CMS MAKES IT OFFICIAL: MU DEADLINES PUSHED BACK TO 2016, 2017: The industry has been saying something’s got to give with Meaningful Use, and here it is: Under pressure from various groups, CMS admitted problems with EHR technology and implementation and late Tuesday formalized its decision to extend Stage 2 of the program for an additional year–through 2016–and to put off the start of Stage 3 until 2017. CMS said that because of timing, backlogs and certification case load, many EHR products were certified later than hoped, making things difficult for hospitals and providers. The rule also said CMS was willing to accept 2011 Edition EHR technology. Although 2014 Edition technology may be available for adoption, “there is a backlog of many months for the updated version to be installed and implemented so that providers can successfully attest for 2014,” CMS said. “The delay in availability may limit a provider’s ability to fully implement 2014 Edition EHR technology across the facility.” CMS release: http://go.cms.gov/1gM26zj
AND OF COURSE, THE INDUSTRY LIKES IT: The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) welcomed the announcement. “If the government acts quickly to finalize the proposed rule, it will provide the flexibility needed for our members and their organizations to adequately optimize newly deployed technology and ensure success of the program,” said CHIME president and CEO Russell P. Branzell. The American Hospital Association is into it, too—unsurprisingly. AHA president Rick Pollack said, “Without the flexibility the proposed rule offers, many, if not most, hospitals would not meet meaningful use in FY2014 and would be a setback to the movement toward widespread adoption of these new technologies.” HIMSS vice president Tom Leary said their group is pleased, as well—the proposed rule will “go a long way toward relieving some of the time crunch eligible professionals and hospitals are experiencing,” but questions remain on what this exception will look like for eligible hospitals, he said.
Sen. John Thune, chairman of an “informal EHR working group” in the Senate said, “Since last year, I have been calling for CMS to listen to the providers and hospitals that are facing challenges… I am pleased the administration has finally listened.”
Happy Wednesday and welcome to Morning eHealth, where we rolled up to the Hill in an old Ford Taurus yesterday that was so much cooler than an Uber. Once the air conditioning started working, that is.
eHEALTH TWEET OF THE DAY: Stephanie Baum of MedCity News: @StephLBaum: If you’re waiting for payers to figure out #telemedicine, stop http://bit.ly/1p9tQxc #ata2014 #payers #hcare #telehealth Ooh, burn.
TODAY ON THE HILL: DASCHLE AND LOTT TOUT TELEMEDICINE: Former Senate majority leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott will host a talk on telemedicine’s impact on the hill today, discussing a study released Tuesday by their lobbying group the Alliance for Connected Care with former ATA president Dr. Rashid Bashshur. Pro eHealth will be there, so check back with us for updates. According to that study, telemedicine reduces hospitalizations and emergency department visits for care of congestive heart failure, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The report is to be published in Telemedicine and eHealth. The Alliance for Connected Care is holding the Capitol Hill briefings in hopes of reducing Medicare limits on when it pays for telemedicine services.
HEALTH IT MONEY TALKS FOR THESE 100 VENDORS: Healthcare Informatics has named its 100 vendors with the highest revenues derived from healthcare products and services in the U.S. So weird, the focus is on money, not patient outcomes! To give you an idea of how profitable this stuff is, McKesson, topping the list, raked in $3.4 billion last year from Health IT. Anyway, Cerner Corp., Dell, Inc., Phillips Healthcare and CareFusion round out the top five—check out the rest: http://bit.ly/1gL9yLa
THE KEY TO THE MILITARY’S MEDICAL MISSION MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK: Telemedicine will be key to extend care even as the ACA creates higher demand for physicians and nurses, the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for health affairs said Tuesday. “The world is requiring that we do more with less, that we be effective even though our resources may be constrained,” Jonathan Woodson told the American Telemedicine Association’s annual meeting in Baltimore. The DoD provided more than 38,000 telemedicine encounters in 28 medical specialties in fiscal 2013.
TELEMED COMPUTERS NEED THEIR HUMANS, AFTER ALL: It may seem obvious, but panelists speaking Tuesday of the ATA conference in Baltimore said telemedicine programs aren’t designed with patients and providers in mind quite enough. FierceHealthIT reports that Jay Shore, director of telemedicine at the University of Colorado, said current technology use expectations are “not meaningful.” Another panelist from St. Louis-based Mercy Health said telepresenter and patient must know each other well for the practice to work. Article: http://bit.ly/Tqt6Kr
CVS MINUTE CLINIC PAIRS WITH FOR REGIONAL SYSTEMS FOR HEALTH IT: CVS Caremark Corp. along with four regional health systems announced they will facilitate care coordination, collaboration and medication adherence through an integrated EHR system. The health systems include Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut; Memorial Health in Georgia, and Lahey Health and Baystate Health in Massachusetts. Announcement: http://bit.ly/1lH6vSU
What We’re Clicking
A Stanford engineer has invented a safe way to transfer energy to medical chips in the body—check out the video: http://bit.ly/1o3Y1sf
Rock Health, a digital health startup incubator, has announced its sixth class—check out the companies here: http://bit.ly/1hYV70I
CEOs and CIOs are making hiring chief information security officers a top priority, Healthcare IT News reports: http://bit.ly/1vBy0mf
At the University of Leeds, big data is helping cancer patients in the form of a database that matches patients with certain types of blood cancers to the best treatments—here’s the writeup: http://bit.ly/1jpPjRQ
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that privacy advocates are warning of a “nightmare” as tech giants consider fitness tracking: http://wapo.st/1oNh7D9
Joel Dudley, director of biomedical informatics at Mount Sinai Medical Center, talks to Fast Company about why health care needs creative thinking more than ever: http://bit.ly/1sPQUBn
Laboratory staff are the key to making sure EHR data is accurate, Clinical Innovation + Technology reports, referring to a CDC whitepaper on EHR data safety: http://1.usa.gov/1thLdOX
