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Your Update to All Things Beacon and Meaningful Use |
Greetings!
Welcome to the IC3 Beacon Community and Meaningful Use bi-weekly newsletter. You are a valued participant in the HealthInsight Regional Extension Center (REC) and Beacon programs. We hope you find this series of emails educational and informative as we keep you up-to-date on recent program activities. We look forward to working together helping you achieve your Beacon Aims and Meaningful Use goals.
BEACON COMMUNITY UPDATE |
Beacon Facilitators to Begin Distributing 'Text to Quit' Cards to Participating Beacon Clinics
Smoking increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes and makes managing diabetes more difficult for those who already have it. Patients in Beacon territory who are ready to quit now have an innovative tool to help them reach their tobacco-free goals.
In partnership with the Utah Department of Health, the IC3 Beacon is actively promoting "Text to Quit", a text messaging service that transmits daily tips to users to help them get through the quitting process. Messages both encourage and educate participants how to manage day-to-day stresses associated with quitting and offer useful tips for avoiding triggers and controlling cravings.
IC3 and The Department of Health have created a Beacon-only account for our three-county area. Patients simply text the word "BEACON" to receive two quit tips per day via cell phone for 21 days. Text to Quit is free and available to all cellular networks. Beacon clinic coordinators will be distributing promotional cards to clinics over the next several months to get the word out to patients. Just one more tool in the toolbox!
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Jordan Meadows and Hunter Medical Centers Celebrate
20th Anniversary
The Hunter Medical Center/Jordan Meadows staff celebrated Hunter's presence in the community for 20 years. The Medical Centers, owned by Dr. Fred Civish, one of our great Beacon Champions, held a Health Fair and Carnival on September 14th, from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The carnival attracted kids with face painting; balloon figure making; free hot dogs,  drinks, and popcorn; 3 "bouncy houses;" games; and opportunity to see and sit in a West Valley City fire truck. Community residents received medical information from Hunter/Jordan Meadows clinical staff for diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol, as well as free blood pressure and other health-related tests. Several new patients were gained as a result of testing; many long-time patients attended the fair to show their support for Hunter and Jordan Meadows. One individual, Roy, has received medical care at Hunter from the start. When asked about changes he's seen through the years, Roy stated, "Well, I went from having health insurance through my company to having Medicare now. It (health care) sure is different today. It's a lot faster; you're in and out pretty quickly. I feel very good about being a Hunter Medical Center patient. They treat me like family."
Dr. Civish, Debra Bowen, and Shelly Dahle, all shared how EHR's have changed the way they practice health care now. Dr. Civish noted that having an EHR has increased his efficiency, and keeps him more organized. The team noted that being a Beacon clinic has further improved how they care for patients: "We are always thinking of what we can do to make care better for our patients with diabetes," Shelly, a Nurse Practitioner, noted. Debra, the Beacon Champion agreed, "We've been thinking of our next goal. I really like the PDSA model-it has helped us focus on the issues and processes much more effectively."
"These folks are Beacon super stars," noted their Beacon Facilitator, Janet Tennison. They are so patient-centered and it is obvious in everything that they do. Every staff member does an excellent job for their patients. They are such a pleasure to work with!" Congratulations to all the Hunter and Jordan Meadows Medical Centers for being such a great and innovative Beacon Champion, and making a huge impact in your communities. |
The Road to Meaningful Use
As a HealthInsight partner you have taken the first steps along the path to Meaningful Use. Ever wonder how many of your colleagues have joined you on this journey? Curious to know what phase they are in or how close they are to attestation? HealthInsight has compiled information in regards to our partners to share with you.
| By provider | Nevada | Utah | | By provider | Nevada | Utah | | With EHR | 486 | 710 | | Northern | 153 | 735 | | Without EHR | 239 | 75 | | Southern | 547 | 30 | | Total | 725 | 785 | | Rural | 25 | 20 | | | | | Total | 725 | 785 |
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Important Announcement Regarding eRx Hardship Exemptions
As an eligible professional who is participating in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, to be eligible for the eRx hardship exemption, you must meet the following deadlines:
October 1, 2011 - Register to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. First, make sure you have an NPI login. Go to the NPPES website by clicking here. On this page, you can apply for an NPI, update or view your NPI data, or create a login for an existing NPI. Once you have verified your NPI login you are ready to register via the EHR Incentive Program website. You will need some basic information like your name, address, NPI number, and TIN.
October 1, 2011 - You must have adopted a certified EHR technology as listed on the Certified Health IT Product List.
November 1, 2011 - You must report significant hardship exemptions to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment via the Quality Reporting Communication Support Page. |
Announcing HealthInsight's New Learning and Action Networks
You have gone live with your EHR. Now what? Join the HealthInsight Learning and Action Network! Membership is FREE and includes:
- Access to free education and seminars
- Access to free resources about population health management, clinical process redesign, and effective use of health information technology to improve patient care
- Exclusive updates about meaningful use, best practices, and the CMS EHR incentive program
To sign up, contact HealthInsight at 800-483-0932 or REC@healthinsight.org. |
REC Provider Spotlight: Family Doctors of Boulder City
UPDATE: In February we highlighted Family Doctors of Boulder City for their efforts in leading the way as one of the first Regional Extension Center participants, moving forward through a number of challenges to go-live on an electronic record in December. Family Doctors of Boulder City were among the very first in Nevada to sign-up to work with the Regional Extension Center to begin moving toward the adoption of Electronic Health Records and Meaningful Use.
The four primary care physicians practicing at Family Doctors of Boulder City completed their attestation in August to join a small but growing group of primary care physicians in Nevada to achieve Meaningful Use. It took them just a little more than a year and 2 months to start their 90 days attestation period, which is a significant accomplishment for a practice that continues to serve as the primary care providers for a large volume of residents in Boulder City.
Congratulations to Dr. Warren Smith, Dr. Herve Bezard, Dr. Joanne Leovy, Dr. Jim Chiang and all of the dedicated staff at Family Doctors of Boulder City for their accomplishment. |
CMS Clinical Quality Measures Webinar
On August 30, 2011, CMS held a webinar discussing clinical quality measures (CQMs) and how to successfully report the measures during Stage 1 of meaningful use for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
A PDF of the webinar presentation is now available online. Go to the Spotlight and Upcoming Event Section of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs website to download this presentation. The presentation includes information on:
- An overview of the CQMs
- How to report CQMs during attestation
- Why CQMs are included in the EHR Incentive Programs
The webinar also included an hour-long question-and-answer session with CMS subject matter experts. In the coming weeks, a transcript with all of these questions and answers, along with a video of the webinar, will be made available online.
CMS plans to host another CQM webinar soon. Stay tuned for updates on how you can join this informational session. |
ICD-10 General Equivalence Mapping Tool
General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs) were created to map current ICD-9-CM codes to applicable ICD-10 codes. This tool has GEMs with the long descriptions attached both from a forward and backward view. The results are exportable to Excel. This may be helpful to some of you in your ICD-10 Implementation. The HELP has instructions for use.
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This material was prepared by HealthInsight
as part of our work as the Regional Extension Center for Nevada and Utah,
under grant #90RC0033/01 from the Office of the National Coordinator,
Department of Health and Human Services.
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