"Start with whatever you have," Mark Lott, CEO of Lott QA Group, told attendees of the HIMSS Media ICD-10 Forum on June 17. There is plenty that can be done without waiting for everything to be installed first, he said.
New analysis from HealthPocket finds that Bronze Plans, the least expensive plans under the Affordable Care Act, have higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers compared to current plans in the individual and family insurance market.
The cutoff for switching from the ICD-9 medical coding system to ICD-10 will remain Oct. 1, 2014, according to Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national coordinator for healthcare IT, who delivered the keynote address June 17 at the HIMSS Media ICD-10 Forum in National Harbor, Md.
The financial penalties that Medicare imposes on hospitals with high rates of patient readmissions are too harsh for hospitals serving the poor and should be changed, according to a congressional advisory agency.
In a June 13 safety communication, the Food and Drug Administration warned medical device manufacturers, hospitals, medical device user facilities, healthcare IT and procurement staff, and biomedical engineers to put safeguards in place to reduce the risk of cyber attack.
The Medical Group Management Association published research June 13 that suggests overall readiness of the industry to meet the Oct. 1, 2014, ICD-10 compliance deadline continues to be a concern.
A survey of more than 3,400 doctors conducted by Jackson Healthcare found that 42 percent of practicing physicians are dissatisfied in their job. Some are thinking about leaving medicine altogether, while others are considering early retirement, according to the survey report released June 11.
The latest installment of the swooping MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2013 Report Based on 2012 Data highlights quality and patient satisfaction as measures expected to have a considerable impact on compensation structures in the coming years.
Leveraging health IT to streamline and improve communications among parties in an accountable care organization will not only make it easier for all involved, but could be a crucial element to staying afloat and delivering the best possible levels of care. Steve Bethke, vice president of product management at Lumeris, an ACO that helps EHR vendors and insurance companies develop solutions for their industry, cited five areas in which health IT will help ACOs keep pace with new and emerging demands.
The agency responsible for overseeing the EHR Incentive Programs has added new information to its FAQ database. Read on to view the new and updated FAQs. Click through on the provided links to view the answers.
On Oct. 1, 2014 -- just 19 months from now -- the U.S. healthcare industry will begin using a new coding system for the first time in more than 30 years. Now is the time to lay the groundwork for the transition by assessing your practice's computer system, readying the staff and making a plan for implementation.
There are conflicting study results regarding the utility of remote monitoring preventing hospital readmissions. RPM is seen as a way of remaining in physiologic contact with these patients who might be managed at home via care systems. Some studies show no decrease in hospitalizations, and others see a significant benefit. Consider the following five fallacies about RPM.
Running a practice should not require having an IT staff (and budget) comparable to a hospital's just to consult with specialists and advise patients. What is needed is a way to ensure secure exchange of patient data, regardless of the EHR system being used.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has scheduled two National Provider Calls in April to explain the Shared Savings Program application process for Medicare fee-for-service providers who wish to participate in accountable care organizations.
Section 1104 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that all HIPAA covered entities comply with healthcare operating rules. The roles and responsibilities of covered entities vary based upon organization type. PhysBizTech recently talked to Robert Tennant, senior policy advisor at the Medical Group Management Association, about some of the key areas in which the operating rules will affect small physician practices.
March marks a shift for small and medium medical practices that are working on their ICD-10 transitions. According to timelines provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, small and medium-sized practices should have completed a significant amount of planning by now.
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has urged policymakers to ensure that worker health information is included as part of EHRs.
As the lessons of the Beacon program are translated into policy, care should be taken to distinguish between infrastructural or technological advances and actual improvements in health.
Licensure that extends across state lines and private insurance coverage are huge issues, especially as we look forward to a new health delivery system.
A recent report from the California HealthCare Foundation suggests that policymakers and stakeholders have a ways to go before HITECH funds will be put to their highest and best use in the Golden State.
Insurers are happier when you make it easy for them to figure out why a patient darkened your door. ICD-10 has made this task easier by adding more detailed encounter codes where ICD-9 didn't give out enough information.
FairWarning, Inc., the inventor and world’s leading supplier of privacy breach detection solutions for Electronic Health Records (EHRs), today announced that CoxHealth has selected FairWarning® to conduct proactive privacy auditing for Cerner Millennium as well as other healthcare applications across their enterprise
Nirvanix announced that Acuo Technologies, the leader in high-performance software for intelligent medical image lifecycle management, has integrated the latest version of its award-winning Universal Clinical Platform (UCP3) software with Nirvanix public, hybrid and private cloud storage services. The combination delivers a HIPAA -compliant, enterprise-grade cloud storage service that enables healthcare organizations to consolidate diverse department-specific PACS into a unified and secure cloud environment for on-demand storage, availability and bandwidth resources with usage-based pricing.
DataArt, a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries, announced completion of CloudRecords, a fully certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution that offers healthcare providers a variety of tools to efficiently consult with patients and smoothly run all departments of a medical practice.
Surescripts Network accelerates interoperability between physicians, pharmacists and take care health providers by making it easier to supply information often missing during patient visits.
SuccessEHS announces that it will begin offering consulting services to help clients implement health reform initiatives, optimize workflows and maximize revenue. SuccessEHS will offer general consulting services, as well as consulting services for achievement of specific initiatives such as clinical workflow optimization, practice/billing workflow optimization, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Physician Quality Reporting System, Meaningful Use and Ryan White reporting. Consultants will help guide clients by performing gap analyses, creating customized training plans, providing assistance during the planning phase of the desired initiative and offering follow-up support.
Medical Billers and Coders consistently updating themselves on industry requirements, is gearing up for ICD-10 and is launching an 87 week journey towards ICD-10 orientation today. Being more than two years since the final rule was released and at the mid-point for ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation, Medicalbillersandcoders.com cautions all medical billing and coding professionals especially those who haven't, to start planning for the transition right away.
Nuance Communications, Inc., has introduced from HIMSS 2012 two Clinical Language Understanding (CLU)-powered solutions, Dragon Medical 360 | M.D.Assist and Dragon Medical 360 | QualityAnalytics. These language understanding solutions are purpose-built to assist healthcare enterprises battling the pressures of ICD-10 and Meaningful Use, and working to overcome healthcare’s challenge with “big data” – the ability to collect, process, interpret and then utilize information.