HITECH Update: Making "Meaningful Use" Meaningful To You By Joe Rubinsztain

Online, March 16, 2010 (Newswire.com) - On January 13, 2010 the Interim Final Rule (IFR) on Health Information Technology was published, bringing more clarity to "Meaningful Use" for Electronic Health Records (EHR). The final rule will be published shortly and few changes are expected. This article aims to provide a simple description of the changes required in your practice to become a meaningful user and obtain incentive payments of up to $44,000 per physician.

In order to qualify, the IFR states that your practice must implement a certified Electronic Health Record System and each provider must register with the Health and Human Services Department as an Eligible Professional (EP). Eligible EHRs (including gGastro, gCardio and gUro) will be certified in 2010, and the registration process will be published as well. Once registered, you must report on 25 measures in any continuous 90 day period during 2011 or 2012 to qualify for the first year incentive of $18,000. Subsequent payments require reporting for a full year.

Your certified EHRwill be capable of reporting on all 25 measures, but you need to make sure that each patient you see in the reporting period is documented with enough information to comply with the minimum requirements. gMed will provide a Meaningful Use Advisor to help your practice understand compliance to the provider and patient level. Here is a simplified interpretation of all measures for each provider:

Measure 1: 80% of medical orders must be issued using gGastro, gCardio or gUro.

Measure 2: Each Eligible Provider (EP) must activate gMed's eâ€Prescription module.

Measure 3: 80% of patients must have at least one current problem/diagnosis with an ICDâ€9 or SNOMED code, or "none" if they are healthy.

Measure 4: 75% of nonâ€controlled medications are prescribed electronically using gMed's eâ€Prescription module (SureScripts).

Measure 5: 80% of patients must have at least one coded medication. Non Coded (NC) medications do not count for this measure. gMed recommends you reconcile the current medication list every time the patient attends your practice or requests a drug refill by selecting "import medications" from the eâ€Prescriptions module.

Measure 6: 80% of patients must have at least one coded allergy from gMed's database or "none" if they deny any drug allergies. Non Coded (NC) allergies do not count for this measure.

Measure 7: 80% of patients must include preferred language, insurance type, gender, race, ethnicity and
date of birth as part of their demographic information. gMed will configure gPM to make these fields required. If you are not using gPM we recommend you use the Meaningful Use Advisor prior to you electronic submission.

Measure 8: 80% of patients must include height, weight and blood pressure records. Body Mass Index (BMI) is automatically calculated. gMed recommends measuring vital signs every time the patient attends your practice.

Measure 9: 80% of patients 13 years or older must have smoking status recorded in their social history.

Measure 10: 50% of laboratory orders have associated electronic results. This requirement carries some risk because few laboratories are capable of sending electronic results using the new standards. Please contact your laboratory to discuss their plan to install a laboratory interface 90 days prior to the start of your reporting period or sooner. If in doubt, consider switching to a national provider like LabCorp(tm) or Quest(tm) with proven expertise to minimize your risk.

Measure 11: Generate a list of patients matching specific demographics, medications or specific
conditions. gGastro, gCardio and gUro include all necessary tools.

Measure 12: Submit quality measures as required by CMS and your state. These will be assembled automatically by gGastro, gCardio and gUro prior to your electronic submission.

Measure 13: Send reminders to 50% of patients aged 50 years or older for preventive or follow up care (i.e. screening colonoscopy). gMed will help you configure gPortal to automatically send reminders for qualifying patients. You should also plan to print letters using the Recalls module prior to electronic submission.

Measure 14: Implement five clinical decision support rules (recommendations). gMed will help you configure gGastro, gCardio or gUro with basic specialty rules prior to electronic submission.

Measure 15: 80% of patients have electronic insurance eligibility verification. If you are using gPM with NetVerify(tm) you already comply. Otherwise, it is not clear how this information will be submitted. Please contact your current practice management provider to discuss. Our team is standing by to help.

Measure 16: 80% of insurance claims are submitted electronically. If you are using gPM we will monitor compliance for you. Otherwise, it is not clear how this information will be submitted. Please contact your practice management provider to discuss. Our team is standing by to help.

Measure 17: An electronic copy of the patient's health information (lab results, problem list, medication
list, immunizations, allergies and procedures) is provided within 48 hours for 80% of patients that request it during the reporting period. This will be automatically tracked with gPortal and the Call Center.

Measure 18: 10% of patients have timely access to their electronic health information (lab results, problem list, medication list, immunizations, allergies and procedures). gMed suggests adjusting your patient checkâ€in process to ensure that at least 10% of patients activate their gPortal account.

Measure 19: 80% of patients receive a clinical summary that includes current medications, laboratory test orders, diagnostic test orders, procedures and other relevant visit instructions. gMed will configure gGastro, gCardio or gUro to automatically print, publish or send this document via gPortal or another qualified PHR from the checkout module.

Measure 20: Demonstrate the practice's ability to exchange key clinical information. No action is required since gMed will test this feature for you during implementation.

Measure 21: 80% of patients have an reconciled medication list. gMed recommends you reconcile the current medication list every time the patient attends your practice or requests a drug refill by selecting "import medications" from the eâ€Prescriptions module.

Measure 22: 80% or patients that are referred or transferred to another care provider must receive a summary of care record. gMed will configure gGastro, gCardio or gUro to automatically print, publish or send this document via gPortal or another qualified PHR from the checkout module.

Measure 23: Demonstrate the practice's ability to submit electronic data to immunization registries. No
action is required since gMed will test this feature for you during implementation.

Measure 24: Demonstrate the practice's ability to submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies. No action is required since gMed will test this feature for you during implementation.

Measure 25: Conduct a security risk analysis for gGastro, gCardio or gUro. Your practice should verify that gGastro, gCardio or gUro are updated to the latest release prior to electronic submission. gMed shall automatically provide a certificate of compliance prior to electronic submission.

We hope you find this guide helpful and Meaningful Use becomes easy for your practice. We believe EHRs are a good investment, regardless of HITECH incentives, but I'm sure the extra incentive is welcome.

Contact:

gMed. Inc.
2125 North Commerce Parkway
Weston, FL 33326
Tel: (888) 577-8801
URL: http://www.gmed.com