Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
MGMA Confirms Productivity Loss with Government’s EMR Program
What struck me at last week’s annual meeting of HIMSS (Health Information and Management Systems Society) was the conspicuous absence of conversation about the effect of the ARRA legislation on physician productivity—there was hardly a mention of the subject throughout the conference. Jeffrey Belden, M.D., of the HIMSS Usability Taskforce, did point out that documenting [...]
Government EHR: Teetering on the Backs of Physicians
Last week, the HIT Policy Committee responded to CMS’ proposed meaningful use regulations, clearly unhappy that CMS had chosen to ignore some of their recommendations and had even added some of its own. At first blush, it appeared that the Policy Committee had come to recognize how overwhelmingly burdensome the requirements are for physicians, in [...]
Specialists: Square Pegs in the Government’s Round EHR Holes?
It has been abundantly clear to me that the government’s EHR program is not relevant for specialists and other high-volume physicians. It was evident from the outset that specialists were never the focus of the legislation, but recent program-funding announcements dispel—once and for all—any doubts about the government’s intentions in this regard. Furthermore, the type [...]
Government EHR Program: Unintended Consequences (continued)
Last week’s EMR Straight Talk, “Government EHR Program: Potentially Harmful Unintended Consequences,” seems to have struck a nerve with readers—based on the number, source, and intensity of the comments. The elevated level of concern is palpable. What I find rewarding is that blogs like EMR Straight Talk are creating a community of physicians who find [...]
Government EHR Program: Potentially Harmful Unintended Consequences
I am really intrigued by the latest creation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Last week, HHS announced a contract to set up a group of experts to identify and attempt to fix any “undesirable” and “potentially harmful unintended consequences” that result from the stimulus legislation’s EHR incentives. According to the announcement, [...]
Meaningful Use Rule: Initial Comments Set the Tone
It’s been a relatively quiet week—the initial reactions to the proposed rules on “meaningful use” and standards are out, and the flood of commentary has temporarily subsided. The work of reviewing and analyzing the rules in depth has just begun, as staff at various industry organizations pore over the 700 pages of government verbiage at [...]
Meaningful Use: Hype and Misinformation Still Abound
In the wake of the release of the CMS Proposed Rule regarding “meaningful use,” one would expect that the mist would begin to clear and facts emerge. But it seems that as the hype intensifies, so does the dissemination of misinformation.
A consensus among physicians is growing. They rightly feel that the government’s expectations are overly [...]
Readers Respond: The Exorbitant Cost of Meaningful Use
As anticipated, the release of the proposed rules on “meaningful use” created quite a lot of conversation in the medical community. Physicians are realizing that the waiting is essentially over, and that the final version of the requirements will not lessen the onerous burden the government is placing on them in exchange for the possibility [...]
The New “Meaningful Use” Rules: Is Participation Worth Your Time?
The government has finally released its long-awaited “Notice of Final Rulemaking,” which defines “meaningful use” under the Stimulus legislation and spells out the associated regulations. In 556 pages, the document lays out what physicians must do—in addition to implementing a qualified EHR—to meet the meaningful use requirements and earn the EHR incentives. The bottom line: [...]
Research Explains Why EHRs Won’t Achieve “Meaningful Use”
A new landmark study on EHRs was published this week, and its implications for widespread physician adoption of traditional (“legacy”) EHR technology—particularly by high-performance specialists—are dismal. Published on December 14 in the well-respected Milbank Quarterly, the study represents the most thorough EHR analysis to-date, basing its conclusions on an exhaustive review of 195 previous studies. [...]
