Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

Covering healthcare news in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

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Switch to a Smarter EHR

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By Alex Tate

The EHR is taking the Health It industry one step closer to an efficient, more cost effective world. Physicians across the state are adopting EHRs and without a surprise, things are looking good; better than they were previously. With the introduction of this latest gadget gizmo, physicians are able to experience improved medical record documentation and legibility. The tool has earned its place in hospitals and practices as the primary means of achieving better care, better population health and lower health care cost per capita. However, there’s another side of the coin often overlooked.

Malpractice insurers have reported EHRs to be a source of medical liability instead. According to a national medical liability insurer, substantial amount of EHR-related malpractice claims was derived from system errors (42%) and not user factors. Which is why it’s often best to educate yourself of the real risks of outdated EHRs and make the smart decision when investing in health IT.

Interoperability

The percentage of office-based pediatricians using EHRs rose from 58% in 2009 to 79% in 2012, while at the same time the limited pediatric functionality and multiple EHR systems and platforms contribute to interoperability problems (Lehmann CU, et al. Pediatrics. 2015;135: e7-e15).

Primary care physicians are not often cognizant of the reality that they do not have immediate access to data on emergency department visits, hospital admissions, subspecialist reports, laboratory results and acute care provided outside the medical home due to interoperability issues. Fragmented EHRs help in contributing to serious errors in medical management, exposing patients to harm and pediatricians to professional liability.

A more reasonable approach to the issue would involve the provider asking their patients to direct summaries from other providers to the medical home. [Read more…]

Meeting The Ever-growing I.T. Needs of the Medical Office

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Vertical Solutions copyBy John Chamberlin

What are the ever-growing I.T. needs of today’s medical office?  How do they compare to the I.T. needs of just a few years ago?

When we talked to Bruce D. Nelson, CPA, President of Vertical Solutions, about their company’s current growth spurt, he discussed how today’s office I.T. needs are different.  For example, technical support calls have changed from support tickets to assistance with printers and e-fax issues to helping physicians and staff become more mobile by connecting their smartphones and tablets to the office database.

Vertical Solutions provides medical professionals I.T. support for the diverse medical office functions by providing business management software, business processes, technology expertise and staff training for various software solutions. Basically, they allow medical professionals to focus on growing and operating their businesses by alleviating the headaches of dealing with the various aspects and vendors of the I.T. menagerie.
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Electronic Health Records Save Patients During Devastation

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Brian YeamanBy Brian Yeaman, MD 

On May 20, 2013, a level 5 tornado headed straight for Moore Medical Center in Moore, Oklahoma. As a physician on call at the medical center, I was part of a tremendous team that had two priorities: protect those in the building as the tornado was about to hit, and immediately following the impact, resume a high level of care to those affected in the community. 

To address the first priority, the team gathered everyone in the center of the cafeteria and stayed there until the tornado passed. Outside the medical center walls, devastation surrounded us. Tens of thousands of families in the area had lost power and many houses and mobile homes were completely leveled. Moore had taken a direct hit.

Determining the best way to treat our community was the next challenge. Within hours, hundreds of patients flooded the emergency room with injuries ranging in severity from bleeding to unconsciousness. Ten patients had to be admitted who required various medicines and treatment plans. To properly treat these patients and better understand their history, drug allergies, and medications, we needed access to their medical records and quickly.

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Improving Patient Outcomes Through EHR Adoption

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Simon WiecznerBy Simon Wieczner

According to the acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—Andy Slavitt—Meaningful Use (MU) will soon cease to exist as it used be. For many healthcare organizations, this was welcomed news. While everyone seems to agree that electronic health record (EHR) adoption is important, many disliked the way Meaningful Use required organizations to follow an exact set of criteria in order to avoid penalties. Now in the wake of this news, both media and healthcare organizations are wondering what will happen next and if they should still prepare to make the changes required in Stage 3 of MU.

By releasing some of the pressure on the MU directives that have upset and frustrated many providers, the CMS is recognizing that it’s not about technology as much as it is patient outcomes.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning technology altogether, but rather embracing the flexibly in order to achieve what we all want: improved patient outcomes.

This means we still must use all means at our disposal for communicating with patients both electronically, as well as face to face.  The best way to ensure this still includes enhancing the ability for care givers to easily record patient information and subsequently accurately record and relay that data.  By allowing care givers to do this in a variety of ways as opposed to a narrow directive, they will be able to discover the alternative solutions that work best for the unique situation.  [Read more…]

Converting from Paper to Electronic Patient Care Reporting (ePCR): Considerations and Challenges for EMS Industry

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Hadi ShavariniBy Hadi Shavarini

The EMS industry for the most part operates on paper. When medics go to work, they save lives. They also produce a mountain of paperwork, all of which must be accurately managed, billed, sorted, reported to government agencies, and securely stored for a few years – a monumental and overwhelming task for any EMS operation.

