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 For EHR Meaningful Use Incentives in 2013 MEDICARE Incentives July 1, 2013 |
Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for FY 2013. |
September 30, 2013
Last day of federal fiscal year. Reporting year ends for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals.
October 1, 2013
90-day reporting begins for eligible hospitals and critical hospitals for FY 2014.
December 31, 2013
Reporting year ends for eligible professionals.
MEDICAID Incentives
March 1, 2013 - WY
March 29, 2013 - MT
Last day eligible providers must register and attest for 2012 calendar year.
November 29, 2013
An eligible hospital must register and attest for 2013 calendar year. | |
MU Stage 2 | |
Make sure you are prepared for Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive Programs. See our full list of
MU Services |
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Meaningful Use
July 3 Deadline for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
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To get fiscal year 2013 incentive dollars, your Meaningful Use 90-day reporting period must start by July 3.
Let us help you get ready.
Contact your HTS REC Health Consultant or Patty Kosednar at 406-461-4410
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| ALL PROVIDERS AND HOSPITALS |
For the 2014 Meaningful Use reporting year, all MU users MUST ugrade their EHR to the 2014 version.
Have you contacted your vendor yet? |
| Idaho State University Settles HIPPA Security Case for $400,000 | |
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Idaho State University (ISU) has agreed to pay $400,000 to the U.S. Department of Health Human Services (HHS) for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. This settlement involves the breach of unsecured electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 17,500 individuals who were patients at an ISU clinic.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened its investigation after ISU notified HHS that the ePHI of approximately 17,500 individuals was accessible at its Pocatello Family Medicine Clinic because an ISU server firewall was disabled.
OCR investigators found that ISU did not apply proper security measures and policies to address risks to ePHI and did not have in place procedures for routine review of information system activity which could have detected the breach in the firewall much sooner.
Are Your Hospital/Clinics Protected?
Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant or
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Enjoy Summer!
From all of us at Health Technology Services
Deb Anderson
Susan Clarke
Lisa Corino
Mary Erickson
Patty Kosednar
Sarah Leake
Daniel Meyers
Sharon Milanos
Mark Norby
Marlin Sander
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EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter
Welcome to the Montana/Wyoming Health Technology Service's (HTS) EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter.
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Confused About Meaningful Use Stage 1 Changes?
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Are you ready for Meaningful Use Changes that are effective now? Health Technology Services is hosting a Webinar to provide guidance on changes in the Stage 1 Electronic Health Records Meaningful Use program effective in fiscal and calendar year 2013.
Please join us to learn more on -
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
1:00 - 1:30 pm MT for Eligible Providers
1:30 - 2:00 pm MT for Eligible Hospitals
Registration is Required. To register - click Susan Clarke to send an email to register.
Don't Miss Our Upcoming Free Webinars
Wednesday, July 17, 1 pm MT - CMS MU Audit Preparation
Wednesday, August 21, 1 pm MT- MU Stage 2 Requirements
Wednesday, September 18, 1 pm MT - HIPAA Privacy and Security
Registration is Required. To register - click Susan Clarke to send an email to register.
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Changes to Stage 1 MU Objectives, Measures and Exclusions - Updated Resouces
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June 7, 2013 News Update
Changes to Stage 1 Measures
Beginning in 2013, there are several changes to the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs' Stage 1 meaningful use objectives, measures, and exclusions. 
These changes took effect on October 1, 2012, for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs), and on January 1, 2013, for eligible professionals (EPs). Although some of the changes to meaningful use objectives, measures, and exclusions are optional, others are required.
Stage 1 Changes Resources
In order to help providers understand the changes to Stage 1 of meaningful use, CMS has released several resources with detailed information on the affected sections of the program.
See the following resources -
Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant or
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Medicare EPs - How to Avoid Payment Adjustments
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May 30, 2013 News Update
 Medicare eligible professionals (EPs) who do not demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program may be subject to payment adjustments beginning on January 1, 2015. Because payment adjustments are mandated to begin on the first day of the 2015 calendar year, CMS will determine the payment adjustments based on meaningful use data submitted prior to the 2015 calendar year. These payment adjustments will be applied to the Medicare physician fee schedule amount for covered professional services furnished by the EP in 2015. EPs who do not demonstrate meaningful use in subsequent years will be subject to increased payment adjustments in 2016 and beyond.
