Charity Darby

29May, 2015

“EMR 1.0” ?

By: Charity Darby | Tags: EHR, EMR, EMR 1.0, HIT, mobile devices, tablets

Part One Recently USA Today published an article on electronic health records & electronic medical records (EHRs/EMRs ). The article mentioned that the U.S. government is relaxing some of the tougher rules and requirements for hospitals using EHRs/EMRs. What grabbed my attention first was the mention of “The problem is we’re in the EHR 1.0 stage. They’re not good yet.” I will add more comments later however, their admission that EHR 1.0 was at a very, very early stage in the overall development. Let’s take a few steps back to […]
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22May, 2015

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Surescripts’s State of Digital Health Information

By: Charity Darby | Tags: controlled substances, E-prescriptions, health data transaction, National Progress Report, Surescripts, U.S. Healthcare

Surescripts (www.surescripts.com) recently released their 2014 National Progress Report and it was very impressive! Surescripts processed 6.5 billion health data transactions in 2014 – a feat that the company’s officials say marks a major digital transformation of U.S. healthcare. I don’t think that is an exaggeration. We are past the tipping point in the use of technology in healthcare. Based on the report, the company handled more transactions over the past year than American Express (6 billion) or PayPal (4.2 billion). In a press release dated May 19, 2015 Surescripts […]
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15May, 2015

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U.S. Electronic Health Records Industry To Continue Growing To End Of The Decade And Beyond

By: Charity Darby | Tags: EHR, EMR, Market Share, PQRS, Telehealth

Kolomara Information, a leading publisher of market research in medical markets, recently published a report entitled EMR 2015: The Market for Electronic Medical Records . In the public information released, the researchers expect that the Electronic Health Record (EHR) market will continue to grow past Meaningful Use (MU) with the incentive funding running out over the next few years. The report projects annual market growth of seven to eight percent during the next five years, with good competition and stable growth despite the absence of incentives boosting the market. From […]
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15May, 2015

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Is Expanding Telehealth Next On The Horizon?

By: Charity Darby | Tags: communications, EHR, EMR, Integration, Meaninful Use, MU-2, Telehealth, telemedicine

Just a few weeks ago the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, held a 2 hour hearing on “Advancing Telehealth Through Connectivity.” Stakeholders testified to lawmakers that telehealth is helping to achieve financial and care-related benefits, but still many barriers remain to widespread appeal and use. In summary, industry experts from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), informed the Senators that the use of telemedicine has both increased the quality of care by improving outcomes and, has reduced the cost of healthcare. This will provide a […]
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24Apr, 2015

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EHR Information Blocking Warning from the ONC

By: Charity Darby | Tags: information blocking

Recently the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) published a blog noting that they are “becoming increasingly concerned about these practices, which devalue taxpayer investments in health IT and are fundamentally incompatible with efforts to transform the nation’s health system.” Those words were from National Coordinator Keren DeSalvo, MD, and Jodi G. Daniel, ONC’s director of the Office of Policy Planning. They effectively call out “persons or entities (who) knowingly and unreasonably interfere with the exchange or use of electronic health information.” The problem is going to […]
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17Apr, 2015

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The SGR Is Dead!

By: Charity Darby | Tags: fee-for-service, Medicaid, Medicare, medigap, operating costs

We are now at the beginning of real healthcare payment reform in the United States. The President of the United States signed in to law the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.” The new law represents 2 years of bipartisan hard work at the Capitol, and resolves a dilemma created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Prior to today, legislative action has been required 17 times since 2003 to prevent catastrophic reimbursement cuts to Medicare service providers; this always creates huge political maneuvering not to mention, a […]
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10Apr, 2015

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Meaningful Use Stage 3 (PART 1)

By: Charity Darby | Tags: “HHS announces proposed rules to support the path, 2105 at exactly 4:19 PM (EST) I received an email blast from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The headline read, eaningful Use 3 is on the way! On March 20

Meaningful Use 3 is on the way! On March 20, 2105 at exactly 4:19 PM (EST) I received an email blast from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The headline read, “HHS announces proposed rules to support the path to nationwide interoperability” it went on to say: Proposed Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs and 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria rules issued for comment “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National […]
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3Apr, 2015

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$23 Billion (U.S.D) EHR Global Market by 2020

By: Charity Darby | Tags: $23 Billion (U.S.D) EHR Global Market by 2020

According to a recent report by a U.S.-based market intelligence firm , by 2020 the global electronic health records (EHR) market is expected to grow to $23 billion (U.S.D) in annual revenues, from the latest estimate of $15 billion in 2013. The report denotes that North America is currently leading the market worldwide with about 42% of total global sales. Second in the market was Eurozone, followed by the Asia-Pacific region. The report also notes that Asian countries such as China and India are exhibiting the fastest expansion and will […]
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27Mar, 2015

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Medicare SGR May Finally be Fixed

By: Charity Darby | Tags: Medicare SGR May Finally be Fixed

On March 26, 2015 (10:11 AM EDT), the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 402 to 12 passed a bill to fix the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Law. The bill now moves on the U.S. Senate and there is hope that President Obama will sign the final bipartisan legislation. The new bill is intended to permanently fix an annual problem that has been pushed on year to year since 1997 and the Clinton administration. According the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if this SGR issue was not addressed […]
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20Mar, 2015

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HHS Proposes New ACO Model – More, and Better Technology Will be Critical

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACOs, EHRs, Telehealth

On March 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) via the Center for Medicare Services (CMS), announced a new initiative “the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model of payment and care delivery”. The goal of the program is to “encourage quality improvement and care coordination, helping to move our health care system to one that achieves the Department’s goals of better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.” The release goes on to say- “The ACOs in the Next Generation ACO Model will take on greater […]
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