AHIMA Meaningful Use White Paper Series
Paper no. 4

Preceding papers in this series have reviewed requirements within the notice of proposed rulemaking on meaningful use, published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 13, 2010. This fourth paper takes a look at a companion rule on EHR certification.

Providers and hospitals that wish to participate in the meaningful use incentive program must use EHR technology that meets federal requirements. Commonly referred to as certification criteria or certification standards, these requirements were officially published January 13, 2010, and become effective February 12. With the publication of the criteria, healthcare providers and vendors can begin to assess and align their systems accordingly.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, or ONC, released the criteria in an interim final rule titled “Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology.” Given how closely the criteria are tied to the meaningful use program, the IFR’s publication was concurrent with the notice of proposed rulemaking on meaningful use that came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Although the IFR is effective February 12, ONC will accept comments on it until March 13. There is potential for the rule to be changed before a final rule is published. (more…)

Provisions within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act extend HIPAA’s accounting of disclosure regulations for providers who maintain electronic health records. The provisions are intended to give patients more information on how their protected health information is used.

The original regulations have been in effect for nearly seven years now. How often have patients availed themselves of the right? What do consumers want or expect from a disclosure? And what challenges do accountings pose for covered entities?

In December 2009 the Journal surveyed AHIMA members on the accountings their organizations have provided to date. Their answers offer a snapshot of the accounting of disclosure experience so far.

In total, 157 HIM professionals responded to the survey. Nearly 60 percent reported that their organization had never received a request for an accounting. Only 14 percent had averaged one or more requests each year since 2003. (more…)

In September 2009 the Department of Health and Human Services released an interim final rule describing a covered entity’s responsibilities to notify victims of a breach to their personal health information. The new rule was the result of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Penalties for noncompliance take effect February 22, 2010.

How well do you know the ins and outs of the rule? It’s complicated, and there are many moving parts. Test your knowledge on the four following breach scenarios. Select the one best answer for each scenario. Each correct answer is based directly on a given section of the rule.

Download a PDF of the scenarios here, which includes commentary from the IFR and results of a poll of 500 AHIMA members who were quizzed on the scenarios already.

Scenario 1

Inadvertent disclosure of deceased patient information

General Hospital recently provided Mr. J. Smith with a copy of his complete medical record from his last visit. Accidently contained within the copies was the history and physical report of Mr. Robert Lewis. Mr. Smith, who is dissatisfied with General Hospital, called the HIM department to report the misdirected history and physical, complaining that the mistake was just another example of the substandard practices at General Hospital. (more…)

The February cover story examines the patient-centered movement and how it will affect HIM’s operations and culture. Other feature stories report on the benefits of including transcription in EHR operations and the issues organizations must examine when defining their legal health record.

(more…)

The 2010 Consulting/Outsourcing Guide was published in the February 2010 Journal of AHIMA. This special advertising section is published annually by AHIMA to promote health information management consulting and outsourcing services.

The Journal of AHIMA publishes four Buyers Guides a year: Consulting/Outsourcing (February), Transcription (April), Coding (July), and Software and Health IT (September).

Click on the image to view the guide.

AHIMA Meaningful Use White Paper Series
Paper no. 3

The second paper in this series began an overview of the provider requirements within the notice of proposed rulemaking on meaningful use, published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 13, 2010. This paper continues that overview with a look at the proposed payment methods and program requirements.

After describing the criteria for the meaningful use of EHRs, the NPRM addresses the incentive payments themselves, broken down among the Medicare Fee for Service (FFS), Medicare Advantage (MA), and Medicaid programs.

FFS Payments to Providers

CMS takes the definition of physician to mean one of five types of professionals: a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, a doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine, a doctor of podiatric medicine, a doctor of optometry, or a chiropractor. Hospital-based physicians do not qualify for an incentive payment (pp. 1904–7). (more…)

AHIMA Meaningful Use White Paper Series
Paper no. 2

The first paper in the series offered a general overview of the notice of proposed rulemaking on meaningful use, published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 13, 2010. This paper begins a more detailed, two-part review of the proposed rule.

The meaningful use program established by ARRA is initially an incentive program, not an entitlement program. No healthcare organization—provider or hospital—is required to apply for or participate in the program for the first five years.

To receive incentive payments an entity or provider must participate in Medicare Fee-for-Service, Medicare Advantage, or a state Medicaid program, with some restrictions. Beginning in 2016, however, the program becomes punitive. ARRA established that providers in Medicare programs will be penalized if they do not meet the meaningful use requirements. (more…)

AHIMA Meaningful Use White Paper Series
Paper no. 1

On January 13, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking on the “meaningful use” EHR incentive program. On the same day, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published a companion interim final rule describing the certification criteria for EHRs that qualify for the meaningful use program. Together, these two documents make up the basis for the incentive program called for under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This is the first paper in a series in which AHIMA will take a closer look at the incentive program and its impact on the health information management profession and on healthcare providers that choose to participate. These brief white papers will focus on the meaningful use proposal, with references to the certification criteria.

This paper offers an introduction and general overview to the meaningful use rule. The next paper provides greater detail on the NPRM’s requirements. (The entire schedule appears at the end of this paper.) (more…)

Official publication of CMS’s notice of proposed rulemaking defining the “meaningful use” of EHRs and describing the provisions governing the incentive programs appeared today in the Federal Register. This is a considerably shortened version from the prepublication version that was released December 30 (see story), though the content of the proposal itself has not changed.

With its publication today, the 60-day public comment period begins. All comments are due to CMS by 5 p.m. on March 15. 

ONC also officially published its interim final rule describing related requirements and technical specifications for EHR technology today. Again, this is an abbreviated version, though the contents of the rule itself have not changed.

Comments to ONC are also due by 5 p.m. on March 15.

The social media site Facebook had become more than just a way for staff at Innovis Health to catch up with friends.

In November 2008, nurses at the Fargo, ND–based healthcare system began using Facebook to provide unauthorized shift change updates to their co-workers. What once would have been a conversation became an update on their personal Facebook pages.

It was a convenient tool, because the nurses had “friended” each other through Facebook and thus could quickly read what each other wrote on their pages. They did not use patient names, but they did post enough specifics about patients so that the incoming nurses could prepare for their shift.

The problem was that everyone else “friended” to their Facebook pages could also read the information. (more…)