No Picture
Latest Technology Updates

EHR Stage 2 Meaningful Use – Why Is The Recommendation To Delay Stage 2 Rules a Positive Move?

The electronic health records (EHR) Meaningful Use rules is the best roadmap the government developed to prepare for the delivery of higher quality care. Meaningful Use rules consist of a series of milestone requirements, divided into stages, which eligible professionals must attest compliance through the effective use and adoption of EHR technology. Successfully meeting the requirements of each stage is the driver that qualifies eligible professionals to receive EHR incentive payments.
The EHR incentive programs are administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The government opened registration to eligible professionals for the EHR incentive programs in January of 2011.
The effort to delay Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements represents the opportunity to get more medical facilities and physicians engaged around adopting EHR.
The Health Information Technology Policy Committee ruled in favor of delaying the electronic health records (EHR) Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements start date from 2013 to 2014.
Dr. Farzad Moshashari, the national coordinator for Health Information Technology, is in support of the Health IT Policy Committee recommendation.
“The last thing we want to do is provide a disincentive towards attesting for meaningful use in 2011,” Moshashari told the committee at a July meeting. “We recognize that not accepting your recommendation to delay the start of Stage 2 could negatively impact provider participation rates in the EHR incentive program in 2011.”
So what is contributing to the nationwide EHR adoption opportunity? The answer to the question is perception. The aggressive efforts of the US Department of Health and Human Services through the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid to promote adoption of EHR technology through incentives are leaving both eligible and non eligible professionals skeptical. This explains large number of public and private medical facilities and practices of all sizes yet to make the move towards EHR adoption.
There are many reasons for this apprehensive view but one really stands out from the crowd. Let’s face it, while there has not been an official statement released by the US government calling for mandatory EHR adoption, many of those who are in a wait-and-see mode believe that it is a mandate. This perception is resulting in many practices waiting until the very last minute to adopt the technology. If this posture does not change, the U.S. health care system may begin to experience differentiated levels of patient care between physicians who practice medicine using EHR technology versus those that do not.
Therefore, the recommendation to delay Stage 2 is a positive move that should result in higher Meaningful Use adoption rates of EHR technology while clearing the air of the paradigm that is impeding forward progress. The final decision on Stage 2 Meaningful Use timing will not be official until the final rules are issued sometime during the summer of 2012.
Providing physicians the platform to deliver high quality care for patients is what Meaningful Use adoption of EHR technology is really all about.
Physicians may review eligibility requirements and register for either the Medicare or Medicaid EHR incentive program by visiting:…

No Picture
Technology Updates

The Stage of Business – Making a Plan for Change – Get Creative and Be Flexible

While identifying areas of change is not difficult, organizing an approach to deal with change may take a little work. Organization becomes very important because of the sheer magnitude. It can be overwhelming. To prioritize areas of change, businesses should look to their specific business activity to discover that which changes with the greatest frequency and has the biggest impact. Most businesses can organize change into 4 primary categories or arms:
1. Technology
2. Economy
3. Business
4. Industry
They are at least 4 other areas of change that are certain to have an impact, but the impacts tend to be more indirect.
5. Political
6. Social
7. Environmental
8. Cultural
These indirect change areas, tend to have influence across the primary impact areas. They can have even a bigger impact than the primary change areas but are more difficult to deal with on a project basis.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and get creative.
How do businesses implement change without interruption of operations? It can be a big challenge figuring out how to do it. It certainly starts with a plan. Managing change has always been difficult, but it is becoming increasing problematic. The pace is astounding.
Change is happening much faster than many big businesses can handle. Small businesses have an advantage in this arena. Small businesses can be nimble. They can adapt much quicker. Trying to implement change can be crippling for big companies. If you have ever worked in or around a big company of more than 1000 employees, you have come to realize it is very difficult to get things accomplished quickly. This is due, in part, to a love affair with meetings, committees and levels of approval. That is not good if you are trying to keep up. It is like racing a boat with the anchor down.
“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti
Because the trend is in the opposite direction, big companies better move quickly to establish a change management plan or they will fall back into the wake. They should become fluid. Becoming fluid means having a system in place to identify, assess, conceptualize and execute a solution to effectively respond to the imposing change. How do you do this? One thing you will have to do is train your people well and trust them to make business decisions. Keep in mind, changes made today, have a much shorter life cycle than changes five years ago did.
Make a plan for change. Get creative and be flexible.…