Growth and Change of Meaningful Use

Mostashari announced earlier in June his recommendation to delay Stage 2 of the meaningful use program to 2014 for providers complying with Stage 1 in 2011. Meaningful use’s current aims are to leverage certified electronic medical record software to improve the quality, safety, and effectiveness of patient care.

Mostashari commented that the final rules and the policy committee recommendations “will not be identical… [but] a lot of deference will be given to the committee.” Mostashari further commented that meaningful use is not a mishmash of bureaucracy, but “…the roadmap for delivering higher quality healthcare.” During the summit, he emphasized meaningful use as the way to reach improved patient care and a more holistic medical system.

Some of the medical IT growth indicators the ONC director used to support his meaningful use efforts were the growing adoption rate of electronic health records from 20% to 30%, 86% of hospital CIOs intending to apply for meaningful use, and 5-10,000 providers registering for meaningful use every month.

Dissonance and a Difficult Path

Some don’t agree with Mostashari’s interpretation of these statistics. Jeff Rowe, editor at HealthcareIT News, points it :

“…in looking at EHR adoption by hospitals, he noted that ‘a couple of years ago 10% of hospitals had a basic EHR system in place. Now surveys indicate that more than 86% of hospital CIOs intend to apply for meaningful use, with 60% expected to apply in the next couple of years.’

Again, “intend” and “expected” are verbs which perhaps one should avoid if one is trying to judge a program’s actual level of success.”

The ONC director noted that the plan for meaningful use is only a best guess. Yet he remained adamant about the need for action in reforming patient care. He remarked:

“We can do nothing or we can make our best guess at what is the right thing to do. Another option is to make your best guess but recognize that you are probably wrong and try to build in a way that’s sensible enough but not overly specific so it can move us forward and yet accommodate a variety of future scenarios.”

One of his cited examples was the health information exchange, a sort of unified network to allow medical information to flow easily between providers in order to optimize patient care, which needs to accommodate personal health and community health records in the future.
The healthcare system is huge, with health spending as 15.3% of the GDP. That’s the highest of any industrialized nation. The government is wise to tread carefully in changing the systems and processes of American medicine. A continual fact based monitor, analyze, and improve approach is the best way for reform to be carried out. There is no 100% confidence level for a proposed solution. There is only the plan and how it changes as it meets reality

What do you think about meaningful use? Has your organization applied for it? How should meaningful use and medical software be implemented? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

A History With Medical Claims Management

Medical Present Value serves more than 75,000 clients in the medical claims management space. Their software suite consists of patient and payer management solutions that enable practices and hospitals to improve collections, minimize denied claims, and shorten the time to reimbursement.

Experian entered the healthcare market with its acquisition of SearchAmerica in 2008. SearchAmerica was a provider of healthcare data, scoring, and analytical software for financial decisions. Experian’s purchase of MPV for $185 million is over twice as large as the previous SearchAmerica purchase for $90 million, signaling a greater investment and presence in the healthcare software solutions industry. With the recent healthcare reforms mandating digitization and the reality of a severely outdated provider infrastructure, medical information technology seems to be a prime growth sector.

Excited Leaders

Dan Johnson, Experian’s president of Healthcare Services commented on the impact of the purchase:

“Health care providers in the U.S. face growing challenges when it comes to billing and collecting payments for services. With the addition of MPV, Experian is able to provide a more comprehensive set of products and services across the healthcare payments life cycle and help clients manage multiple vendors through a single point of contact.”

He also highlighted MPV as a crucial step in “…providing hospitals with smarter data and innovative products and services that help them produce a healthier bottom line” by  expanding healthcare offerings through MPV’s network.

Tom Stampiglia, CEO of MPV, expressed his excitement over the acquisition:

“We are extremely pleased to be part of Experian and will continue to provide products and services that improve business processes throughout the healthcare revenue cycle. At the core of our efforts, we will be leveraging the full range of capabilities of both organizations to help healthcare providers optimize their financial health.”

Experian’s expanding presence into the medical software industry may spur other large companies to examine the sector’s growth prospects. The medical system is poised for large growth, especially considering the passage of mandatory insurance.

What do you think about Experian’s march into the medical claims management and revenue cycle management space? Is the sector poised for a growth explosion? Is there a danger of a bubble? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The NJ-HITEC chose Intivia as a participating vendor after thoroughly going through the company’s software, background and certifications. Intivia’s ONC-ATCB certified EHR and practice management solution, InSync, has the capacity to assist primary care providers in achieving the “Meaningful Use” guidelines set by the federal HITECH Act. By helping providers meet the HITECH standards, Intivia is giving primary care practices more incentive to adopt EHR and EMR software solutions.

