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

Reluctance of US Doctors in Adopting EHR Technology

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to identify the major barriers which are confronted by Physicians and doctors in the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This study will lead to various relative dimensions of Health Information Technology (HIT) with the involvement of Meaningful Use, Generic Role of the Government, and Technology evaluation. These selected variables will help us to develop a composite view on this study. The proposed theoretical framework evaluates the degree of reluctance in physicians along with imminent challenges, possibilities and plans that will streamline future incentives too.

    

Keywords:

Doctors, Providers, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Focus groups, Role of the 

Government, Meaningful Use, Technology Evaluation, USA.

Acknowledgements:
The authors of this paper would like to thank MTBC for continuous support throughout this project. www.mtbc.com 

GJMBR Classification : JEL Code : I

To read the complete article please click: http://is.gd/aCemwj

US Doctors are reluctant to adopt EHR Technology

Web-based Healthcare solutions’ built for your practice

Recent web-based healthcare solutions’ are exclusively built for development, conversion ongoing support of healthcare information systems with a continuum of care. Millions of doctors and physicians profoundly admire advanced healthcare solutions, which has driven success in their businesses.

Web based solutions are available anytime from any corner of the world since these modules are computerized and connected with internet. This is a useful technique to overcome hectic lifestyle of doctors and patients. It improves medical outcomes with limited access of time. Now they can embrace a broad spectrum of medical applications very easily. Majority states believe that the general estimate of telehealth services in U.S. and Europe will grow from $3 billion in 2009 to nearly $8 billion by 2012.

With Healthcare Solutions you will gain:

1.  A completely Integrated, web-based solution
2. Confirmed and validated feedback
3.  An intuitive, user-friendly interface
4. An advanced database with multidisciplinary operations
5. Expert support services with relevant information

How to achieve secure pregnancy?

With the endeavor of new and latest trends in medicine, obstetrician/gynecologist (Ob-Gyn) became safer and successful. Medical professionals are dedicated to provide care for both pregnant and non-pregnant patients with up-to-date medical care. Ob-gyn provides preventive care to women with specific expertise in pregnancy, childbirth, and disorders of the reproductive systems. OB/GYNs pursue comprehensive knowledge to undergo unique practices with zero percent error.

Previous year, medical data revealed that 93 million people in the United States are obese, majority is of women and a considerable proportion of them are pregnant. Obesity is one of the most problematic issues during pregnancy since it increases the risk of heart diseases, cancer, heart attack, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Sleep Apnea, Joint Problems and many other OB/GYN problems. It also increases many risks for Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Uterine Cancer, with chances of infertility and complications of pregnancy. Complications can be like:

• Fetus may be larger in size and predisposed to Diabetes
• More chance of cesarean section is there with more difficulties such as hemorrhage, infections and blood clots
• Birth control may be less successful
• Urinary incontinence directly increases as the weight increases.

It won’t be wrong to say that to control pregnancies disorders; women should follow a proper diet chart. Putting up an example, a survey done in 2011 developed a food pyramid, more easy approach “My Plate” was carried out to acknowledge healthy eating. It made the diet simpler for the Americans, half of the plate was of fruits and vegetables and the other half was of whole grains and protein. This division was done into color codes like red for fruit, green for vegetables, brown for grains and purple for protein. The basic purpose was to make the health chart easy and simple for the Americans and to reduce severe pregnancy issues. Secondly, obese women are five times more likely to develop endometrial cancer.

WHAT PREGNANT WOMEN SHOULD DO?

1. Eat healthfully
2. Go for fresh fruits and vegetables and eat real food
3. Stay away from junk Food
4. Always keep a healthy snack, if you feel hungry
5. Avoid carbonated drinks
6. Exercise regularly, keep moving and walk around.
7. Weigh yourself weekly, if you are losing, keep it up, If you are maintaining a healthy weight, keep it up and
8. If you are gaining, reduce the fattening food items from your diet.

New research and development is also carried to improve the quality of pregnant obese women, with minimum number of risks. 

