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| Spring is here! | |
 Spring is finally here, and with it some news about new REC educational programs and events.
In this newsletter issue you'll learn about a meaningful use training session for providers and their staff and a milestone reached at RI REC. Rhode Island's health information exchange, currentcare, is about to start operating, and the Direct Project debuts a pilot program in Rhode Island.
We've been learning more about RI's Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and share a presentation from one of our providers' learning sessions. Another session is scheduled for April 28.
Also, registration has started for our 2nd Health IT Expo on May 18--this year's event is about Navigating Health Information Technology to Enhance Patient Care. |
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Get ready for meaningful use | 
Are you ready for spring training? The Red Sox are in Florida, but you can join other healthcare providers and staff in Rhode Island for your own training--meaningful use training.
Arcadia Solutions, a technical service consultant in the REC's Vendor Marketplace, is providing a free comprehensive training session about EHRs titled Meaningful Use Boot Camp: An Accelerated Path to Transformation and Multi-Year Incentives.
The boot camp will cover how electronic health records (EHRs) can be used to reach meaningful use and, beyond that, help your organization improve patient care and become an Accountable Care Organization.
Although meaningful use criteria will be addressed, the sessions will focus on the planning and technological processes involved in adopting and implementing an EHR for a meaningful use initiative.
The event is Thursday, March 24th from 4 to 8 pm at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. Snacks and dinner will be provided.
It's not too late to register! Sign up now for boot camp! |
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RI REC now helping more than 500 providers; RECs nationwide supporting 50,000 |  Since spring 2010, the 62 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers nationwide have enrolled more than 50,000 Priority Primary Care Providers (PPCPs) to begin the process of achieving meaningful use of EHRs.
The majority of these providers are affiliated with either small private practices (36%) or community health centers (28%), with many specializing in family practice or internal medicine.
This month, enrollment in RI REC reached 500 PPCPs, whom we are supporting during all stages of EHR adoption, from selecting a software vendor to meeting meaningful use requirements.
"No matter where providers are in their transition to an EHR, we can help them become more efficient, more coordinated, and better equipped to deliver the highest quality of care to their patients," says Jennie Chiller, one of RI REC's two program management directors. "We're half way to our goal of enrolling 1,000 PPCPs in RI and helping them attain meaningful use."
To learn more about RI REC and its programs, read an interview with Jennie Chiller.
If you're not already a provider member of RI REC, learn if you're eligible and how to enroll by visiting www.DocEHRtalk.org and clicking the red "Join now" button.
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currentcare begins accepting lab test results |  A service of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, currentcare is Rhode Island's health information exchange (HIE), a secure electronic network that will give healthcare providers quick access to patients' up-to-date health information. Because many patients see several doctors, take multiple medications, and go to several locations for medical tests, currentcare ensures that providers have the information needed to coordinate care.
currentcare will 1) provide access to clinical test results, informing providers of pre-existing conditions, patient allergies and current medication use, and 2) eliminate the need for repeat diagnostic tests, treatments, and hospital admissions for conditions that are being managed.
More than 125,000 Rhode Islanders have already enrolled for this free service; patients sign-up at a doctor's office, health center, or long-term care facility; online at www.currentcareri.com; or by calling (888) 858-4815. They choose which of their healthcare providers have access to their medical information through currentcare, although all providers have access in an emergency.
Final testing of the technical platform began in January; this month, currentcare begins accepting lab results from East Side Clinical Labs--its first data-sharing partner. Later this year, Care New England, South County Hospital, and Lifespan will begin sending health information to currentcare. Patients' prescription medication information will be available from Surescripts, the nation's largest e-prescription network. Eventually, providers will have access to additional types of health information, such as radiology reports.
Provider access to currentcare will start or "go live" as soon as enough data have been collected so that it is sufficiently probable for providers to find data for their enrolled patients. What is considered "enough" depends on the number of enrolled Rhode Islanders, the number of active data-sharing partners, and the length of time that information has been accumulating.
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Direct Project provides secure clinical messaging between providers | |
When Dr. Albert Puerini, Jr, a primary care physician hit "send" on his computer in Cranston in early February to transfer some of a patient's medical information to a gastroenterologist in Providence, he became the first in the nation to use Direct Project messaging, a secure form of email.
Like regular email, the information traveled over the Internet, but through a special network that allows only authorized users. Working with the RI Quality Institute, Dr. Puerini (President and CEO at Rhode Island Primary Care Physicians and Polaris Medical Management) completed one of two pilot programs in the US to "go live" with production use of software designed for secure, direct clinical messaging.
Direct Project benefits providers and patients by improving the direct transport of structured and unstructured health information--making it secure, fast, and inexpensive. Direct Project (DP) messages provide a way to send and receive encrypted health information. Patient referrals, summary of care records, and notes are sent between colleagues in a highly secure manner that enables more efficient and complete coordination of care.
Direct Project messaging is simple to use. You only need a unique DP address (a special email address) from a Health Information Service Provider (HISP) to send information using Web mail or your existing email service (eg, Microsoft Outlook) to other recipients who also have a DP address.
At this time, there are only a few HISPs, and the service can cost as little as $10-20/month. RI REC will be evaluating and adding HISPs to our Vendor Marketplace, where you can currently read profiles of pre-qualified EHR software vendors and technical service consultants.
You do not need an EHR to use DP messaging, but when used with a compatible EHR, Direct can send consented patient information into currentcare. To do this, your practice must become a data-sharing partner--something that RI REC will be able to help you do. To maximize the benefits from DP messaging and currentcare, have your patients sign-up for currentcare.
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Medicaid EHR Incentive Program provides details | |
 Meaningful Use is not just about the using the right technology or working toward financial incentives. It is about enabling medical professionals to use unbiased data to measure and then manage patient care.
However, the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs are important to providers who are concerned about the cost of EHR implementation and the time and effort involved in learning about and attaining meaningful use. Determine your eligibility to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
Unlike Medicare providers who need to attest to the meaningful use functional measures and clinical quality measures in their first year of incentive program participation, Medicaid providers do not have to demonstrate meaningful use during their first year of participation. You only have to demonstrate that you have adopted, implemented, or upgraded certified EHR technology. However, you will be required to demonstrate meaningful use measures in each subsequent year to qualify for an incentive payment.
Registration for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program in Rhode Island starts in June. RI REC has hosted two learning sessions about the Program in the past two months. (Review the March 9th presentation.) One more session is scheduled on April 28 from 6 to 7:30 pm. The session is free, and we'll provide a light dinner. Learn more about this free learning session and how to register.
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Save-the-date and register for our Health IT Expo | |
You are invited to attend RIQI's second Health IT Expo:
Navigating Health Information Technology
to Enhance Patient Care
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 (5 to 9 pm)
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Warwick, RI
The Health IT Expo is free for all RI providers, their staff, and other members of the healthcare community. The Expo is a valuable resource for those who want to learn more about health information technology and how it can improve the quality, safety, and value of healthcare throughout Rhode Island.
The program will include guest speakers, educational activities, and exhibitors from the RI REC Vendor Marketplace; we will provide more information as the date gets closer.
Register early--Those who register by April 8th will be entered into a special prize drawing to be held at the Expo.
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The RI Regional Extension Center (REC) is a service of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the healthcare system in Rhode Island. To learn more, visit www.DocEHRtalk.org.
The REC and its services and materials are made possible through a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology with US Department of Health and Human Services support. |
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