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organizations.
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November
Flu Shot
Reminder
Vaccinate Early to Protect Against the Flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a yearly flu vaccination as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. Medicare pays for the flu vaccine and its administration for seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries with no co-pay or deductible. This year's vaccine will protect against three different flu viruses, including the H1N1 virus that caused so much illness last flu season. Take advantage of each office visit and start protecting your patients as soon as your 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccine arrives. And, don't forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu.
Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit:
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Greetings!
Welcome to the November 2010 edition of Health eNotes: |
November 
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DISPARITY &
CULTURAL
COMPETENCY
NEWS
Eliminate Disparities in Diabetes
Diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death in the year 2000 according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Health, United States, 2007. This disease can cause serious complications and premature death, but persons with diabetes can take measures to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences. Click here to learn more...
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HIT/EHR
NEWS
CMS' Official Website Devoted to
EHR Incentive Programs The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched an official website to guide hospitals, medical professionals, and other stakeholders who want to learn more about its electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs.
Launched in June, the website provides the most up-to-date, detailed information about the EHR incentive programs, which will provide payments to eligible professionals and hospitals as they implement and demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Get the latest information on:
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CMS
NEWS
From the Medicare Learning Network:
Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance
Newsletter - First Edition Released!
Just a reminder that the Medicare Learning Network® (MLN) has developed a new educational tool, the Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance Newsletter, to advise physicians, suppliers, and other FFS providers about how to avoid common billing errors and other erroneous activities when dealing with the Medicare Program. The newsletter will be updated and issued on a quarterly basis to highlight the "top" issues of that particular quarter. In this first edition, a number of issues that impact a variety of provider types are presented in order to introduce the newsletter to a wide audience of providers. For more information, please read the first edition of the newsletter at: click here... on the CMS website. Stay tuned for the second edition, which will be released in January 2011!
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IMMUNIZATION
NEWS
Influenza Vaccine Payment Allowances - Annual Update for 2010-2011 Season
Click here to find out more:
http://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM7120.pdf
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EDUCATION
NEWS
New from the Medicare Learning Network MLN Matters Article #MM7133 - Counseling to Prevent Tobacco Use
The Medicare Learning Network® (MLN) has released MLN Matters Article #MM7133 to inform providers that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will cover counseling services to prevent tobacco use for outpatient and hospitalized beneficiaries. Effective for claims with dates of service on and after August 25, 2010, CMS will cover tobacco cessation counseling for outpatient and hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries 1) who use tobacco, regardless of whether they have signs or symptoms of tobacco-related disease; 2) who are competent and alert at the time that counseling is provided; and 3) whose counseling is furnished by a qualified physician or other Medicare-recognized practitioner. This article is based on Change Request (CR) 7133 and is available at http://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM7133.pdf on the CMS website.
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PRACTICE SPOTLIGHT
Health First Physicians, Inc.
by Wendy Martinez
FMQAI EHR 4 Prevention
The FMQAI EHR 4 Prevention Project works with primary care practices who have implemented an Electronic Health Record (EHR) to improve the rates of two cancer screenings (mammography and colorectal cancer screening) and two immunizations (influenza and pneumococcal) among Medicare beneficiaries in Florida. The overall goal is to improve the efficiency and frequency of preventive health services by improving care management processes.
Health First Physicians, Inc., which has several practice locations in Brevard County, has a simple philosophy stated on its website, "Whatever you do, do it well." According to William Morgan, MD, President and Medical Director, their medical group is committed to providing quality health care. Dr. Morgan felt that participating in the EHR 4 Prevention Project would assist in maintaining that high standard of health care. They use GE Centricity as their EHR.
