On August 31, 2010, the ONC announced the first two organizations that will begin certifying EMRs to allow hospitals and providers to demonstrate meaningful use and thus qualify for stimulus money.  Below is a condensed version of the press release from the ONC (Read the full press release). As we continue to gather new information, we will pass it on to you. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and an enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” – Yogi Berra, New York Yankee

Initial EHR Certification Bodies Named

Key step in national initiative toward adoption of electronic health records

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago, Ill. and the Drummond Group Inc. (DGI), Austin, Texas, were named today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the first technology review bodies that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record (EHR) systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.

Announcement of these ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC-ATCBs) means that EHR vendors can now begin to have their products certified as meeting criteria to support meaningful use, a key step in the national initiative to encourage adoption and effective use of EHRs by America’s health care providers.

Applications for additional ONC-ATCBs are also under review.

Certification of EHRs is part of a broad initiative undertaken by Congress and President Obama under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.  HITECH created new incentive payment programs to help health providers as they transition from paper-based medical records to EHRs.  Incentive payments totaling as much as $27 billion may be made under the program.  Individual physicians and other eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 through Medicare and almost $64,000 through Medicaid.  Hospitals can receive millions.

To qualify for the incentive payments, providers must not only adopt, but also demonstrate meaningful use of, certified EHR systems.  The law envisions that defined meaningful use requirements will help ensure that the patient and provider benefits of EHRs are realized.  Initial meaningful use criteria were defined in a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 28.

With the initial two ONC-ATCBs now named, EHR vendors can apply to them for certification of their products.  By purchasing certified products, providers will have assurance that the products will support achievement of the meaningful use objectives.

To learn more about the ONC-ATCBs named today visit www.cchit.org  and www.drummondgroup.com.

For more information about the ONC certification programs visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/certification.

For more information about other HHS Recovery Act Health Information Technology funding and  programs, visit http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/index.html#Health.

Curt Johnson
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Orchard Software Corporation

Comments (0) Sep 02 2010

“Wait till next year!” – every Cleveland sports fan born after 1964

As summer comes to an end, like many people, I begin to look forward to another year of football and the hope it brings that my team will have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Having said this, there are couple of things you need to know about me. I grew up in a middle class suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. For the last 15 years, I have lived in Carmel, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis, Indiana.

In these past 15 years, the Indianapolis Colts have been awesome. They win their division every year, and they have been to two Super Bowls, winning one of them. The Colts have won at least 12 games in a season for the last seven years in a row. They also have one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. I mention all of this because, unfortunately for me and many people in Northeast Ohio, our team is the Cleveland Browns. I still have season tickets even though I live in Indiana. I have had them since 1999. The other day someone asked me why I keep them, and I had to explain that I want to make sure I am at the top of the list for playoff tickets when the Browns make it there. I am guessing many of you had the same look on your face as you read that last line as the person I was talking to did.

I bring all this up because for all of us in healthcare and, more specifically, the laboratory industry, I think it is important that we always have an optimistic attitude. However, we don’t want to fool ourselves into wishful thinking, and I believe there is a clear distinction between the two.

Wishful thinking is something we all do, but cannot control. I hope to be buying playoff tickets this year for the Browns. I cannot do anything to make them a quality football team or help them win any games, so I don’t have very much input. Thus, it is as much a wish as anything. Many of us hope our jobs, our offices, our organizations, or our labs don’t change. We like the way things are, and want them to continue as they are. This, too, is probably wishful thinking.

On the other hand, our attitude is something we can—and must—control. Change is constant, and it will continue to affect all of us in the lab. How we deal with this change makes all the difference. Think about the changes in testing, instruments, and automation. For some of us, mouth pipetting was still acceptable when we started in the lab. The ACA, SMAC, and original Coulter counters were so far advanced that we were amazed. Think about billing. We have been through the change to DRGs, medical necessity screening, insurance routing, anti-markup laws, and Stark laws. From a regulatory point of view, we have CLIA 88 and all of its additions over the years. For the most part, we have all survived and adapted, and today we provide an incredible amount of value to our providers and patients.

As we move toward healthcare reform, HITECH, and the continued evolution of molecular diagnostics, our attitudes as much as anything will determine how successful we will be. It is up to all of us to embrace change and continue to provide the healthcare community our invaluable service, and I believe we will.

As always, I want to recognize and say thank you to all the laboratorians, and let you know all of us here at Orchard intend to continue providing you with the tools, support, and information you need to be the best you can be.

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” – Coach John Wooden

Curt Johnson
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Orchard Software Corporation

Comments (3) Aug 26 2010

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and will have an enjoyable weekend.  Many of us have spent most of our summer working through and preparing for ARRA/HITECH, how it will affect you, our customers, and how we should best prepare to meet your needs. 

Today, as this blog is being posted, we are hosting a webinar entitled, “An Update on ARRA and its Impact on Laboratories”. We have approximately 500 attendees for the webinar, and we look forward to providing you information that will be beneficial. We will be posting the webinar, along with questions from the audience and our answers, on our website at www.orchardsoft.com/meaningfuluse.html.   

As our blog continues to grow and reach more people, I would like to ask you, the readers, for a favor.   If you could please provide us with feedback to let us know what topics you would like to discuss we would appreciate it.  We will continue to focus on issues we believe are important, but if there are specific issues you would like us to address, please let us know.

Next week, we will provide each of you answers to the many questions we will be receiving from the webinar.  Again, thank you for your continued support, and until next week, have a great weekend!

“I will prepare and someday my chance will come”. Abraham Lincoln
Curt Johnson
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Orchard Software Corporation

Comments (0) Aug 19 2010