In This Issue
Important Dates for MU
As HIPAA Regulations Get Teeth, Healthcare Firms Feel the Bite
HIPAA Breach Affects 729,000 Patients
Congrats to Billings Clinic!
Request a Review of 2012 PQRS Results
New CMS FAQ on Charge to Access Online Patient Info
Free Webinars on Important New MU 2014 Changes
Important 2014 MU Changes
When Will EHR Payment Adjustment for Medicare EPs Begin?
When Will EHR Payment Adjustment for Medicare Hospitals Begin?
Are You Eligible to Participate in PQRS?
Discounted Prices for MU Services
See All HTS Services
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Important Dates

 

For EHR Meaningful Use Incentives in 2013

  

November 30, 2013

Eligible hospitals must attest to receive payment for 2013 calendar year.

 

December 31, 2013

Reporting year ends for eligible professionals. 

 

February 28, 2014

Eligible professionals must attest to receive payment for 2013 calendar year.

  

See Complete CMS MU Timeline 

As HIPAA Regulations Get Teeth, Healthcare Firms Feel the Bite

Starting in 2012, the threat of fines and decrees for noncompliance with HIPAA regulations has become real and palpable, resulting in covered entities and business associates increasing IT security spending, attempting to ward off costly compliance audits.

 

Read more...

HIPAA Breach at AHMC Healthcare Affects 729,000 Patients
In one of the biggest Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) breaches ever reported, approximately 729,000 patients' data has been compromised following the theft of two laptops from an office at the Alhambra, Calif.-based AHMC Healthcare Inc on Oct. 12.  

Read more...

 

 Congrats to Billings Clinic!

congratulations  

Billings Clinic received two top awards for commitment to quality care

The Billings Gazette - 10/1/13

 

Billings Clinic is one of three hospitals in Montana to receive Mountain-Pacific Quality Health

Foundation's top award -- the Quality Achievement award.

 

Billings Clinic was also one of two hospitals to earn Mountain-Pacific's Enduring Excellence in Quality award, which was given to commemorate Mountain-Pacific's 40th year.

 Request a Review of 2012 PQRS Participation Results 

Eligible professionals, designated support staff/vendors, and group practices who submitted data for the 2012 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) program can now request to have an informal review of their 2012 PQRS reporting performance.

 

An informal review may be requested if the feedback report reveals that the EP or group practice did not earn the 2012 PQRS incentive payment when they believe they should have, or when they believe the payment amount was incorrect. Informal review requests will be accepted from November 1, 2013 through February 28, 2014.
  

 Read more...

 

NEW CMS FAQ
Can an eligible professional (EP) or hospital charge patients a fee to have access to the certified EHR technology (CEHRT) solution that is used to meet the meaningful use objective of providing patients the ability to view online, download and transmit their health information?

 

"We do not believe it would be appropriate for the EP or hospital to charge the patient a fee to access the Certified EHR Technology solution regardless of whether the solution is in the form of a provider-specific portal, an online personal health record, community portal or some other solution."
 

  

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

From all of us at Health Technology Services

 

Deb Anderson 

Susan Clarke

Lisa Corino

Mary Erickson

Patty Kosednar

Sarah Leake

Sharon Milanos

Mark Norby

Issue #14    

       November, 2013   
 EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter   
         
 Welcome to the Montana/Wyoming Health Technology Service's (HTS) EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter. 

Free Webinars on

Important New MU Changes in 2014 and
Preparing for a CMS Audit

free webinar 

Join us for our seminars below - registration is required.

  

Wed., November 13, 1-2 pm MDT
Important New MU Changes in 2014

register here

Wed., December 11, 1-2 pm MDT

Preparing for a CMS Audit 

register here
   

Stay Tuned for Future Webinar Dates 

NLR/SLR Registration/Attestation Preparation for EPs - January

Open MU Q&A (For HTS MU subscribers only) - January

** details on how to Become a MU Subscriber **

HIPAA Privacy & Security - February

 See details on our website www.healthtechnologyservice.com

Important 2014 Meaningful Use Changes

New 2014 Meaningful Use changes apply regardless of which stage of Meaningful Use you are reporting for 2014.

 

  Let HTS help you through the changes. 

Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant for help or

Patty Kosednar 406-461-4410

When Will EHR Payment Adjustment for Medicare Eligible Providers Begin?
Eligible professionals (EPs) participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program may be subject to payment adjustments beginning on January 1, 2015. CMS will determine the payment adjustment based on meaningful use data submitted prior to the 2015 calendar year. EPs must demonstrate meaningful use prior to 2015 to avoid payment adjustments.
 
If you began in 2011 or 2012...
If you first demonstrated meaningful use in 2011 or 2012, you must demonstrate meaningful use for a full year in 2013 to avoid the payment adjustment in 2015.

If you began in 2013...
If you first demonstrate meaningful use in 2013, you must demonstrate meaningful use for a 90-day reporting period in 2013 to avoid the payment adjustment in 2015.

If you plan to begin in 2014...
If you first demonstrate meaningful use in 2014, you must demonstrate meaningful use for a 90-day reporting period in 2014 to avoid the payment adjustment 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, to avoid the payment adjustment. 
 

Avoiding Payment Adjustments in the Future
You must continue to demonstrate meaningful use every year to avoid payment adjustments in subsequent years.

