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HealthInfoNet Positioned to Help Providers Achieve Meaningful Use
In light of new federal
rules, several of the services HealthInfoNet offers will help make many Maine health
care providers and hospitals adopting and using electronic medical records
(EMR), eligible to receive federal incentive payments from the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
On July 13th,
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced two long
awaited "final rules" that define stage one meaningful use and certification of
EMR technology outlined in the Health Information Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. Under the Act, health care providers and
hospitals can qualify for Medicare and/or Medicaid incentive payments if they
meet stage one meaningful use criteria.
The stage one meaningful
use criteria include fifteen "core" measures that must be demonstrated by both
hospitals and physician practices. Hospitals and physician practices must also demonstrate compliance with
five "other" criteria chosen by each provider organization from a "menu" of ten
additional criteria. To trigger stage one meaningful use incentive payments, most
providers and hospitals must demonstrate compliance with these criteria by
April of 2012. The one notable
exception will be physician practices that qualify for incentive payments under
Medicaid. These practices can
secure meaningful use incentive payments prior to installing a certified EMR so
that funds may be applied to the cost of investing in an EMR solution.
Because HealthInfoNet
(HIN) is operational today, Maine health care providers connected to the HIN
exchange already satisfy three of the core meaningful use criteria and two of
the optional criteria. By 2011 Maine providers, through their participation in
HIN, will be able to meet four additional core criteria (seven in total) and
two of the optional criteria listed in the final rule.
Click here to view a spreadsheet
outlining the stage one meaningful use criteria HealthInfoNet is positioned to
help providers achieve as well as a timeline for their implementation.
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HealthInfoNet Foundational to Success of Federal Beacon Grant
In May,
Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and the Bangor health care community were awarded
$12.7 million from the federal stimulus program to demonstrate how the
meaningful use of EMR systems can result in measurable improvements in health,
particularly for patients with chronic diseases or multiple health conditions,
and those cared for by multiple providers.
Central to
the success of the project is the exchange of medical information amongst the
participating provider organizations, meaning the health information exchange
managed by HealthInfoNet will play a foundational role. HealthInfoNet has begun
working with the organizations involved in the grant to plan connection for
those not already participating in the exchange.
The Bangor
community was one of only 15 communities across the country awarded a Beacon
Community Grant. Provider organizations participating in the Bangor Beacon
Grant initiative include Penobscot Community Health Care, Acadia Hospital,
Northeast Cardiology Associates, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Eastern Maine HomeCare, Community Health and
Counseling Services, Ross Manor, Stillwater Health Care and St. Joseph
Hospital and St. Joseph Healthcare. Also included is Eastern Maine Community
College, which will develop a program to train health information technology
professionals.
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Moving Maine Providers to Meaningful Use of Electronic Medical Records
In April, HealthInfoNet announced that the organization was
awarded a $4.7 million grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for
Health IT to act as the Regional Extension Center for Maine, also known as the
MEREC. The goal of the MEREC program is to accelerate the adoption of
electronic medical records (EMR) by physician practices, with a particular
emphasis on primary care providers. The award funding will be used to secure
contracts with vendors for discounted pricing on selected EMR products, and for
support services needed to implement and optimize the use of EMRs to improve patient care. The grant funding will be paid to these
vendors as they help participating practices successfully attain three
milestones, ending with achievement of the stage one meaningful use criteria.
Since the announcement, the MEREC has been
hard at work to determine which health care providers are eligible to
participate in the program and to select preferred EMR vendors to offer discounted pricing to primary
care providers who otherwise might not be able to afford EMR systems. The MEREC will also work with providers who have already installed EMR
systems to educate and assist them in optimizing their use of existing systems
and achieve stage one meaningful use. For more about meaningful use, see the
article above.
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Exchange Demonstration Phase Successfully Completed
HealthInfoNet staff and project managers from the six
provider organizations that participated in the HealthInfoNet demonstration
phase, met in June to celebrate the conclusion of the two-year HIE
demonstration project. During the two-year demonstration, providers at
participating organizations used a secure network to share key patient
information including allergies, prescriptions, primary diagnoses, laboratory
and test results and text reports. The goal of the demonstration phase was
first, to prove the technology for integrating clinical data from multiple
provider organizations worked, and second, to demonstrate the system lead to safer,
better coordinated, higher quality and more efficient patient care delivery.
