The Pennsylvania Department of Health published the approved 2017 medical record cost for production of medical charts and records. The notice is attached in the link below. It addresses both electronic health records and the production of records in other types of formats. http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol46/46-49/2082.html… Continue Reading
You might have not noticed in the last blog post that there is a provision in the Pennsylvania Notice regarding electronic health records. The Notice does not establish a fee for electronic health records. Rather it states that the cost for production of health records in an electronic format shall not exceed the cost of … Continue Reading
Microsoft recently announced that, after April 8, 2014, it will not longer provide security updates or technical support for Windows XP. Microsoft’s statement that “businesses that are governed by regulatory obligations such as HIPAA may find that they are no longer able to satisfy compliance requirements” has spurred a certain level of panic among health … Continue Reading
Lee Kim will be giving a webinar on negotiating electronic health record agreements on Thursday, June 20, 2013. EHR’s are increasingly outsourced services provided by specialty vendors who can take advantage of economics of scale and concentrated expertise. But this means that mission-critical health care functions are more dependent on complex systems the provider does not … Continue Reading
Lee Kim, Tucker Arensberg attorney and Chair of the mHIMSS Legal/Policy Taskforce, will be a panelist at the American Conference Institute’s Legal and Business Guide to mHealth and Wireless Medical Technology in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2013. Her panel will cover securing mobile devices, networks, data in the “cloud” and cybercrime.… Continue Reading
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued its medical records fees for 2013. The announcement is attached; it provides as follows: Not to Exceed Amount charged per page for pages 1-20 $ 1.42 Amount charged per page for pages 21-60 $ 1.05 Amount charged per page for pages 61-end $ … Continue Reading
Health Industry Watch reported the following: According to the OIG, 57% of Medicare physicians used an electronic health record (EHR) system at their primary practice location in 2011, based on a sample of 2,000 physicians who provided at least 100 evaluation and management (E/M) services in 2010. Almost one quarter of physicians (22%) first began … Continue Reading
Google announced it will shut down its Google health personal health record service by the end of this year. The Company plans to make existing data recoverable through the end of 2013, after which it will be permanently deleted.… Continue Reading
The last day for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period for this fiscal year for the Medicare EHR incentive program is July 3, 2011. Hospitals and critical access hospitals must begin their 90-day reporting period by this date if they still want to successfully demonstrate meaningful use and receive … Continue Reading
The Health Information Technology for Clinical Health Act (the "HITECH" Act) provides economic incentive for the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology and qualified Electronic Health Record systems ("EHR"s). A physician, other professional, or hospital shall be deemed to be a meaningful EHR user if: 1) Certified EHR technology is used in a … Continue Reading
Thanks to the commenters of the linkedIn Health Innovations Group for highlighting the Harvard study concluding that hospital computing modestly improves processes, juxtaposed with CMS announcement of intent to publish EMR incentive payment and meaningful use regs in early January. http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-31217_PI.pdf http://www.amjmed.com/webfiles/images/journals/ajm/AJM10662S200.pdf… Continue Reading
On Saturday, December 6, 2008, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health published the allowable medical records fees under Pennsylvania Statute 42 P.A. C.S. §§ 6152-6155. Attached below is a link to the notice published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol38/38-51/2302.html … Continue Reading
One of our Medlaw Bloggers, Software Advice, contacted us about EHR certification. We thought the information would be useful. Here are 4 questions we answered in our analysis: What are the benefits of CCHIT? CCHIT has taken on the task of defining the key components of an EHR, how it should communicate with other systems … Continue Reading
Pennsylvania law states that medical providers and hospitals must provide copies of patients’ medical records upon request, but may charge a fee for copying and producing the medical records. That fee is addressed annually. The link below is the announcement by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, entitled “Amendments to Charges for Medical Records,” which was published … Continue Reading
For an amusing satire about managed care, check out www.calhealthplan.org, which was created by California consumer activists ( who else?) to highlight perceived managed care abuses. The Nurse Avenger video game is mildly amusing, but the theme song & video, the "Pirates of the Health Care-ibbean" is biting and hysterical, unless you’re a managed care … Continue Reading
It seems that electronic health records (EHRs) are constantly being touted as the next best way to improve both healthcare quality and medical practice profitability, but adoption of EHRs by physician practices continues to languish. The range for provider adoptions in small and solo practitioners’ offices, as determined by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is somewhere … Continue Reading
CCHIT was awarded a contract in September of 2005 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and evaluate criteria and to establish an inspection process to provide certification for electronic health records. CCHIT has been endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American … Continue Reading
Senator Bill Frist has launched a new healthcare Blog. MedicalMatter.org: a21st Century Discussion of Health Care Issues. According to the inaugural post, the blog is about "healthcare and the politics of healthcare", and will address issues such as electronic health records (EHR), stem cell research, health savings accounts (HSA), and many other topics.… Continue Reading
Electronic Health Records (EHR) are touted by proponents within the healthcare industry as a means to both improve quality and reduce cost through a combination of reduced errors and improved communication. The drive to standardize the process for the utilization of electronic healthcare records gained its greatest impetus from the electronic transaction standards of HIPAA, … Continue Reading
HHS/CMS announce ePrescribing regulations. The Department of Health and Human Services and CMS issued a final rule for ePrescribing standards. The final rules were published in the Federal Register under November 7, 2005 at 70 FR 67568.… Continue Reading
Highmark announces the Highmark E Health Collaborative. The Highmark E Health Collaborative is a joint project between Highmark and the Pittsburgh Foundation to foster the adoption and utilization of electronic prescription systems. The Collaborative will provide funding to eligible physicians who wish to acquire and use electronic technology. Highmark will contribute $26.5 million , $18.5 … Continue Reading
While CMS was announcing its EHR beta test, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, announced the composition of the American Health Information Community. Access the HHS Press Release here. The purpose of the Community is to advance President Bush’s HER project. Modern Healthcare reported in its September 19, 2005 edition that many … Continue Reading
