On Oct. 6, 2015, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the final rules for Stage 3 of the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program and the 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria. Through this rulemaking, the agencies hoped to simplify requirements and add some new flexibilities for providers.
Many in the health IT sector and the health professional community view electronic health records as both a blessing and a curse. EHRs have significantly improved documentation and dissemination of patients' clinical information, streamlined certain tasks and improved safety in areas such as medication management. But EHRs also have made some aspects of health care providers' workload more time consuming than in the "paper" days and sometimes compromise patient safety.
Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt and National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo in a blog post further explained plans for the upcoming changes to the meaningful use program, EHR Intelligence reports.
The 2015 Edition Final Test Method has been posted and can be accessed on the ONC Health IT Certification Program webpage.
The Final Test Method outlines the requirements for evaluating conformance of health IT Modules to the certification criteria defined in the ONC 2015 Edition Final Rule (45 CFR Part 170 Subpart II) published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2015.
More than 80% of health IT users have experienced some type of quality performance benefit as a result of electronic health record adoption, according to survey by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, EHR Intelligence reports.
Most health IT management professionals routinely work on addressing problems with patient matching and duplicate patient records, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Health Information Management Association, EHR Intelligence reports (Heath, EHR Intelligence, 1/
About two-thirds of the 100 largest U.S.
CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT issued a request for information seeking input on policy options to strengthen the testing and certification of electronic health records used for reporting quality measures,
"Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both "direct access" (i.e. unassisted) and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers)."
Below is the text from ONC regarding this new requirement:
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults plan to purchase health and fitness devices in the next year, according to a survey by the Consumer Technology Association, MobiHealthNews reports.
ONC issued a Federal Register notice to provide corrections (e.g., corrects cross-references and citation omissions) and clarifications for the final rule entitled “2015 Edition Health Information Technology (Health IT) Certification Criteria, 2015 Edition Base Electronic Health Record (EHR) Definition, and ONC Health IT Certification Program Modifications.” These corrections and clarifications will eliminate confusion and ambiguity, permitting stakeholders to better understand, implement, and comply with the final rule. The final rule and notice are effective January 14, 2016.
Electronic medication alerts can help physicians more accurately and safely prescribe medications to patients with kidney disease, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, FierceEMR reports.
The widespread adoption of electronic health records has helped hospitals reduce costs and patient deaths stemming from hospital-acquired conditions, according to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Health Data Management reports.
On Oct. 16, 2015, CMS published a long-awaited final rule that modifies the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (aka meaningful use) requirements for 2015 through 2017 and establishes requirements for Stage 3, which starts in 2018. While CMS "finalizes" Stage 3 requirements within this final rule, the agency has signaled that these regulations are not set in stone. The public may submit feedback for the Stage 3 requirements until Dec. 15.
HHS' Office for Civil Rights has launched a new Web portal designed to boost HIPAA familiarity among mobile health developers, Health Data Management reports.
The Senate passed a bill (HR 2029) that details funding requirements for the Department of Veterans Affairs' efforts to improve its electronic health record and make it more interoperable with the Department of Defense's system, EHR Intelligence reports (Heath, EHR Intelligence, 11/19).
Walgreens and telemedicine company MDLive announced a 20-state expansion to their virtual doctor service and a new health tracking application, MobiHealthNews reports (Pai, MobiHealthNews, 11/
Few U.S. residents who download mobile health applications continue using them over time, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth, Medical News Today reports.
Meanwhile, 46% of respondents said they have stopped using a health app because of:
The American Medical Association and MedStar Health have developed a joint framework to determine usability among electronic health record technologies, EHR Intelligence reports (Murphy, EHR Intelligence, 10/27).
Nearly 200 health care organizations have sent letters to the Senate and the House urging lawmakers not to defund the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,