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| March 2007 |
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Top RHIO News | Advocacy and Public Policy | RHIO Spotlight | Technology Corner | Calendar of Events |
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HIMSS to Provide Content and Dissemination Support on New ONC Contract On yesterday during HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, the Foundation of Research and Education (FORE) of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) announced it has been awarded a contract by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to continue its work on a State Level Health Information Exchange Consensus project. “Under the guidance of a superb project Steering Committee, and with the help of the eHealth Initiative (eHI) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), this work will accelerate learning and thus progress in the development of effective state-level HIE organizations,” said Linda Kloss, RHIA, FAHIMA, AHIMA’s CEO. “This is a critical time for state-level HIE initiatives as they develop firm organizational footing, financial sustainability, and demonstrate their value to the citizens of their states and to the nationwide health IT transformation.” Read more AHA Reports Hospitals Take Advantage of Health IT More than two-thirds of hospitals, 68%, had either partially or fully implemented EHRs in 2006, with large, urban and teaching hospitals more likely than their counterparts to have fully comprehensive systems, according to a survey of more than 1,500 community hospitals released by the American Hospital Association. Please Note: Look for a Special HIMSS AC issue of the RHIO Connection later this month!
IRS Soon Could OK Health IT Donations by Not-For-Profit Hospitals The IRS soon might announce that not-for-profit hospitals can subsidize the cost of electronic prescribing and electronic health record systems for affiliated physicians without risking their tax-exempt status, according to Karen Bell, director of health IT adoption at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). Addressing a panel at HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition on Sunday, Bell said ONC officials believe they have reached an agreement with the IRS to allow health IT donations through exemptions from Stark and anti-kickback laws, but the proposal still must be reviewed by others at the IRS. Bi-Partisan Letter to President Request Passage of Healthcare Reform Several Democrat and Republican U.S. Senators sent a letter to President Bush on February 13 requesting bipartisan support and passage of healthcare reform this year. The letter, which was led by Sen. Wyden (D-OR), states, “We disagree with those who say the Senate is too divided and too polarized to pass comprehensive health care legislation. We disagree with those who believe that this issue should not come up until after the next presidential election. We disagree with those who want to wait when the American people are saying, loud and clear, “We want to fix health care now.” President Bush Signs FY 2007 Funding Bill On February 14, the Senate passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 joint funding resolution by a vote of 81 to 15 without amendment, clearing the measure (H.J. Res. 20) for President Bush and wrapping up Congress' work on regular discretionary spending legislation for fiscal year 2007, which ends on September 30. Read more HIMSS Testifies Before Georgia HIE Committee HIMSS Vice President of Healthcare Information Systems Pat Wise, RN, MSN, MA, FHIMSS testified before the Health Information Exchange Standing Committee of the Georgia Health Information Technology and Transparency Advisory Board. Wise’s presentation included an overview of national HIT initiatives including addressing the current landscape at both the federal and state levels. She also provided an overview of initiatives occurring among the various states regarding HIT activities; federal level initiatives including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the American Health Information Community; as well as the four key project areas under ONC including standards harmonization, Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, Privacy and Security and the four NHIN prototypes. Other speakers included Dr. William Yasnoff, managing partner of National Health Information Infrastructure; Dr. William McClatchey, physician; and Dr. Christopher Sullivan, administrator of the Office of Health Information Technology, Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis. MD HIMSS Chapter Brief Maryland State Legislators on EMR Adoption Members of the Maryland Chapter of HIMSS briefed the Health and Government Operations Committee at the State House in an effort to provide information on the benefits and challenges of electronic medical record (EMR) implementation. They visited the State House at the invitation of Delegate Shane Pendergrass, a recipient of HIMSS 2006 Advocacy Award, who also introduced legislation that calls for funding of a Regional Health Data Exchange on February 9. Read more HIMSS Member Benefit: CRS Reports Posted on Member Center The following Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are available on HIMSS Member Center:
Massachusetts RHIO – An Example for the Nation Massachusetts' regional health information organization (RHIO), MA-SHARE (Simplifying Healthcare Among Regional Entities), is poised to be an example for the nation after four years and $50 million.
AtlantiCare Plans to Build HIE Using Wellogic AtlantiCare, the largest healthcare organization in southeastern New Jersey, is poised to build its health information exchange using Wellogic products and services. The exchange will electronically connect the healthcare stakeholders both within the health system and across its service area, including hospitals, community physicians, pharmacies, diagnostic service providers, payers, unions, employers, patients and their caregivers. AtlantiCare has 5,000 employees, physicians and volunteers who provide service in more than 60 locations, including the 601-bed, two-campus AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, several primary care and behavioral health centers, and progressive health plan arrangements. "When implemented, lab values, medication records and visit documentation will all be immediately available as our physicians and nurses deliver care," said Gary Siegelman, MD, MSc, CPE, AtlantiCare's vice president for Medical Affairs. The HIE will also create an enterprise-wide master entity index, a nomenclature service for the mapping of terminologies and code sets, a clinical data repository, and will be accompanied by patient, provider, and care management portals.March 21, 2007 Building a Community Foundation for a RHIO David S. Szabo will describe how a broad-based, multi-stakeholder organization originally organized as a data sharing warehouse transformed itself and evolved into both an incubator of healthcare data exchange projects and a RHIO. Also, time will be allocated at the end of the presentation for questions from the audience. Attendees can expect to gain insight into and learn about:
Mark your calendar now for this webinar! Registration opens March 1, 2007: http://www.himss.org/asp/ContentRedirector.asp?ContentId=66533&cetID=0 March 15, 2007 National Web Conference on Model Contract Language for Health Information Exchange
Save These Dates … National Health IT Week HIMSS Advocacy Day
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