 is far more specific that Version 4010. Instead of reporting, for example, “broken finger,” in Version 5010 a physician must report “broken middle bone of index finger.” This may make the insurance company’s job easier, but it requires far more coding and far greater precision on the part of the health care provider.

2. Version 5010 has fields that allow searching for a patient’s records via last name, member i.d., and date of birth, instead of simply by member i.d., which makes it easier to track down patients and eliminates false negatives in searches. Patient records are more easily accessed this way, and phone calls to clarify details will no longer be necessary.

3. Perhaps most important of all, Version 5010 supports ICD-10 coding, the new code sets that will be required for all electronic health records as of 2013, whereas Version 4010 only supported ICD-9. This is a crucial step to compliance with HIPAA regulations, and health care providers seeking federal funding will have no choice but switch to Version 5010 in the near future.

Far from being a minor upgrade, Version 5010 is a whole new world for health care providers and clearinghouses alike. This is perhaps why HIPAA has allowed several-year transition period to the new system. Yet even with this transition period, there is a lot to learn about 5010. Like all new systems, diving in and using it may be the only way to understand it properly.

What happens when patients are allowed access to their own medical records? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this new system? Many theories have been posited and studies done to determine the pros and cons of allowing this access, as we will see below.

First, the pros:

1. Allowing patients access to their own medical records, in most cases, grants them a better understanding of their own health and encourages adherence to treatment. After all, seeing is believing. Although a doctor may tell a patient that he or she should stop smoking, seeing the negative results of a physical exam in black and white may encourage them to actually do so.
2. When patients can access their own medical records, they can become more involved in the treatment, leading to an enhanced patient/doctor relationship. With the patient understanding the course of treatment and given the motivation to follow through, becoming actively involved in their own health care, the doctor can, in a sense, step back, leading to greater trust all around.
3. Patients can occasionally spot errors in their medical records that prove crucial to their treatment. For example, correcting errors in blood type, in allergies to medications, and even in age and height can be extremely beneficial. If patients don’t see the medical records themselves, there’s no possibility of them finding mistakes and correcting them.

Now for the cons:

1. Medical jargon and use of abbreviations can be confusing to patients, leading to anxiety and uncertainty. Especially for an elderly patient, the shorthand used by doctors can be baffling and unhelpful. Some argue they would be better served if records were not available to them.
2. Obsession over medical records can increase time spent on doctors’ visits – patients may demand that doctors explain, in great detail, what they have written and why.
3. For psychiatric patients, negative personal descriptions and omitted details can lead to negative outcomes such as setbacks and paranoia.

Knowledge is a weapon – it can be used or misused. So too, access to medical records can be either used or abused.

Still, most patients and their physicians agree that once they become accustomed to the new system, the benefits will far outweigh the detractions. Adjusting to a new system takes time, but ultimately everyone gains from greater knowledge. In the long run, patient access to medical records is likely to lead to positive results for most patients and physicians alike.

What is Meaningful Use, and what does it mean to your practice?

There’s a lot of fine print in the government legislation, but Meaningful Use means that you can demonstrate that you have followed the guidelines for electronic health technology. You have input records, you have issued prescriptions, and you have maintained a medicine allergy list – all with your EHR. It may not seem complicated, but for physicians and hospitals who have not yet made the switch, it is a huge pain in the neck – thousands and thousands of dollars spent on buying software, learning to use it, inputting paper records, and hiring IT support.

Which is where the federal government comes in. They want to make the switchover easier, or at least more enticing.

But then what? Once you’ve actually made the plunge, how will it affect your practice?

Well, for one thing, you may find it easier to chart your own progress. If all a patient’s records are right there in front of you, you’ll see what’s happening faster and will be able to react more quickly, too. If the records of all the patients in your practice are at easy access, with a click of a button you can see how quickly you’re meeting their needs. It’s an easy way to grade yourself…and you might just find yourself becoming a more effective physician.

For another, patients may become more involved in their own health records, by accessing them through an online portal – and they can become more active players in their health plans as well. Less information will have to be relayed during the time a patient is meeting with his physician, giving you more time to see the next patient…and clearing that waiting room faster.

