CMS RESPONSE

Readers of my last commentary will be pleased to hear of the very quick response I received from CMS regarding the exclusion of California from the new Electronic Health Record Grant announcement.   "  Thank you for your inquiry about CMS' new EHR demonstration. This demonstration is being conducted by Medicare’s Office of Research, Development & Information. The EHR demonstration is one of many demonstrations across the country that the Demonstrations Program Group is conducting to examine ways to improve how care is provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Such initiatives are conducted to inform policy decisions about the Medicare program.  Because these are research projects, it is often important not to have multiple demonstrations being conducted in the same area if one...

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A LETTER TO CMS

Inland Empire Regional Health Information Organization Gary M. Levin MD, Coordinator 20032 Sweetbay Road Riverside, Ca. Email: gmlevinmd@gmail.com Tel: 951-746-9145 Press Release: A Letter to CMS regarding Electronic Health Records CMS Demonstration Project: Electronic Health Records Demonstration 2008 Dear sirs; For the past four years I have been involved with promoting and developing a regional health information exchange for the Riverside and San Bernardino County region of Southern California. This is a rather large geographic area east of Los Angeles and includes some rural and remote desert communities as well as urban and suburban areas. I also publish a weblog devoted to information technology as a resource for area physicians and interested parties regarding RHIO progress in our...

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WHO ARE THE 'WE'S?

Can physicians make the changes necessary to continue to provide quality care, while at the same time beseiged by increasing demands on the part of insurers, CMS, patients,etc.   There is no doubt there are many others willing to "steer" the boat, and relatively few physicians participate in organized medical associations. We are divided, fractured and all but trampled upon.  Chaos reigns supreme....mostly because we are not pro-active.  Our political leaders are all chanting "CHANGE"  !! The initial phases of information technology and how it applies to the medical industry has just begun.  Although it has not yet reached critical mass the "growth curve" indicates a steady incremental increase in the number of users of health information systems, of which ...

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A Word of Caution

  I have read that some physicians are acting proactively in installing EMR to preclude the possibility of having their reimbursement reduced by payors and CMS for not having electronic health records. Payor and CMS requirements have not defined what they consider as electronic health records. They do not define how inclusive or what data needs to be in the EMR.  Does a document manager of scanned files fulfill their requirments?? I maintain that providers need to do what is best for THEIR PRACTICE, and not jump off an expensive cliff to satisfy some " entity", which wants data for their  own ends.  If EMR grows and takes hold it must be led and driven by providers....

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