Prefer Fresh Fruits & Vegetables during Pregnancy

Electronic Health Record: For Efficient and Error-free Practice Management

To provide better and more efficient medical care, doctors need to have access to information about their patients. A provider can better treat the patient if he or she has access to the patient’s medical history, demographics, lab results, clinical reports and other relevant data. Real-time access to all this information prevents errors and results in accurate diagnosis, better treatment and improved patient outcomes.

The question is how a provider could get all this information at a single centralized place. The answer is Electronic Health Records (EHR). EHR is a comprehensive healthcare system that provides a complete solution for a medical practice. It helps practices improve their services and double their revenues. Moreover, practices that make meaningful use of EHR also become eligible to earn a meaningful use bonus from Medicare or Medicaid. With the e-prescription feature, the EHR allows the provider to send prescriptions directly to the drug store. Similarly, the lab connectivity feature allows the provider to access lab results and reports directly on his or her computer system. With quick access to a patient’s data, a provider can accurately diagnose the disease and treat the patient in a better way.

One of the convincing features of EHR is that it handles all the data electronically, thereby reducing errors. It ensures smooth, efficient and error-free operations. Once the data about the patient is stored in the EHR, the doctor can always retrieve that patient’s medical data even if the patient is not present or is unconscious. This is really helpful in emergency situations when providers have to take prompt action for an unconscious patient.

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

OB/GYN EHR: Another Remarkable Achievement

Science and technological developments have changed the process of examining a patient. The arrival of the OB/GYN EHR has made enormous differences to the efficiency of OB/GYN practices. To gain the full incentive, practitioners should participate in the Medicare incentive program.  Obstetrics is the medical practice for pregnant women and Gynaecology is the medical practice of diagnosing problems with the female reproductive system. An OB/ GYN's job is to screen for certain diseases including cancers of the breasts, cervix, uterus, and vagina and surrounding area. 

Another important part of an OB/GYN's job is to diagnose and treat female reproductive health issues that include sexually transmitted diseases, menstrual issues, diseases of the breasts, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, as well as fertility problems, and premenstrual syndrome and menopause related issues. Like other practices, OB/GYNs are supposed to have EHR as mandated by the U.S. government that “every physician should move to Electronic Health Records by 2015”. Therefore it is essential for OB/GYNs to switch to EHR software offered by many companies across the U.S. EHRs for OB/GYNs assist OB/GYN Practitioners in improving the quality of care being provided as well as assist the OB/GYN in building solid relationships with patients. OB/GYN EHR Features generally includes:

• Gynecological History
• Obstetric History
• Antenatal Visit History
• STD Studies
• Non Stress Tests
• RH Antibodies
• Breast Exam
• Pelvic Exam
• Ultrasound
• Mammogram
• X Rays

Along with the above features, OB/GYNs can also have the benefits of customized OB/GYN templates that feature easy-to-use and easy to document pictures for documenting HPIs, causes and treatments. Breast and pelvic exam templates are specialized and modified so physicians can best meet the needs of their patients. Practitioners can also have specialized diagnosis and treatment templates. The customized templates, HPIs and associated treatments of OB/GYN EHR make it possible for every OB/GYN to be documenting charts and submitting claims with efficiency. 

OB/GYN EHR

Web Electronic Health Record: A Disruptive Technology

A disruptive technology is one that displaces an existing technology by adding more value. EHR is one of the major healthcare disruptive technologies. When EHR came, it replaced all the existing mini healthcare software and provided users with a full-fledge software having numerous functionalities. EHR introduced automation and connectivity in healthcare industry that resulted in efficiency and improved patient care.

Now there comes another disruptive technology in the form of web EHR that will ultimately replace the desktop EHR. Web EHR is the latest innovation and is provided only by few vendors. Web EHR has solved many issues of the desktop EHR. It ensured 24/7 availability. Being web based, it does not require installations and maintenance.  It is also quiet cost effective as it does not require any special hardware or software. With this much value, web EHR is expected to replace desktop EHR. This will bless the healthcare industry with more positive outcomes. 

Desktop EHR & its Applications