EPs that began participation in 2011 or 2012
EPs who first demonstrated meaningful use in 2011 or 2012 must demonstrate meaningful use for a full year in 2013 to avoid payment adjustments in 2015.
EPs that begin participation in 2013
EPs who first demonstrate meaningful use in 2013 must demonstrate meaningful use for a 90-day reporting period in 2013 to avoid payment adjustments in 2015.
EPs that plan to begin participation in 2014
EPs who first demonstrate meaningful use in 2014 must demonstrate meaningful use for a 90-day reporting period in 2014 to avoid payment adjustments in 2015. This reporting period must occur in the first 9 months of calendar year 2014, and EPs must attest to meaningful use no later than October 1, 2014, in order to avoid the payment adjustments.
Note: EPs must continue to demonstrate meaningful use every year to avoid payment adjustments in subsequent years.
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Wyoming Medical Center and South Big Horn Hospital Join Health Information Exchange
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Wyoming Medical Center in Casper is the first hospital to join the Health Information Exchange (HIE). Connection work is underway building the interfaces needed to securely share patient health information with providers through the HIE. This move signals the start of a working HIE and the Partnership looks forward to adding other hospitals and healthcare professionals to improve the breadth of data found in the HIE.
Wyoming e-Health Partnership is also pleased to announce South Big Horn Hospital District is the second hospital to sign up for the HIE. South Big Horn will be the first Wyoming hospital to offer both Direct secure messaging and the ability to securely look up patient information needed for treatment.
The addition of South Big Horn to the HIE means providers at both South Big Horn and Wyoming Medical Center will be able to see their common patients' health information electronically from both hospital systems at once. This helps coordinate care for patients traveling between both facilities.
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June 6, 2013 News Update
 At the CMS Medicaid HITECH conference, those of us in ONC's Office of Provider Adoption and Support (OPAS) were excited to share updates and opportunities created by regional extension centers that are partnered with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) - two vital components of the nation's health care safety net - in adopting and optimizing health IT tools to support more efficient and effective patient care. To date, more than 132,000 primary care providers are enrolled with the 62 regional extension centers, which equates to more than 43% of the total 303,000 primary care providers in the U.S.
Regional Extension Centers Work with Providers in Rural Areas
Regional Extension Centers Help Medicare Providers to Receive Incentives
In fact, a recent GAO report found that Medicare provid ers working with a regional extension center were over 2.3 times more likely to receive an EHR incentive payment than those who weren't. As of February 2013, 60% of all regional extension center-partnered FQHCs providers have received AIU payments and regional extension center providers at FQHCs have already received more than $243 million in incentive dollars!
This is great progress especially for the Medicaid providers who are leading the charge to Meaningful Use in preparation for new payment and care delivery models. We expect many more Medicaid, Medicare and even those providers not eligible for CMS incentive payments take a similar call to action and achieve meaningful use to demonstrate their commitment to providing better and more comprehensive patient care.
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Additional HTS Services
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Let Health Technology Services assist you with all your HIT needs, from EHR selection/implementation to meaningful use and beyond. Our HIT services also include:
- HIT Consulting and Project Management
- IT Managed Services
- HIPAA Privacy and Security Assessments and New Network Penetration Testing
- New Lean Sigma Healthcare Methodology
- New Lean Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
- EHR and Essential Computer Training Programs
- MU Year 2 Monitoring and Stage 2 Preparation
New - We now have a Trusted IT Partner who can assist you with -
- Securing, Installing, Servicing and Supporting Hardware
- Recommending Software Solutions
- Managing Network and Other IT Services
Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant for help or
Patty Kosednar 406-461-4410
See more at about these services on our website
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Health IT Resources (Links)
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Patient Centered Medical Home
NCQA 's Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) 2011 is an innovative program for improving primary care. In a set of standards that describe clear and specific criteria, the program gives practices information about organizing care around patients, working in teams and coordinating and tracking care over time.
HealthShare Montana
HealthShare Montana is a statewide, non-profit organization, created to develop a system for the electronic exchange of healthcare information.
New CMS MU Stage 2 Toolkit
New resource to help eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) prepare for Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive Programs.
CMS Interactive Tool to Determine MU Stages
An interactive tool that allows eligible providers to determine what year they will meet Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 of meaningful use in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
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Thank-you for reading our newsletter. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments. We also welcome your feedback.
Thank-you!
Marlin Sander
Executive Director
Health Technology Services
Montana/Wyoming Regional Extension Center
406-457-5897
www.htsrec.com
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