The appeal of receiving “Meaningful Use” benefits paired with InSync’s relatively affordable pricing and high quality software made Intivia a clear choice as a NJ-HITEC participating vendor.  In a statement released by the company, James Decker, Intivia’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, explains that they look forward to working with NJ-HITEC and believe that “the combination of InSync’s features, benefits and competitive pricing will help primary care practices take the next steps toward EMR adoption.”

Intivia’s InSync EHR and practice management software is designed to streamline a practice’s overall productivity while reducing administrative costs. The solution frees up time spent on everyday administrative tasks, allowing physicians and their staff to further enhance patient care and experience. The comprehensive and easy-to-use system can be run on either an online or server-based host, and has the capacity to be accessed from anywhere at any time. InSync also includes a revenue cycle management (RCM) tool that increases staff productivity and easily manages claims processing.

The integrated solution is easily customizable and can be tailored to fit a practice’s individual needs and requirements. Ultimately, the goal of Intivia’s InSync software solution is to streamline an office’s workflow so that patient care will be improved and enhanced. The NJ-HITEC recognizes Intivia’s commitment to high quality medical care and is counting on that dedication to assist primary care practices in EHR adoption.

The survey allowed medical practices to choose and rank their favorite software from over 400 qualified healthcare vendors. Six surgical specialties were evaluated by over 1300 surgical practices, conducted over a four month survey period.

A group of only five EMR vendors overtook the rankings and took the lead by an overwhelming majority in relation to the other medical software vendors on the market. Greenway Medical Technologies, Epic Systems, NextGen, Allscripts and Sage ranked among the top three in every category.

The top three vendors ranked in customer satisfaction within each specialty field according to the Black Book survey results are as follows:

General Surgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies, 2) Epic Systems 3) NextGen

Plastic Surgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies 2) Allscripts 3) NextGen

Cardiovascular Surgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies 2) Allscripts 3) Epic Systems

Neurosurgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies 2) Epic Systems 3) Sage

Thoracic Surgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies 2) Epic 3) Allscripts

Colon Rectal Surgery: 1) Greenway Medical Technologies 2) Allscripts 3) Epic Systems

Greenway Medical Technologies has, since its establishment in 1998, garnered a reputation for its incredible customer service and efficient, easy-to-use software solutions. The results of Black Book Rankings’ EMR user survey reflect this reputation, with Greenway Medical Technologies ranking first in every specialty category.

Because only an elite five vendors ranked among the top three in any of these six specialty and subspecialty categories, it is clear that these vendors excel in customer service and satisfaction in a way that is noticeable among healthcare providers and practice staff.

Black Book Rankings is committed to surveying medical software users to gather data and information that will help providers with their decision in purchasing and utilizing comprehensive electronic medical record (EMR) and electronic health record (EHR) software solutions as well as integrated practice management systems.

The HHS launched its initial efforts last October under the HITECH Act of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, which is currently in the process of providing over $20 billion in federal incentives to encourage the implementation and integration of electronic health systems by medical providers. The goal of the effort is to improve the quality and efficiency of medical care among minority patients.

Past data shows that EHR adoption is significantly lower in areas serving Hispanic or black uninsured patients and that chronic illness, disease, and obesity rates are higher among those minorities. The quality of healthcare can be significantly improved with the implementation of EHR solutions, and Quest is hoping to spread adoption of the electronic system through the integration of their upcoming donations.

Quest is donating 75 licenses for its cloud-based Care360 EHR software as well as 12 month subscription fees for small doctor practices in the Houston area. The value of the Quest software being donated is $229,500, with recipients paying 15% of the costs and Quest picking up the remaining 85%.

The average size practice participating in the program will be about 3 doctors; however it will range from between 1 and 5. The New Jersey-based Quest will also be providing proper training and integration services to make the transition to EHR smoother and more efficient.

By jumpstarting the adoption of EHR and EMR software in areas serving minority groups, Quest Diagnostics and the Department of Health & Human Services are hoping to improve the quality of care among these patients. The implementation of electronic health systems in small practices serving this demographic has the potential to provide significantly improved and more streamlined medical care to patients who are not insured or are on Medicaid.