SMARTMD Monthly Newsletter- A Timely Summary of Your IT News

Report: EHR Adoption Gaining Ground, but Challenges Remain

iHealthBeat.org reports that despite advances in electronic health care initiatives over the past three years, health IT remains somewhat undervalued, according to an eHealth Initiative report released on July 1, Modern Healthcare reports.
Survey Details:

For its 2010 National Progress Report on eHealth, the eHealth Initiative conducted an online survey of more than 500 individuals at health care systems, hospitals and related organizations.

The survey found that:

• More than 60% of respondents said substantial progress had been made in health IT adoption over the past three years, partially as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act;
• About 55% of respondents said they believed the value of health IT is not widely understood;
• Approximately 66% of respondents acknowledged they were skeptical of the efficacy of outreach initiatives meant to educate consumers about the value of health IT and electronic health records; and
• About 66% of participants said regional extension centers and the national Health IT Research Center would be essential in disseminating information to health care providers.
  

CMS Unveils New Website on 'Meaningful Use' Incentives

CMS has launched a new website intended to help health care providers better understand the criteria to meet federal requirements for the "meaningful use" of electronic health record systems. Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of Electronic Health Records will qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. Website visitors can download fact sheets detailing the proposed program requirements and the proposed definition of meaningful use.

The site also clarifies various terms, such as "eligible professional" and "certification," that are included in the HITECH Act. The site also includes an overview of the incentive program, information about what health care providers are eligible for incentive payments, information on how to register for the program and guidance on what health care providers can do to prepare for meaningful use. CMS also said that it would use the website to publicize EHR training and events related to the incentive program.

The website will offer more specific information about the incentive eligibility requirements after CMS issues the final rule on the EHR incentive programs later this summer. That supposed data has been reported to be July 14, 2010.

Healthcare Mobile Devices Forecast To Gain 7% and To Hit $8.8 billion This Year

In an excellent article written by Informationweek.com writer Nicole Lewis, she reports that the total market for handheld devices in healthcare is expected to reach $8.8 billion for 2010, a 7% increase from last year when the global market posted $8.2 billion, a new report shows.

The report, titled "Handhelds in Healthcare: The World Market for PDAs, Tablet PCs, Handheld Monitors, & Scanners," was published this week by healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information. Noting that the healthcare industry is considered to be among the largest and fastest growing industry segments worldwide, the document said, "The industry can be classified on the basis of the roles that various entities perform. Hence, the healthcare value chain consists of producers, purchasers, providers, fiscal intermediaries, and payers."

The report looks at all handheld devices and makes forecasts for specific categories within healthcare. For example, patient monitoring products generated a market worth about $5.3 billion for 2009 with a market share of 64%. This accounts for the largest share of sales in the handheld market, largely due to the range of product availability, number of conditions requiring monitoring, and increasing demand for essential monitoring products in portable sizes, such as ultrasound and ECG. Patient monitoring devices include a wide range of products which provide the benefits of diagnosing, consulting, monitoring, and treating patients.

In the administrative devices market, growth exploded over the last five years with sales reaching nearly $3 billion in 2009 and a market share of 36%. The most popular devices are PDAs, smartphones, tablet PCs, and inventory/medication scanners. Handheld administrative devices include products to streamline healthcare workflow and improve efficiency as well as patient care, the report said.

"Healthcare workers need to be mobile, and so PDAs and monitoring devices have long been a good fit," Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, said in a statement.

The report also said that there are several factors driving growth in the market for handheld devices in healthcare; among them are the growing and aging population, shortage of qualified medical professionals, cost restraints, medical error reduction measures, and government incentives.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, $19 billion was allocated to accelerate adoption of health IT systems by doctors and hospitals in order to modernize the health care system, save billions of dollars, reduce medical errors, and improve quality. The adoption of Electronic Health Records is a key element of the Obama administration's healthcare IT modernization efforts.

"The ARRA incentives for Electronic Health Records do not specifically reimburse doctors for devices," Carlson said. "But they are getting healthcare organizations to think about IT purchases, and they are helping to make the argument for better electronic data entry, something that we think will lead to increased sales for devices used to enter data."

Please go to www.informationweek.com for other wonderful articles.

Broadband funding to boost 900 healthcare systems

In an article written by Bernie Monegain of Healthcare IT News, he reports that President Obama announced Friday a $795 million government program to develop broadband access in rural parts of the country. Among the beneficiaries will be 900 healthcare facilities.
The investment will support 66 new Recovery Act broadband projects nationwide that, according to the grantees, will not only directly create about 5,000 jobs up front, but will help spur economic development in some of the nation's hardest-hit communities, helping create jobs for years to come.

On the healthcare front - the tab for which is $2.5 trillion or 17 percent of GDP- the FCC's National Broadband Plan estimates $700 billion in savings over 15-25 years from TeleHealth initiatives.

TeleHealth is likely to get a boost from greater access to broadband, the FCC plan notes.

