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 Clinically Speaking   
October 2012
Issue 1
In This Issue
Is Your Practice on Track to Meet Meaningful Use for 2012?
Million Hearts Pledge
Clinical Practice: Diagnosis of Diabetes
CMS Starts Auditing Recipients of Meaningful Use Bonuses
Special Announcement
Health Insight 2012

Physician office practices can now apply to receive a
HealthInsight Quality Award. Practices must submit their applications by Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Click
here for more information. To download the physician office application, please click here.
 
Upcoming Events
 
The No Place Like Home Campaign: Preventing Avoidable Hospital Readmissions

 

LAS VEGAS

When:
Tuesday October 16, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM PDT

Where: 

Brady Industries
7055 Lindell Road
Las Vegas, NV 89118  

 

Register Now!

 

 

RENO 

When:
Thursday October 18, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM PDT
 

Where: 

Hyatt Place - Reno Airport 
1790 East Plumb Lane
Reno, NV  89502
  

 

 

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Greetings!

clinic Welcome to the first issue of the Clinically Speaking eNewsletter. We hope you find this monthly newsletter a valuable resource as we keep you updated on healthcare specific issues, such as; diabetes care, health information technology, cardiac care, and upcoming events that are relevant to your work. 

   

Is Your Practice on Track to Meet Meaningful Use for 2012?  Dr w/ iPad

 

October 3rd is your last chance to begin a 90-day reporting period to qualify for the full $18,000 initial incentive payment. Meet with your HealthInsight Project Coordinator today to make sure that you are ready for attestation.

   

The Medicare Meaningful Use EHR incentive program allows eligible providers to receive $44,000 over the course of five years. Eligible providers may begin attesting to Meaningful Use at any time between now and 2016, but the financial incentive decreases substantially for first year Meaningful Use attestations after January 1, 2013. Read more... 

 

 

Million Hearts Pledge

Million hearts logo Heart disease and stroke are the first and fourth leading causes of death in the United States. Heart disease is responsible for 1 of every 3 deaths in the country. Million Hearts™ is a national initiative that has set an ambitious goal to prevention 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. The impact will be even greater over time.

According to
Million Hearts™, preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes in five years will require the work and commitment to change from all of us. There are steps that each of us can take to reach this goal as a nation. Be one in a Million Hearts™ and see how your actions can make a positive difference. 

 

To learn more and to increase the pledge for Million Hearts in Utah, please go to http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/individuals.html.  

 

 

 

Clinical Practice: Diagnosis of Diabetes

The identification of patients with diabetes or prediabetes by screening allows for earlier intervention, with potential reductions in future complication rates.Physician w/ Patient

 

A 42-year-old asymptomatic man with hypertension presents for his annual physical examination. His medications include atenolol combined with chlorthalidone (at doses of 50 mg and 25 mg, respectively, per day). Both parents had type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life. He does not smoke cigarettes. His body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) is 32.3, and his blood pressure

is 130/80 mm Hg. Would you screen the patient for diabetes, and if so, how? Read more... 

 

Providers Partnered with the Regional Extension Center Twice as Likely to Meet Meaningful Use helping hand

On July 26th, the Government Accountability Office released a report that confirmed our experience: Providers who work with Regional Extension Centers are twice as likely to receive Medicare electronic health record (EHR) Incentive Payments as those who don't. In 2011, over 56,000 providers nationwide made the commitment to health IT and received $967 million in incentive payments. Read more...

 

CMS Starts Auditing Recipients of Meaningful Use Bonusesaudit

 

Some physicians who have received a Meaningful Use incentive check for adopting electronic health records (EHR) may have received another piece of mail recently from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  The gist of that letter: You are being audited.
  

Figliozzi and Co., an accounting firm based in Garden City, N.Y., is the company contracted by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to conduct post-payment auditing of hospitals and eligible professionals who successfully claimed meaningful use under the Medicare incentive program.  A doctor or hospital found ineligible for an EHR incentive after an audit would be asked to return the bonus payment.  Read more...

 

 

About Our Work

This information is provided by HealthInsight, a private, non-profit, community-based organization dedicated to improving health and health care. HealthInsight serves as the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization and Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center in Nevada. HealthInsight  leads an initiative to improve diabetes care, cardiac care, population-based care, and improve the use of health information technology.

To learn more about us, visit our website at:

 

 

QIO_HI_Logo

 

  ONC Awardee Logo