  

If you are eligible to participate in both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, you MUST demonstrate meaningful use to avoid the payment adjustments. You may demonstrate meaningful use under either Medicare or Medicaid.

If you are only eligible to participate in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, you are not subject to these payment adjustments.
 
For more information on EP payment adjustments, view the Payment Adjustments and Hardship Exceptions Tipsheet for EPs.

When Will EHR Payment Adjustment for Medicare Eligible Hospitals Begin?

Subsection (d) hospitals that are eligible to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program must meet meaningful use requirements to avoid the federally-mandated payment adjustments that begin in fiscal year (FY) 2015. The adjustment is determined by the hospital's reporting period in a prior year. 

 

For Hospitals that Began Participation in 2011 or 2012
Eligible hospitals that first demonstrated meaningful use in fiscal year 2011 or 2012 must demonstrate meaningful use for a full year in FY 2013 to avoid payment adjustments in 2015. This data must be submitted via attestation by November 30, 2013.

 

For Hospitals that Begin Participation in 2013
Eligible hospitals that first demonstrate meaningful use in FY 2013 must demonstrate meaningful use for a 90-day reporting period in 2013 to avoid payment adjustments in 2015. This data must be submitted via attestation by November 30, 2013.

 

For Hospitals that will Begin Participation in 2014
Eligible hospitals that first demonstrate meaningful use in fiscal year 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 nine months of fiscal year 2014 (i.e. they must begin the 90-day reporting period by April 1), and hospitals must attest to meaningful use no later than July 1, 2014, in order to avoid the payment adjustments.

 

Avoiding Payment Adjustments in the Future
Once hospitals begin participation in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, they must continue to demonstrate meaningful use every year to avoid payment adjustments in subsequent years.

 

For more information on timing and how to avoid payment adjustments, view the Payment Adjustment and Hardship Exemptions Tipsheet for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
Are You Eligible to Participate in PQRS?

CMS Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) program encourages the reporting of quality information through incentive payments (through 2014) and payment adjustments (beginning in 2015).

 

PQRS provides an incentive payment to practices with eligible professionals, or EPs, who satisfactorily report data on quality

measures for covered professional services.  EPs who do not satisfactorily report data on quality measures in 2013 will be subject to a payment adjustment in 2015.

  

Are you an eligible professional?
PQRS EPs provide services which are paid under or are based on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS); those services are eligible for PQRS incentive payments for satisfactory 2013 participation.

 

Are you eligible, but not able to participate?
Due to some billing methods, not every professional on the list of eligible physicians, practitioners, and therapists is able to participate in PQRS. You may not be able to participate in PQRS if any of these scenarios apply to you:

  • You provide Part B services, but bill Medicare at a facility or institutional (Part A) level.
  • You do not bill Medicare at an individual National Provider Identifier (NPI) level, where the rendering provider's individual NPI is entered on CMS-1500 type paper or electronic claims billing, associated with specific line-item services.
  • You reassign benefits to a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) that bills outpatient services at a facility level, such as CAH Method II billing.
Are you eligible, but not sure how to get started?
Once you have determined that you are eligible and able to participate in PQRS, you should meet with your staff to determine which PQRS reporting method is most appropriate for your practice. Visit the How to Get Started page on the PQRS website for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.
Become a MU Subscriber Today and Enjoy Discounted Prices on MU Services!!!

MU Consulting Services

Stage 1, Year 2 in 2013

 

Health Technology Services (MT/WY) is offering Meaningful Use services at a discounted rate of $599 per clinic location, for Eligible Providers who are in their Second Year of MU Stage 1 (2013).  

 

Our services include -

  • Year 2 MU Readiness Assessment and Action Plan
  • 2 Hours MU Consulting on a Variety of Topics
  • Access to Exclusive Materials and Resources
  • Summarized HIT Information and Timelines (includes deadlines, revenue ramification, penalties, etc.)
  • Access to Free MU Webinars
  • Monthly MU Q&A Sessions with our Consultants  

Contact Patty Kosednar @ 406-461-4410, 
email pkosednar@mpqhf.org  

or contact your local HTS Health Technology Consultant 

See detailed information on this service offering on our website 

Additional HTS Services 

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: 

  • MU Year 2 Monitoring and Stage 2 Preparation
  • MU Stage 1 Year 2 Risk Assessment Review
  • HIT Consulting and Project Management
  • HIPAA Privacy and Security Assessments and New Network Penetration Testing
  • New Lean Sigma Healthcare Methodology
  • New Lean Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) 
  • New HSMDirect Secure Messaging  

Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant for help or 

Patty Kosednar 406-461-4410 
See more at about these services on our website

Health IT Resources (Links)

HealthLinkNow
HealthLinkNow is an Online Clinic where meaningful care comes to patients via telemedicine at home, work, school or vacation.
  
HealthShare Montana
HealthShare Montana is a statewide, non-profit organization, created to develop a system for the electronic exchange of healthcare information. 
  
eHealth
ONC launches new eHealth resource site to help providers effectively engage patients in choosing how they want their electronic patient health information shared.
Thank you for reading our newsletter.  Please contact us if you have any questions or comments. We also welcome your feedback. 
Thank You!                     

 

Patty Kosednar

Executive Director

Health Technology Services, MT/WY Regional Extension Center

...a division of Mountain-Pacific Quality Health

406-461-4410

www.heathtechnologyservice.com