AthenaHealth Live Demonstration

This is an invitation to Lumetra's Vendor Demonstration Webinar with AthenaHealth. The date for the vendor webinar is Wednesday, August 31st at 12:15pm. To register for the event, please click on the link located in the invitation.

Also, Lumetra will be offering training on the transition from ICD9 to ICD 10 in November. Price will be based on how many are registered. If you are interested, please RSVP.

Download the flier with full details.

EHR Desk Reference

CMA & the CMA Foundation published the Electronic Health Records Desk Reference.  It is the most comprehensive tool CMA has developed to assist physicians with the process of electronic health records (EHR) adoption and implementation.  The Desk Reference brings together resources from many different sources into one comprehensive tool.  The Desk Reference can help physician through any stage of the EHR adoption process—from selecting a system to demonstrating meaningful use.  This book is free to all physicians because of the generous support of the Physicians Foundation.

EHR Desk Reference download

EHR Request for Proposal

A free "Request for Proposal" document from CMA.  This document will help you ask the right questions and help walk you through the decision making process.

Sample - EHR Request for Proposal - 6 pages

e-Prescribing Guidance

How to not get hit with the e-prescribing penalty fee on January 1, 2012!

E-PrescribingGuidance_2011

EHR Meaningful Use

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has a new listserv about the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. The listserv will provide timely, authoritative information about the programs, including registration and attestation updates, and details about the payment process.

By subscribing to the listserv, CMS will keep you informed of upcoming deadlines and give you answers to the questions and concerns that we have gathered from eligible professionals and hospitals in the field. New updates will be emailed through the listserv to keep you informed of any developments, and subscribers will be notified of any new Frequently Asked Questions that are published on the CMS EHR Incentive Programs’ website. These e-mail messages are another CMS resource, in addition to those listed below, that will help you navigate the EHR Incentive Programs.

We encourage you to let others know about the CMS EHR listserv, and to share its messages. Click here to join the listserv and learn more.

The CMS EHR Incentive Programs website features the following resources:

• Path to Payment—Learn the necessary steps to receiving payments for the meaningful use of electronic health records.
• Registration Guides—Review a user guide of how to register and watch a video webinar that will help you navigate the registration website.
• Meaningful Use—Read more about the details of meaningful use, including clinical quality measures,  and how to meet the requirements.
• Calendar of Important Dates – Read more about key milestone dates for the EHR Incentive Program

Want more information about the EHR Incentive Programs?

Make sure to visit the EHR Incentive Programs website at http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms for the latest news and updates on the EHR Incentive Programs.

Questions can be directed to rosfofm@cms.hhs.gov or telephone number (415) 744-3658 who will distribute your questions accordingly.

Free EHR Webinar from Lumetra Healthcare Solutions and the San Francisco Medical Society.  Wednesday, February 16, 2011, noon-1:00pm.  Download the flier.

CMS launded a web portal for physicians to sign up for electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs.  In order to receive incentive payments for implementing and using an EHR system, physicians must enroll in the programs offered through Medicare or Medicaid.  The CMA provider enrollment portal opened on January 3, 2011.

The provider enrollment portal, which includes step-by-step instructions, can be found by clicking on Registration and Attestation on the CMS web site. In order to register physicians will need: 1) their National Provider Identifier (NPI); and 2) a record of their enrollment in the Medicare database known as the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS). Of particular note, physicians participating in the Medicaid EHR program do NOT need to be in PECOS; additionally, Medicare physicians who are not yet in PECOS may still register for the EHR incentive program, but are encouraged to become enrolled in the database as soon as possible.

All physicians will register using this portal, regardless of whether they are planning to access the Medicare EHR Incentive Program or the Medi-Cal Incentive Program.  However, physicians planning to access Medi-Cal will also have to register with the State of California.  The web site for state registration is not scheduled to be activated until February 1, 2011.

For more information on the Medicare and Medi-Cal EHR incentive programs, visit CMA's Health Information Technology (HIT) Resource Center.

CMA staff person to contact: David Ford at 916/551-2554 or dford@cmanet.org.

Are you eligible for the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs?  Check to see using the CMS widget.  Read the CMS 2010 Year End Update for the EHR Incentive Programs.

December 2010 issue of "The Pulse" HITECH Edition from CMS in San Francisco.

Avoid Vendor Lock-In is from a blog written by a pathology physician.  See his blog at http://labsoftnews.typepad.com/.

A new tip sheet from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is available, Stage 1 EHR Meaningful Use Measures for Eligible Professionals. This sheet provides an outline of the 25 Core and Menu Set measures that make-up meaningful use for eligible professionals for Stage 1 of the CMS EHR Incentive Program.  Included are definitions of terms, attestation requirements, and additional clarifications, as applicable, by measure.

As a reminder, you can access the most current information available from CMS on the EHR Incentive Programs at www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms.  We also maintain a list of Frequently Asked Questions on the program that is updated regularly.  The FAQs are available by category at www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/99j_Frequently_Asked_Questions.asp and the complete list is available here: http://questions.cms.hhs.gov/app/answers/list/p/21,26,1139

So, what is a REC?  LEC?  CalHIPSO?  Open Medicine Foundation?  How do these organizations fit into the EHR stimulus package game?  See the hierarchy chart for help figuring out who the players are and how they relate to you.