Charity Darby

17Mar, 2015

Days of Fee for Service (FFS) Medicare and Medicaid are Numbered

By: Charity Darby | Tags: capitation., I have been waiting a long time for a headline like this. I have zero doubt that 10 years from now 75% or more of all medical billing will replaced by either value based payment or

A few days ago, the Boston Globe reported that “Blue Cross vastly expands quality-based payment systems”. The article went on to say that “health care industry’s traditional system of paying doctors for every office visit, test, and procedure may be nearing its end”. I have been waiting a long time for a headline like this. I have zero doubt that 10 years from now 75% or more of all medical billing will replaced by either value based payment or, capitation. The reality is, in healthcare today, we spend a great […]
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7Mar, 2015

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Where Is HITECH’s $35 Billion Dollar Investment Going?

By: Charity Darby | Tags: 2013, On April 16

On April 16, 2013, a group of 5 US Senators released a report called “REBOOT: Re-examining the Strategies Needed to Successfully Adopt Health IT”. This report outlined their serious concerns with the implementation of the Health Information Technology and Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. Recently, these same US Senators wrote a blog on the Health Affairs website. http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2015/03/04/where-is-hitechs-35-billion-dollar-investment-going/ In this blog they specifically asked: What have the American people gotten for their $35 billion dollar investment? Two years after releasing the white paper, and six years since enactment of […]
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3Mar, 2015

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CMS Extends Deadline for Medicare Eligible Professionals to Attest to Meaningful Use

By: Charity Darby | Tags: 2015, 2015. The alert went on to say:, On February 25, sent out an alert that extended attestation deadline for Medicare Eligible Professional from 2014 to 11:59 ET on March 20, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid via the Office of National Coordinator

On February 25, 2015, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid via the Office of National Coordinator, sent out an alert that extended attestation deadline for Medicare Eligible Professional from 2014 to 11:59 ET on March 20, 2015. The alert went on to say: CMS extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data. CMS continues to urge providers to begin attesting for 2014 as soon as they can. This extension also allows eligible professionals, who have not already used their one “switch”, to switch programs […]
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9Feb, 2015

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Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs

By: Charity Darby | Tags:

Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their intent to engage in rulemaking to update the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs beginning in 2015. These intended changes are designed to reduce the reporting burden on providers, while supporting the long term goals of the program. Since the first year of the EHR Incentive Programs in 2011, the United States has seen unprecedented growth in the adoption and meaningful use of EHRs. To date, more than 400,000* eligible providers have joined the ranks of […]
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9Feb, 2015

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The Numbers Are In!

By: Charity Darby | Tags: Medicare reimbursements

The Numbers Are In! The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in mid-December 2014, that more than 257,000 doctors (Eligible Providers) will see a 1% cut in their Medicare reimbursements in 2015 for failing to adopt an electronic health record and meet the requirements of the Meaningful Use program. Further, 28,000 of those doctors face a 2% reduction in Medicare reimbursements in 2015 for failing to meet the requirements of both the meaningful use program and the electronic prescribing program, which requires physicians to use e-prescribing technology. CMS […]
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9Feb, 2015

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The Unicorn of EMR- Interoperability.

By: Charity Darby | Tags: for public comment, its shared nationwide roadmap for interoperability., The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released

Recently, The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released, for public comment, its shared nationwide roadmap for interoperability. (See link below) This “roadmap” is designed to get everyone on the same path towards what we have always described as a ‘patient centered’ EMR. The goal is to bring both the private and public providers of medical (and wellness) care together, to create an interoperable health IT ecosystem over the next 10 years, according to ONC. We have to head towards that goal today, and 10 years is […]
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14Jan, 2015

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DISRUPTING THE HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE

By: Charity Darby | Tags:

DISRUPTING THE HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE How Electronic Records Must Lead the Way In 2005 the RAND Corporation projected that widespread use of EHR by the medical service industry could save $81 billion (USD) per year. Not a single person with experience in healthcare can say today that these projections have proven accurate. In fact most, if not all, would say that this was a fairytale, and little or none of those benefits have been realized. Some can argue that EHRs have actually cost more because better documentation has actually increased billing […]
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13Jan, 2015

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PWeR® Will Soon Provide Solutions

By: Charity Darby | Tags:

The American Medical Association Weighs in on Electronic Medical Records and Meaningful Use Criteria PWeR®; Will Soon Provide Solutions For those who have been reading “The PWeR®; Perspective” this year, you have noticed that our perspective on the Future of EMR has been very consistent. We have maintained that any real solution for providers has to be easy to use; it has to be easy to install, safe and secure; it has to be delivered and supported at the lowest cost possible; and most importantly, it has to provide a […]
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