Not too long ago, the adoption of electronic Patient Care Reporting (ePCR) system in EMS industry was just a thought. However, the HITECH Act, part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, changed all that.

The HITECH Act is trying to enforce and encourage the healthcare industry (EMS included) to adopt Electronic Health Records as a way to improve quality, safety, efficiencies and access. The Title IV of the act offers financial incentive for Medicaid to those organizations that adopt and use “certified” electronic patient care system beginning in 2011. Conversely, organizations that fail to implement convert to electronic operation by 2015 will be penalized by a reduction in Medicare payments.

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Filed Under: EMR

5 Considerations When Migrating to an EHR

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BrianONeill copyBy Brian O’Neill

Having the right electronic health records system in place benefits healthcare providers as well as their patients. That’s why the United States government has encouraged a movement toward EHRs as a way to foster improvements in healthcare quality, safety, efficiency and access.

While the reasons to migrate to an EHR system are undeniable, some healthcare professionals find the task to be daunting. It needn’t be, particularly if you keep five things in mind:

Know what you need. All EHR systems are not alike and systems for various medical sub-specialties have distinctive features specifically designed for their unique needs. For example, a software system designed for a mental health professional would have a completely different set of templates and guidelines than would a cardiologist. A psychologist would never have a need for electronic prescribing.  Whereas the cardiologist would use automated coding to ensure highest possible E/M codes, and medication and prescription management tools. A cardiologist would also use electronic lab requests as well as electronic radiology orders. Get a system that’s right for you.

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Challenges of Defining Quality Care

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Colangelo_0By Dr. Frank Colangelo

A skeptics confession: Five key things I learned about Electronic Health Records (EHR)

One of the biggest opportunities healthcare providers face in defining the quality of care centers on innovation and technology. As a physician, I am the first to admit that I was a skeptic when it came time to implement electronic health records (EHR). Being an extremely busy provider, I did not know how I would find the time to master the system without a wide-scale interruption in my ability to care for the same number of patients.

More than 16 months later, I am astounded by the power EHR offers. Like so many things, the benefits of EHR do not come easily. As our hundreds of employees and providers at Premier Medical Associates work to adopt EHR for our more than 100,000 patients, these are the top five things I have learned thus far.

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Leveraging Technology for Better Patient Care

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Greg Teamann, Celtic Healthcare

Greg Teamann

By Kathleen Ganster

In 2010, at almost $2.6 trillion, national health expenditures were 17.9% of gross domestic product.

By 2021, according to a recent article in HealthAffairs:  “National Healthcare Expenditure Projections,” that number is projected to be about $4.8 trillion and 19.6% of GDP.

With discussions of bundled payments for episodes of care being considered, penalties for rehospitalizations now being enforced, and incentives for quality through accountable care organizations, tools to collaborate towards accountable care, medical home and patient-centered models of care, along with care transition and care coordination, have become a key focus and driver at Celtic Healthcare.

“Healthcare is evolving into a value-based care environment,” said Greg Teamann, Vice President of Information Technology at Celtic Healthcare, “and we are positioning Celtic to be an important partner in this new care model.”

In an effort to integrate acute and post-acute care, as well as chronic disease management and end-of-life care with hospitals, physician groups and insurance companies –  who are all under increased economic and quality pressure to increase their level of integration – Celtic Healthcare is strategically positioning themselves as a leader in developing technology and innovative care delivery models as a solution to this crisis.
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Healthcare Finally Warms up to Cloud Computing

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Screen Shot 2012-12-31 at 12.05.06 PMBy Tom Youso

The healthcare sector appears to be getting over some of its apprehensions about moving to cloud computing. Recent studies by firms like Foley and Lardner LLP show cloud adoption is rapidly accelerating among healthcare companies despite lingering concerns about the security and privacy of patient data. Many organizations are ditching their aging internal IT systems and moving key applications like patient management, claims processing systems and patient billing to the cloud. According to HealthDataManagement.com, the health care cloud computing market is expected to grow from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $5.4 billion by 2017.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which provides fiscal incentives to healthcare organizations that move to an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, is driving much of the action. The migration is also being prompted by the cloud’s familiar promise of lower operational costs and better efficiencies.

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EHRs Target Quality, Safety, Efficiency & Access

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By Brian O’Neill

Just a decade ago, the adoption of electronic health records and other health information technology (such as computer physician order entry) was minimal in the United States. Fewer than 10 percent of American hospitals had implemented HIT while a mere 16 percent of primary care physicians used any form of EHRs. But that is all changing.

The HITECH Act, part of the 2009 economic stimulus package passed by Congress, aimed at inducing more physicians to adopt EHR as a way to improve quality, safety, efficiencies and access. Title IV of the act, in fact, promises maximum incentive payments for Medicaid to those physicians who adopt and use “certified EHRs” beginning in 2011. On the flip side, physicians who do not convert to EHRs by 2015 will be penalized by a reduction in Medicare payments.

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