Author Archives: Mike

HIMSS 11 Perspective: Eliot Muir

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Our very own CEO of iNTERFACEWARE, Eliot Muir sat down to talk with HIT Exchange Media at HIMSS 11 to discuss the importance and role of interfacing data systems in HIE with a particular emphasis on CDA.

 

Video Transcript

One of the things we are really kind of excited to look at is seeing the emergence of the CDA as a new business challenge that businesses are facing. I think the first stage of the meaningful use provision has got people generating CDA documents. Now generating a document, there is a fair bit of work in doing it but the real work is going to be when people start having to try to consume CDA documents from other vendors. I think we will get back into the same classic problem that interfaces usually reflect the structure of the databases that they feed from and so there’s going to be the same issues with CDA. So you might have a system that has heavy smoker, light smoker, non-smoker and another system says 5 packs a day, non-smoker, 10 packs and over 50. Invariably data is not stored in compatible formats in databases and that’s always reflected in interfaces. So, it’s going to be interesting in looking to see how as the meaningful use provisions go forward, vendors start having to try to interchange the CDA standard. We are ready to help with that if people are facing that challenge.

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Meaningful Use Final Rule To Be Clarified

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Just when you thought the final rule was final…

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will soon release clarifications on the meaningful use final rule that was published in July. While no exact date has been given for the release of these adjustments, they are currently being subjected to a federal clearance process before being published.

There’s no need to be alarmed. All indications are that the revisions are minor. They will include more in-depth descriptions of the meaningful use objectives and measures with a distinct aim to help providers plan for future stages. That’s something I think we can all agree is sorely needed.

Be sure to check out the CMS website for the release of these modifications as well are more guidance materials for health care providers on how to meet the objectives laid out in the incentive program.

The CMS website can be found here: http://www.cms.gov/

Discussions of Stage 2 & 3

That’s right there’s more. The adjustments to the Stage 1 final rule were not the only topic discussed at the recent Health IT Policy Committee meeting. The Committee also discussed the requirements for the next stages in the incentive program.

Certified EHRs for Meaningful Use listed

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In our latest video entitled “What is Meaningful Use?“, the important distinction is made about the use of certified EHR technology as a requirement for proving meaningful use and in turn being eligible for incentives under the HITECH Act.

It makes sense that one of the questions I’ve been most often asked following the release of the video is “What EHRs are certified?”.

Well, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is here to help. The ONC has published a list of Complete EHRs and EHR Modules that have been tested and certified under the Temporary Certification Program.

This list is by no means a final or exhaustive list. You can expect this list to be updated, so it may be worthy of a bookmark.

You can find the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) here:
http://onc-chpl.force.com/ehrcert

Gotta love all those acronyms.

–Mike

What is Meaningful Use?

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If you have any relation to the healthcare industry in the US then chances are that you’ve heard the term meaningful use countless times and unless you’re heavily involved with healthcare IT then there’s a good chance that the term is confusing.

If that’s the case then this video is for you. We’ve been hearing the term meaningful use for two years now and it’s just as vague as ever for some of us and with the release of the stage one final rules a couple of months ago, the chatter only seems to be getting louder.

So for those of you without a highly technical background, I’ve created this fun and hopefully informative video that attempts to answer the burning question: What is Meaningful Use?

Enjoy.

What is Meaningful Use?

This video – entitled: “What is Meaningful Use?“, along with all of our existing – and future – educational videos can be found on the new site in our HL7 Video Vault.

– Mike