The group discussed and
shared examples of the impact of the system on users and detailed incidences
where decision-making was improved, patient safety protected, time saved and
tests avoided. For example, one user told the group about a patient admitted to
the hospital after a skiing accident. The patient reported they were taking
five medications, but when the clinician checked their record within
HealthInfoNet, they found the patient was actually on 15 medications. Another
user said they now accessed patient lab results much faster than before, and
avoided ordering duplicate tests.
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Moving the Exchange Statewide and Engaging Patients
With the demonstration phase
complete, HealthInfoNet is planning for statewide expansion of the exchange
network. Already, more than half of Maine's residents have information in the
exchange network, and over 1,100 clinicians from participating hospitals and
physician practices have access to the system. This will steadily increase as new hospitals and physician practices
are added and HealthInfoNet continues education and outreach activities.
HealthInfoNet will also use lessons learned from the demonstration phase to
make improvements to the exchange network and integrate new functions and
services like medication therapy management, medication reconciliation and
secure messaging.
To administer the exchange,
HealthInfoNet will continue to partner with Orion Health as well as a number of new vendors including Initiate, Health Language Inc. and WinXnet, which together will improve functionality and reduce the cost of
operating the exchange as it expands.
Along with expanding access
to more clinicians, HealthInfoNet will continue efforts to provide patients the
ability to access their own medical information online through the future
creation of a secure electronic personal health record. With input and guidance
from its Consumer Advisory Committee, HealthInfoNet is evaluating strategies
to build this patient portal and hopes to make it available to Maine
residents in 2011. |
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New Team Members
From left: Todd Rogow, Amy Landry, Shaun Alfreds
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Shaun Alfreds has joined HealthInfoNet as Chief Operating Officer. He
previously served as HIT Program Director at the National Academy for
State Health Policy, where he engaged in research and policy development in the
areas of health information technology (HIT) and health information exchange
(HIE). Prior to that he was Senior Project Director at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School, where he led a number of public sector HIT/HIE
projects. Shaun has also overseen health policy and research projects for state
Medicaid agencies across New England. Shaun holds a faculty appointment in the
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School. He received an MBA from the University of Maine
and is a Certified Professional in Health Information Technology.
Todd Rogow has joined HealthInfoNet as Director of Project Management and the
Regional Extension Center. Todd brings 15 years of experience to
HealthInfoNet and has held a number of key management positions in information
technology, most recently at IDEXX Laboratories. Before relocating to Maine,
Todd was based in the Washington, DC area, where he served as Manager of IT
Planning and Implementation at MCI Worldcom and Deputy Program Manager at
Northrop Grumman Corporation Health Solutions. At Northrop Grumman, he
managed a team of 300 people developing the US Armed Forces Health Longitudinal
Technology Application (AHLTA), which captures clinical data for 9.6 million
beneficiaries. Todd currently serves on the Board of the Project Management
Institute's (PMI) Maine Chapter and holds credentials as both a Project
Management Professional (PMP) and as a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM). He
has a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Vermont.
Amy Landry has
joined HealthInfoNet as Communications
Manager. Amy comes to HealthInfoNet from Martin's Point Health Care where
she was engaged in internal and external communications, government affairs,
policy analysis, and media relations. Prior to that she led the Marketing and
Communications Department at Parkview Adventist Medical Center where she was
responsible for all communications, marketing, and advertising activities for
the hospital. In the community she serves as Vice Chair of the Board of
Directors for the Oasis Health Network, which offers free care to residents of
several southern Midcoast Maine communities. She holds a bachelor's degree in
Media Studies and a Master's in Health Policy and Management from the Muskie
School of Public Service, both from the University of Southern Maine.
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HealthInfoNet
info@healthinfonet.org
www.hinfonet.org
207-430-0690 or 866-592-4352 |
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| We're Moving |  |
HealthInfoNet will be relocating its offices, as of August
2, to 125 Presumpscot Street, Portland. The organization will be housed in what
used to be a train station firehouse and boiler room built in 1901. The new
office space was needed to accommodate current and future employee growth as
the organization expands its services. The main office phone number will remain
the same.
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