At the beginning of the project, the EHR 4 Prevention team found that information was not entered consistently in the EHR. Each practice location had a different workflow for data entry, leading to more inconsistencies. FMQAI advised changing the workflow so that data entry is uniform across all practice locations. In response to the suggestions, Dr. Morgan had Beth Duncan, Systems Specialist, develop a Preventive Care Services flowsheet in Centricity specifically for the EHR 4 Prevention project. All providers and staff were required to use the flowsheet. This small change in workflow produced a noticeable improvement in documentation and rates for all practices. The Preventive Care Services flowsheet is now a standard part of the practices' workflow for tracking preventive services and test results. Empowering patients to be knowledgeable and accountable for their own healthcare is critical to better health outcomes. FMQAI worked with Diane Anderson, Medical Group Manager, in selecting an intervention that involved the patient. Health First Physicians decided to use the Personal Health Record (PHR) booklets provided by FMQAI. In August 2009, the practices began distributing the PHRs to select patients. The PHR lets a patient manage and track health information, especially lab and test results that were conducted by other healthcare providers. The patient shares this information with Health First Physicians during office visits. The implementation of this intervention increased documentation of preventive services in the EHR and provided staff with an opportunity to discuss preventive services with the patient at the point of care.
FMQAI continues to work with Health First Physicians on workflow redesign and interventions to improve patient healthcare outcomes.
More about Health First Physicians, Inc.
 | Dr. David Norris, Health First Physicians Internal Medicine in Palm Bay, reviews
patient information in the EHR. The
Palm Bay office is one of the leading
practices in measure improvement.
He has been instrumental in
improving these rates. |
Health First Physicians, Inc. (HFPI) is Brevard County's largest employed physician group providing more than 150 healthcare providers in 17 different medical specialties. HFPI providers work in a range of Health First facilities from Palm Bay to Port St. John, including four system hospitals (Cape Canaveral Hospital, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital and the coming Viera Hospital). Health First physicians are leaders in healthcare excellence, technology, and in delivering superior quality care. EHR & Training
When did Health First implement Centricity? Logician, Centricity's predecessor, was first implemented in 1999 and then in 2001 Centricity was introduced to its providers through a strategic roll-out process beginning with internal medicine offices and phased in by specialty. Now fully deployed, all physicians and supporting staff that join the group utilize Centricity from day one.
How is EMR training conducted for new employees?
New Associates are provided with EMR training through the orientation process, one-to-one mentoring in the physician office, and in monthly small group training classes. New providers receive training during orientation and are usually allocated IT support for the first few days working in the office.
Do you have regularly scheduled training for staff? Yes. Monthly.
Monthly classes offer basic competency training for new associates, as well as advanced training for experienced users requiring refreshment or education on system updates and shortcuts. These classes are conducted in a centralized classroom setting where users are able to interact and test on real-time training terminals.
Health First Physicians experience with the EHR 4 Prevention Project
What specific interventions and tools have you implemented since starting the EHR 4 Prevention Project? What improvements have you seen? The central tool used for the successful implementation of the EHR 4 Prevention Project was an improved office flowsheet (checklist). The four targeted prevention interventions were entered into the clinic flowsheet along with the customary physical and history data fields. This action ensured appropriate patient communication pertaining to the importance of preventive care, encouraged the documentation and standardization of entering such information in the medical record, and enabled effective tracking and reporting of preventive measures of the patient population. HFPI established a goal of reaching 80% compliance with the core prevention criteria. The providers and staff have become very engaged in improving their numbers, and to date, the group has reached their goal and surpassed national benchmarks in the project.
What have you learned from being in the EHR 4 Prevention Project? The most effective tool in achieving success in this project is reviewing and modifying workflow so that the prevention principles become a part of the care process for each patient. Standardization of information and documentation allow administrators to track participation progress in a manner that is meaningful and rapid. All of these factors combine to set the framework for compliance with Meaningful Use requirements.
How is Health First preparing for Meaningful Use? Health First is preparing for Meaningful Use through a variety of mechanisms. On a system level, administrators and IT staff have formed committees that meet regularly to discuss plans, progress and prioritization for projects that fall under the umbrella of Meaningful Use. Specific to the physicians group, it is participating in projects such as EHR 4 Prevention, Project RED and working with Centricity. |
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