The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius , Dr David Blumenthal from ONC, and Vice-Admiral and Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin fueled excitement during the opening session of HIMSS 11 this morning with policy statements, details for an HIT blueprint, and personal stories that inspired attendees to continue to be trailblazers on the HIT front. Movie clip to come later…
It's all about HC IT Innovation!
HIMSS 11 is showcasing”HIT” innovation: emerging technologies, scientific advances, unique HIT uses across the globe. The opening morning at the entrance to HIT (above) had a waiting line 900-persons long!
HC IT making great strides for mankind
David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, states at HIMSS 11 that we have made unprecedented strides for the welfare of mankind. He comments that the “Age of Meaningful Use” can change the 21st century for the better with incentives, a national HIT infrastructure, and a blueprint for driving change.
Surgeon General, R. Benjamin
Dr Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General, encouraged all conference attendees to take care of themselves and to be in control of their own health. She relayed a personal story of how 2 hurricanes and 1 fire in her private family practice drove her to her first EHR. She tells all conference attendees, “Now is the time – with incentives - to get one [EHR]; we can’t afford not to!”
Need for Patient Record Integrity & Longevity
Dr. Regina Benjamin also displayed a photo of her burnt medical records. The photo illustrates one of the key incentives for the move to EMR/EHR systems – patient record integrity/longevity. Her personal stories make the need for converting to EMR/EHR more real and more immediate. Dr. Benjamin commented that the hardest changes lie inside medical communities themselves. Once that gap is bridged, it’s not that difficult to learn these systems. It will take “education and time” to make the transition.
Polarity is still an issue in EMR adoption. We cannot solve polarity, only manage it. Understanding and address each will drive the process to successful implementation faster.
Of course, we attend conferences to learn, to network, and to benchmark our best-practices against the best in the industry. We are seeing (and hearing) some new things at this year’s HIMSS conference:
* Virtual, paperless sessions with participants typing away- a new sound in conferencing.
* Social media and healthcare – major strides are evident this year, for example:
*******The Mayo Clinic now has a full time social media director who is also presenting here.
*******Think of developing 90-second TV content and spreading it via social media distribution; the Mayo Clinic did this and went from 9000 hits to 74,000 hits on their website in a one-month trial.
*******FLIP videos are being used by Mayo as the primary vehicle for moving/communicating content, saving thousands in real time interviews across healthcare systems.
* Social media is being used to extend word of mouth referrals, speed of connecting, and advance research time exponentially as info can be shared globally.
* New from the Exhibit Hall- synching EMRs across the many devices that MDs are using – office devices, Smartphones, and ipads. MDs represent one of the largest purchasing groups for iPads in their first 6 months in the market.
* Telemedicine units previewed here can count pores on your skn in high resolution and lend themselves to some types of virtual exams.
* e-ICUs housed in data centers can monitor patients remotely in hospitals — personal health ID cards with insurance, medical hx, provider, and $ all tied together.
More to come…
Our roving Healthcare IT specialist, Tanya Mack, has sent us some interesting statistics and information gleaned from keynote and conference sessions at this year’s HIMSS conference in Orlando. Check this out:
* Mobile health = mhealth (personalized health from your pocket) is the main focus of the educational sessions.
* 17% of people with Smartphones use them for health related apps and their use in healthcare will continue growing.
* 72% of MDs currently use Smartphones.
* It is estimated that 500 million people will have health apps on their Smartphone to manage fitness, exercise, and health issues by the year 2015.
* More African Americans adopt health related mobile apps than any other group, nearly two times the rate of other users.
* Remote mhealth expected to be a $2-6 billion industry by 2015.
* Mobile is going global: In some African nations, large numbers of people can’t get water but they have cell phones to disseminate critical health information.
More to come…
Below:
Over 900 vendors – wireless, connectivity, social media, and mHealth are all hot topics here. Tanya vows to embrace technology and become a “paperless, mobile attendee.”
900+ vendors on hand!
Super convenient kiosks lead HIMSS 11′s 30,000+ participants directly and step-by-step wherever they need to go!
HIMSS 11 Kiosks Lead the Way
Keeping participants informed and up-to-date, near and far. Well-stationed Internet Computers provide easy, open access to participants.
Whether you brought your laptop or not, every participant can "phone home" via HIMSS 11 terminals
K. Sebelius Live Keynote at HIMSS 11
The annual HIMSS Healthcare IT conference is underway in Orlando, Florida this week (Feb 20-24), and Tanya Mack, Clarity Specialists’s healthcare IT expert is right there among the throng! And what a throng it is…estimated at 30,000+ attendees (himssconference.org).