"As broadband has become more widely deployed and affordable, it has enabled things to happe " he said. "It has finally reached that point of critical mass where the experience is high quality enough that people are willing to accept and adopt it. Ease of use is allowing practices, hospitals and clinics to manage and deploy telehealth in a way that is reasonable. All those things are coming together to create an environment that is realistic, affordable and practical. "

Besides benefiting healthcare organizations in all 50 states, Obama said the broadband projects will also affect tens of millions of Americans and more than 685,000 businesses and 2,400 schools across the country.

The $795 million in grants and loans through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have been matched by more than $200 million in outside investment, for a total public-private investment of more than $1 billion in bringing broadband service to these communities, most of which currently have little or no access.

With new or increased broadband access, Obama asserted, medical professionals can provide cost-efficient remote diagnoses and care, communities can compete on a level playing field to attract new businesses, schools can create distance learning opportunities and business owners can expand the market for their products beyond their neighborhoods to better compete in the global economy.
The grants and loans are part of an overall $7.2 billion investment the Recovery Act makes in expanding broadband access nationwide - $4.7 billion through the Commerce Department and $2.5 billion funded through the Department of Agriculture.

New Cius tablet takes on Apple's iPad

Many people thought the iPhone was going to shake up mobile healthcare until Google's Android operating system came along. The same could happen for larger devices, too writes Neil Versel of www.FierceEHR.com.

Though Apple has sold more than 3 million units of the iPad in just three months, and the tablet-like computer has been widely hailed for its potential in healthcare, it's got some new, Android-powered competition: Cisco's Cius. Introduced just before the July 4 long weekend, the Cius weighs in at a mere 1.15 pounds and boasts a 7-inch touch screen--lighter than the iPad, but smaller and with lower screen resolution. The Apple App Store also blows away any and all competition when it comes to variety of apps.

Where the Cius may have the iPad beat is in the enterprise market. "Apple is generally considered a consumer company, and many CIOs are hesitant to use Apple products because the company offers no enterprise road map, whereas other vendors do [though it does offer enterprise services]. Therefore, a competing tablet with similar capabilities from a trusted vendor is going to be attractive to CIOs," networking consultant Ryan Faas writes in Computerworld.

It may come down to user preference. "The truth is that for most hospitals and practices, there's really little difference between the Cius and the iPad [or a PC]," Faas says. As long as data on tablets are protected to HIPAA and state specifications, both platforms are fine for healthcare. "With no major technical differences, the deciding factor between the Cius and the iPad may come down to what IT wants to purchase and support versus what physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers want. IT departments may feel more comfortable with the Cius because it is from a well-known vendor [especially since they're likely used to managing Cisco products].

"Providers may prefer the iPad because it's a device they may already be familiar with and comfortable using. They might also already be using their own iPads on the job, and it may be harder for IT to sell the idea of using another device."

ICD-10 implementation: Are you ready for Oct. 1, 2013?

Effective Oct. 1, 2013, the HIPAA-covered healthcare world will officially and completely transition from ICD-9-CM codes to ICD-10-CM (diagnoses) and ICD-10-PCS (procedures) codes. Daryl Dickhudt, a principal in the Healthcare Group at Falls Church, Va.-based Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), spoke about issues related to ICD-10 implementation at this month's America's Health Insurance Plans conference. Dickhudt has shared with FierceHealthPayer three key "takeaways" from his presentation that health plans (and providers) need to know to prepare for the change that the 2013 deadline will bring:

Takeaway No. 1: Don't expect immediate business benefits. "The business benefits for ICD-10 will occur over time as payers and providers learn the new language of ICD-10," said Dickhudt. To set the stage to achieve those benefits, payers should "engage with providers to understand their timelines and plans for ICD-10 compliance," he said. In addition, "with 5010 external trading partner testing, [payers should] receive ICD-10 codes as part of the testing process to observe which ICD-10 codes are most likely to occur on Oct. 1, 2013. Finally, payers should "conduct analysis on their current claims history to identify the high-volume, high-frequency, high-dollar amount diagnosis codes and procedure codes submitted today," he added.

Takeaway No. 2: Prepare for concurrent ICD-9/ICD-10 processing. "Given the expected transition period, payers and providers will most likely need to process ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes concurrently," advised Dickhudt. "Begin with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) General Equivalence Mappings (GEMS) and Reimbursement Mappings from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and vice versa. Determine whether or not a crosswalk is required based on your organization's business requirements. Then investigate the crosswalk options available in the marketplace and determine the best fit."

Takeaway #3: Create a migration plan for the upgrade and testing of applications to be remediated for ICD-10. "A solid migration plan and well-coordinated approach will be critical given the number of applications that need to be remediated for ICD-10," said Dickhudt. This migration plan "will be a key component of the ICD-10 roadmap for payers and providers," he noted. As part of the plan, Dickhudt recommended that payers and providers do the following: "(1) Evaluate vendor and internal approaches to ICD-10 compliance to align with the enterprise migration approach. (2) Obtain commitments and schedules from vendor resources and internal resources. (3) Use a scheduled release approach to minimize the impact of timing gaps and schedule conflicts. (4) Identify gaps and develop contingency plans for resources and commitment challenges."