Steven Posnack | June 10, 2011
If enough people believe something, it has to be true, right? In my travels, I’ve found that regulatory interpretations range from being largely factual to wildly fictitious. The latter often results from misinterpretations of regulatory language, improper combinations of regulatory language from different rules, or accurate interpretations getting lost in translation as they are passed from person-to-person. These inaccurate interpretations, intentional or not, often unsurprisingly lead to confusion. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to clear up a few things I’ve heard related to certification.
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Emily Hogin | May 18, 2011
ONC’s core mission includes promoting the meaningful use of health information technology nationwide. By one definition, “meaningful users” are those who qualify to receive funding under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs under the HITECH provisions of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This funding goes to health care providers who adopt certified electronic health records and use them in specific ways to improve patients’ health, increase transparency and efficiency, and engage patients and caregivers.
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Dr. Farzad Mostashari | April 1, 2011
Yesterday’s release of the notice of proposed rulemaking for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) is another reminder of the synergies to be found in the meaningful use of health information technology (health IT) and delivery system transformation. Because health IT tools are an essential foundation to support the kinds of coordinated, patient-centered, and accountable care envisioned by the ACO program, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare &
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Theresa Walunas | March 16, 2011
At the Chicago Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (CHITREC) we’ve had many discussions about what Meaningful Use means. We’ve discussed core sets, menu sets, quality measurements, numerators, denominators, eligibility thresholds, attestation, electronic health record (EHR) certification and reporting tools. On the surface, Meaningful Use looks to be a very complicated thing. Why else would we need 62 Regional Extension Centers, a national outreach program, and a small army of talented clinical and technical people across the country to help our health care providers achieve it?
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Gregory C. Reicks | March 3, 2011
I recently celebrated 21 years as an independent family practitioner in Grand Junction, CO. Frustrated and exhausted from trying to maintain my income and practice in the face of ever-increasing overhead expenses, I was not expecting to celebrate many more years at my job. That was until we began our journey with health information technology (health IT).
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