Meaningful Use with its Meaningful Results

Meaningful Use (MU) defines the use of certified Electronic health record (EHR) to improve quality care, reduce health disparities, and achieve better clinical outcomes within a healthcare organization. After the implementation of meaningful use, significant changes are done to transform a better healthcare system and following major changes will be seen:

    1.  Developed Quality, Safety, and Efficiency

    2.  Patient Commitment

    3.  Care Coordination between Clinics and Hospitals

    4.  Improved Public Health and Preventive Medicine

    5.  Complete Privacy and Security Protection

Physicians, after adopting electronic health records in a meaningful way, may have been awarded from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. More than 55,000 physicians received bonuses for meaningful use of EHRs in 2011 or 2012. Doctors or hospitals found ineligible for an EHR incentive after an audit would be asked to return the bonus payment.

Adoption of meaningful use program is now a fundamental requirement for the physicians, since two and half years is the rough time span left to implement Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems without facing any financial penalties. Practices should take serious notice on these deadlines and physicians need to focus all the essential elements necessary to meet the criteria of Meaningful Use (MU) bonuses.

For the ongoing success of EHR Incentive Programs, many billing companies have designed webinars and profound coaches that will walk physicians through solutions surrounding EHR issues and MU criteria. Each webinar with its training is interactive and featured. Identifying the key elements to achieve MU bonuses is the core objective. It will also provide an overview of related initiatives, incentives and penalties and how they will impact physician practices.

Meaningful Use Stage II - What You Should Know?

The final rules of meaningful stage two are finally debuted. Providers and practices have another challenge of complying to these rules in order to earn meaningful use bonus. According to the final rules, 2014 is the earliest effective date for stage 2. All the menu measures of stage 1 except ‘Syndromic Surveillance’ are made core measures in stage 2. In addition to prescriptions, now the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) also includes radiology and lab orders.  

As said by Farzad Mostashari, MD, national coordinator for health IT, stage 2 will take time, “to make the most meaningful use of meaningful use.” The stage 2 also reinforces importance of a patient portal so that they can access to their medical records easily.

Now physicians have to make sure that at least 5% of their patients view, send and download their clinical information. Similarly, over 5% of the patients should communicate clinical information with doctors through secure email. After each visit, clinical information must be available to patients within 1 day. The five new menu measures added to stage 2 includes family history, imaging results, progress notes, reporting to cancer registries and reporting to specialized registries. 

Now the electronic health record (EHR) vendors have another benchmark to enhance the EHR. The best EHR will be one that will help providers in complying with meaningful use stage 2 rules.

Meaningful Use Stage 2

Can’t do it in real life? Let’s go with Online Patient Engagement

Donald Berwick, administrator of Centers of Medicare and Medicaid, predicted patient engagement to be one of the top concerns in 2011. Healthcare IT companies and EHR vendors are modifying existing products and introducing new products for online patient engagement. Patients are seeking such a system where they can have instant access to their medical records and history.  

According to recent surveys, most of the patients are seeking providers and practices that provide online access to patient data. The 2012 survey conducted by HealthLeaders Media demonstrated that only one in five practices is providing patients with advanced online patient portals with basic features.

Now patients are expecting quite more. They are losing patience with practices and providers who fail to deliver their expectations. 

The practices need to carve out a strategy to engage patients online. Using social media to enhance patient’s online experience is also a good idea. Healthcare companies should also appoint such innovative applications where patients can update their information and providers can respond them promptly and easily. This is an opportunity as well as challenge for Healthcare IT companies to do something about online patient engagement and to keep the patients and practices happy.

Centers of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)

Accountable Care organization (ACO) – Incorporation of pay-for-performance oriented results.

ACO’s are authorized entities that refer to a group of providers (e.g. physicians, caregivers and hospitals) that works collectively to provide coordinated care to Medicare beneficiaries for minimum period of three years. The key objective to induce ACO is to decrease healthcare expenses, improve care-quality and develop patient commitment. According to a survey, Health and Human Services (HHS) declared 89 fresh ACOs in agreement with CMS, promising to provide quality care to the people associated with Medicare. For more details, go with this page.

      

ACO implementation has now become a necessary action for any physician. To empower primary care and earn patient accountability, the physician had to offer best suited practices to handle cost and sustain quality control. Every physician wants to line up the business with complete care coordination. To succeed as an ACO, providers must apply seamless efficiency to improve medical quality, customer satisfaction and effective performance oriented measures with overall costs reduction. Herewith, physician’s responsibility gets very much critical.  

Following are the types of providers which can participate as a Medicare ACO:

1. Physicians and other professionals in group practice arrangements
2.  Physicians and other professionals in networks of practices
3. Partnerships or joint venture arrangement between hospitals and physicians or other health professionals
4. Other forms the HHS Secretary may determine to be appropriate

US law purposed multi-faceted challenges for the physicians’ to implement new standards for healthcare, reimbursement and information technology. With this fact, majority physicians become more responsible for delivering their services in future.

Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Workflow