Mary Mosquera
Another milestone: The Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record program has paid out $5.58 billion to 110,650 physicians and hospitals in total program estimates through May 2012.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) will help small providers who use smart phones and other mobile devices learn how to easily secure them using simple steps explained in plain language.
While Delaware is moving slowly on health insurance exchanges and other pieces of health reform, it has demonstrated it is an innovator, having established the first operational statewide health information exchange in the country in May 2007.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to develop verification data and services to support coverage and eligibility infrastructure for health insurance exchanges and seeks industry information about applications that are available.
The Michigan Pioneer ACO through its affiliate Detroit Medical Center has established a case manager program so physicians can extend their care for patients between appointments and after hospitalizations with personalized services at home.
The Department of Health and Human Services released last month its final rule on the establishment of health insurance exchanges - online marketplaces. The rule also includes provisions for qualified health plans and exchange functions in the individual market.
For physicians, the proposed rule for meaningful use Stage 2 offers some changes that make it easier for healthcare providers to demonstrate the requirements, including aligning measures with other quality reporting programs.
After some stops and starts, at last the federal government has released the long-awaited proposal for Stage 2 of qualifying for the meaningful use of electronic health records incentives.
Atul Gawande, MD, a surgeon, public health researcher and a writer for The New Yorker, advocates a mindset switch from docs as cowboys to docs as pit crews. Gawande also urges the smart use of data and a well-designed checklist for better and safer care.
Physicians have long operated as autonomous problem solvers, but healthcare complexity and costs will drive change to act like systems. Atul Gawande outlines 3 key skills that only exist in limited pockets but are central to the transformation.