And finally, you’ll find it easier to collaborate with other doctors, a huge plus for everyone involved. Rather than relying on the patient’s memory of his medical history, you’ll have it right there at your fingertips. For those who work with the elderly, who make the rounds of physicians, the knowledge base is critical, and the patient only gains.

Pain in the neck or no pain in the neck, Meaningful Use is here to stay. If you can jump on the bandwagon now and save yourself a headache, you’ll be glad you did…and your patients will be, too.

Learn More

For more information about Electronic Medical Records or Meaningful Use, simply complete our Information Request Form or call 1-800-899-4237.

Of particular relevance to medical practitioners is the Health Information Technology section which created the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONCHIT). This office subsidizes eligible practitioners (EP) who convert their offices to Electronic Health or a Medical Record system (EHR).

In 2009 approximately 17% of the doctors in the U.S., had a basic electronic health record system. A far smaller number had and regularly used the types of comprehensive systems that would allow them to realize and benefit from this technology.

In order to qualify, an EP must apply to Medicare or Medicaid for the incentive program during 2011 and converts his or her office to an EHR approved by ONCHIT. Reimbursement comes in the form of a bonus from Medicare and Medicaid payments for four years. By 2015, the practice will need to prove that the EHR has been put to meaningful use. Should the office fail to do so, ONCHIT will start reducing their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rate, initially to 99%, then to 98%, then to 97% and finally to 96%.

Between 2011 and 2015, it is anticipated that Medicare and Medicaid will be providing financial incentives of between $40,000 and $65,000 for each physician’s office. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the incentives will persuade physicians to adopt comprehensive electronic health records by 2019 to 90% and 70%, respectively, from the 65% and 45% that would be expected to do so had there not been any governmental intervention.

The statute establishes measurable standards for “meaningful way”. During 2011, EP’s are expected to keep integrated electronic records of patients’ medical history, including medications, allergies, and up-to-date lists of all problems, vital signs and lab test results, and generate and electronically transmit permissible prescriptions. They must keep records of patients’ ethnicity, age, primary language, insurance type, etc., and maintains patient listings according to medical condition, in order to monitor quality of care, improvement, reduction of disparity and outreach. The practice should also send timely reminders of preventive and follow-up care to patients.

By 2013 the EP is expected to record clinical documentation in the EHR, and manage chronic conditions with patient lists and decision support, report diseases like cancer and heart disease to external disease registries, including specialists, and administer medications using bar codes.

By 2015, the EP is expected to achieve minimum levels of performance on quality, safety and efficiency, implement clinical decision support for national high priority conditions, and integrate this information system with medical devices and multimedia such as x-rays and CT-Scans.

Learn More

For more information about Electronic Medical Records or Stimulus Act compliance, simply complete our Information Request Form or call 1-800-899-4237.

Records required a lot of space. They required personnel, someone to manage and keep them in order, to retrieve and return. Paper records are perishable, ink dries out, paper tears and crumbles and they can get lost or misplaced.

And imagine the difficulty which can arise when paper records are transferred to a practice on a different street or continent!

Computers changed all that. With their speed, efficiency, compactness, limitless memory and storage capacity, electronic medical records (EMR) software, also known as electronic health records (EHR) software, have made a huge impact on medical office management. With the advent of computers and the software that powered them, doctors can examine a patient and have the entire medical history at their fingertips. The combination of desktops, laptops, notebooks, iPads, tablets and mobile phones brings the record storage archive into the examination room.

Like other software solutions, the electronic medical records software industry has become specialized. EMR/EHR systems are available now for specific specialties and subspecialties, and are available either where the physician accesses the program online, or on a computer which the practice owns. In addition to all of the advantages of a software-based system, as opposed to traditional paper records, a principal advantage of the latter is its updated compatibility with the requirements of government regulations and those of the individual insurance providers.

Another big advantage today are government grants for practices which adopt approved EMR/EHR systems. More about that next time.

Learn More

For more information about Electronic Medical Records or Stimulus Act compliance, simply complete our Information Request Form or call 1-800-899-4237.