05/23/2013
Department of Defense officials have said the agency's decision to consider purchasing a commercial electronic health record system will not help reduce the disability claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Meanwhile, members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs are calling on Obama to push DOD to select an EHR system. AP/U-T San Diego, Government Health IT.
05/23/2013
Data on eight key hospital-acquired conditions will continue to be included on the Hospital Compare website, CMS officials clarified. A recent story from Bloomberg erroneously said the website after July would no longer contain the information, officials said. HealthLeaders Media.
05/23/2013
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange has launched a new initiative that aims to help health information organizations share best practices and conduct end-to-end testing related to ICD-10 codes. Groups in four states are participating. Modern Healthcare, WEDI release.
05/22/2013
In a memo on Tuesday, Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wrote that his agency will consider a commercial electronic health record system as part of its efforts to establish an integrated EHR system with the Department of Veterans Affairs. NextGov.
05/21/2013
New Federal Communications Commission rules will require wireless carriers and text messaging providers to send bounce-back texts to users who try to text 911 where text-to-911 services are unavailable. FierceMobileHealthcare, Telecompaper.
05/13/2013
A report from the American Medical Association's board of trustees states that AMA has concerns about the shift to ICD-10 code sets, but that advancing directly to ICD-11 standards would be "fraught with its own pitfalls" and thus "is not recommended." Modern Physician.
05/07/2013
For a new study, researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago used CMS data to produce mapping files that translate between ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. They found that about 60% of the codes translated effectively, while about 36% of the ICD-9 codes had convoluted mappings to ICD-10 and about 1% of ICD-9 codes had no corresponding ICD-10 code. FierceHealthIT, EHR Intelligence.
04/30/2013
A bill introduced by Rep. Ted Poe would prohibit HHS from requiring health care providers to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets. Last year, HHS delayed the ICD-10 compliance date until Oct. 1, 2014. The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees need to approve the bill before it can advance to the full House. ICD-10 Watch, Becker's Hospital Review.
04/25/2013
A new survey by Health Revenue Assurance Holdings finds that nearly half of surveyed small- and mid-sized hospitals are not keeping up with official CMS timelines for ICD-10 preparation. In addition, about 20% of the surveyed small- and mid-sized hospitals said they have yet to begin education or training for the transition to ICD-10 code sets, according to the survey. Healthcare IT News et al.
04/19/2013
Responding to a request for information, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives said that HHS should model its health information exchange initiatives on existing federal efforts, such as the electronic health record certification program. Health Data Management, FierceHealthIT.
04/12/2013
A survey from the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange finds that health care stakeholders are lagging behind in their ICD-10 preparations. WEDI suggests that the limited progress could be linked to the delayed ICD-10 compliance date. Health Data Management, Modern Healthcare.
04/11/2013
In a letter to CMS, the American Hospital Association highlighted its concerns about reporting clinical quality measures for the meaningful use program and other initiatives. AHA urged CMS to consider ways to streamline reporting requirements. EHR Intelligence, AHA News.
04/11/2013
In a speech on the House floor, Rep. Ted Poe called the ICD-10 medical coding mandate "red tape," adding that compliance will be costly. Poe added that the level of detail required in the ICD-10 codes will pose challenges for health care providers. The Hill's "Floor Action Blog."
04/04/2013
CMS recently updated the 2014 clinical quality measures for hospitals participating in the meaningful use program. The agency will maintain the original specifications and the updated specifications as acceptable meaningful use criteria for 2014. Healthcare IT News et al.
04/02/2013
Much of the intellectual property of Health Level Seven International now is available through a no-cost license. The available intellectual property includes health IT interoperability standards, domain analysis models, profiles and implementation guides. Health Data Management.