Rural Spotlight

HHS Releases Final Rules for Meaningful Use and Electronic Health Records

On July 13th, two companion rules regarding meaningful use and standards and certification of EHRs were released.

There were several major changes in the CMS final rule on meaningful use. For one, eligible professionals and eligible hospitals will experience greater flexibility with regards to the required objectives for demonstrating meaningful use. The requirements have been divided into two groups: a "core" group of objectives which must all be met and a "menu" set of objectives that hospitals and providers can pick and choose five to demonstrate.

In addition, the list of objectives was expanded to include the provision of condition-specific patient education resources and the recording of advance directives for eligible hospitals. The definition of a hospital-based EP was clarified as an individual who performs almost all of their services in an inpatient hospital setting or emergency room only. Finally, the rule expands the definition of acute-care hospital to include designated Critical Access Hospitals for the Medicaid incentive program.

The Final Rule will be published in the Federal Register on July 28th. The Final Rule released by the ONC on standards and certification remained the same.

View the CMS MU Final Rule here.

View a comprehensive overview of the changes here.

View the ONC Final Rule on Standards, Implementation Specifications and Certification Criteria here.

View the HHS Press Release here.

Technology Tools and Resources

Click here to read a document containing the Top 10 Health Information Technology (HIT) Tools and Resources identified by the Rural Hospital Performance Improvement (RHPI) Program. Careful planning and the right tools can mean the difference between electronic health delivery systems that are burdensome, and those that achieve value. The purpose of this document is to provide rural-relevant tools that will help rural hospitals plan for and implement HIT without having to reinvent the wheel.

The attached document supplies a variety of tools for use at different points in HIT adoption. Each tool includes a:

    * Brief statement describing when to use the tool and what it can achieve
    * Description on how the resource can be utilized in your state
    * List of the specific components of the tool 

Blumenthal Announces the Creation of "Health IT Journey: Stories from the Road"

ONC has launched a new feature on its website to aid practices and providers on their way to achieving meaningful use of EHR solutions. The site, called “Health IT Journey: Stories from the Road”, will serve as a portal where providers can share with each other their challenges, triumphs and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Providers can log onto the site and view the experiences posted by other Health IT users to help them determine which paths to take or avoid on their journey to meaningful use.

View the Health IT Blog.

Visit the Health IT Journey: Stories from the Road website.

HIMSS Analytics Releases Results of Clinical Analytics Study

HIMSS Analytics, along with Anvita Health, recently surveyed a group of chief medical officers and chief medical informatics officers from different payer and provider organizations to assess their readiness for adoption of EMRs and medical devices.

The study specifically addressed how organizations define clinical analytics, what tools they use to analyze the data and the challenges they experienced in using clinical data.

The study found that payers and providers shared the following views:

1. Limited expectations for the ability of clinical analytics to improve the quality of patient care
2. Interoperability is one of the largest barriers standing in the way of improved use of clinical data
3. Real-time analytics is an important tool for evaluating and improving patient care, healthcare costs and overall efficiency

View the press release.

View the study.

Deadline Extension for Telemedicine Standards

Due to a recent proposed telemedicine rule change made by CMS, the Joint Commission’s July 15th deadline for general and critical access hospitals implementation of telemedicine standards has been stretched to March 2011. The extension offers providers additional time to meet Medicare’s telemedicine credentialing and privileging requirements.

The deadline was extended in response to a perception that the July 15 date negatively affected the ability of providers to offer telehealth services. The Joint Commission will comment on the proposed rule by July 26th. Read more here. 

Is Your Facility Ready for Health Information Technology

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has given hospitals and other facilities more incentive to accelerate the implementation of Health Information Technology systems. The NRHA recently hosted a webinar called "Rural HIT readiness assessment: Part 1." That webinar is still available. Find it here.