Learn More about a Patient-Centered Medical Home Practice

The National Committee for Quality Assurance recognizes medical practices as a medical home, based on the criteria established for this award by the Committee. Learn more about this award and how this physician transformed his practice as a patient-center medical home. Read More >>

Better Quality Patient Care with Health IT at Urban Health Plan

A recipient of the 2009 HIMSS Davies Community Health Award, Urban Health Plan (UHP) is a network of federally qualified community health centers based in the South Bronx and Queens.  Read More >>

News Briefs

Are You Ready for Personal Health Records?
HIMSS10 in Atlanta, Ga. offers a new half-day PHR symposium from 1-5 p.m. on Feb. 28 at the Georgia World Congress Center.  This targeted educational session takes a real-world look at best practices and lessons learned from a wide-range of perspectives - from small and large practices to a payer organization. Other topics covered include standards, policy and meaningful use requirements related to the PHR.

Visit PHR symposium to register for the PHR Symposium.
Visit www.himssconference.org for more information on HIMSS10.

Just for Ambulatory Practices and Patient Care Settings
HIMSS10 Ambulatory Professionals’ Practicum
Be ready for the change and opportunity ambulatory medical practices face…find out more about EHR implementation as the HIMSS Ambulatory Steering Committee hosts the second HIMSS Ambulatory Professionals' Practicum on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta.  Dr. Jim Sorace chairs the practicum; he is Senior Medical Officer, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Health and Human Services, Washington, DC and chair of the HIMSS Ambulatory Steering Committee 2009-2010. Go to the HIMSS10 Web site for more information.

Update on EHR Customer Satisfaction – Scores Drop
In a Dec. 14 story in Health IT Strategist (HITS), reporter Joseph Conn reported on a December survey from KLAS Enterprises noting that “overall customer-satisfaction scores for electronic health-record products have dropped for the second straight year. KLAS, based on Orem, Utah, reviews the health IT marketplace and released its Best of KLAS survey report on Dec. 15.

As quoted in the story, “The software scores continue to go down overall,” said KLAS President Adam Gale. Ambulatory EHR vendors saw the biggest drop, Gale said, with those developing products targeting physician practices of 25 to 100 physicians faring worst. “It was (down) about 3 or 4 percent,” Gale said. “For an overall market segment, that was huge.”

CMS Releases PQRI Resources
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently posted several resources to help Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) participants review feedback reports, as well as prepare practices that are considering participation in the 2010 PQRI. Practices can use a “verify report portal” to confirm whether a feedback report exists based on a Tax Identification Number (TIN) or a National Provider Identifier (NPI). CMS also posted the PQRI and eRx Quick-Reference Support Guide for Eligible Professionals with helpful resources for practices trying to access their PQRI report(s).