Tanya is sending us photos and text as we speak so stay tuned for more in-the-know, from-the-conference information.
Below is a photo showing opening moments at HIMSS 11 in Orlando. D. Reich keynotes on economics and healthcare.
HIMSS 11 Opening Keynote Feb 21 2011
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius comments that the Top 5 IT companies in the world now are all in the US. HIT (Healthcare IT) poised to revolutionize care faster than any IT transition in history albeit launched by a historic piece of legislature. Unprecedented affordability will ensure that it continues.
This week, Senators Goggins, Unterman, and Hawkins introduced SB 412 into the GA legislature. SB 412 is interesting because it takes e-health one step further into the idea that Georgia has a long way to go toward getting current with the use of healthcare technology in our state. No one disagrees that many Georgians do not have access to quality medical care, health care costs are going up not down, and healthcare budgets in many environments are going down. This bill proposes the formation of the Georgia e-Health Advisory Council to coordinate and oversee the use of HIT technologies in a coordinated way, such as telehealth, electronic health records, and other vital health operations. The goal is to use this new council to develop, implement, and unify e-health initiatives statewide.
The proposed Council would be chaired and be housed within the Department of Community Health. Four other members would round out this council: The Commissioner for the Department of Community Health, the Commissioner for the Department of Correctional Institutions, the Commissioner for the Department of Behavioral Health (or their designees), and a representative from the Georgia Trauma Network. The bill allows for the formation of subcommittees and industry subject matter experts to lend their vision and experience as well. This group would be tasked to develop a five year plan to provide a more effective and coordinated infrastructure to support health care e-initiatives by July of this year. Ambitious!
It remains to be seen, whether the bill will pass, but it is refreshing to see that the legislature is thinking along the lines of use of technology solutions to solve some overwhelming access and cost issues in our state. Unification and connectivity will be the keys to making health care information accessible where, when, and by who needs it securely in a given health care setting.
On the eve of the largest industry-wide healthcare IT conference, the HIMSS national meeting, which will be Feb 20-24thand will preview advances and HIT solutions, at least Georgia is looking at technology possibilities and going about integrating some of the available technology use in a coordinated and timely way. Keep an eye on this bill!
Since the final rulings on Meaningful Use for EMR/EHRs were published last year, Eligible Providers (EP) and Eligible Hospitals have been waiting to register as the first step to receive EHR incentive money. All this talk and still not one dollar paid to any provider!
Well, another milestone step toward getting those dollars has occurred. On January 3rd, 2011 registration started for the Medicare program. The Medicaid registration is managed state by state, and states may begin registration in 2011.
According to Dr. Denise Hines of the GA REC (Regional Extension Center) who regularly keeps up with GA-DHS, the GA Medicaid program expects to open around May 2011. To qualify for the $44K Medicare incentive or the $63,750 Medicaid incentive, EPs must register for the incentive, use “certified” technology, and meet Meaningful Use criteria. Currently, I am working with several medical practices in the Atlanta area to see if they will qualify for the incentives, help them select the right vendor for their needs, and determine how they can meet MU criteria. This is quite a transition for many practices. Position your practice well by getting some initial education.
To start, be sure to purchase an ACTB (Authorized Certification Testing Body) certified EHR technology product. As of Jan 4, there were 5 ACTBs and 169 EHR vendors that have received certification status for either their complete product or modules of their product listed on the CMS certification website. The OIG will be monitoring the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare IT upgrades and incentives as the program moves along.
Lots of practices with EMRs have been working on their ability to meet the Meaningful Use criteria to collect at the first opportunity. Other are just starting the process or taking the opportunity to upgrade or change their technology. To maximize reimbursement for the transition to EMR from Medicare, practices need to start the process and show MU with certified technology by 2012.
Here is a schedule of important dates for Year 1 of the EHR Incentive Program:
1/3/2011 — Medicare EHR Incentive Program Registration opens
4/2011 — Attestation for Medicare Program begins (Year 1 is MU attestation vs. reporting)
5/2011 — Medicare Incentive Program Payments begin
10/1/2011 — Last day for EP to begin 90 day reporting period for 2011
12/31/2011 — Reporting year ends for EPs for 2011
2/29/2012 — Last day for EP to register and attest to receive payment for CY 2011
To stay one step ahead and get the desired results, refer to the primary government website for the EHR Incentive information (including certification, registration, attestation, and Meaningful Use) and visit:
www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms
Providers seem to be all over the map regarding EMR or no EMR for their individual practices. The politics, policies, and payments may all change, but one thing is apparent for the healthcare community: the advancement of technology use in healthcare keeps rolling along.
