In This Issue
Important Dates for MU
Need Help with ICD-10 Planning?
Did You Get a CMS 2015 Penalties Notice?
Are You an Eligible Professional Starting MU Stage 2 in 2015?
FREE Webinars
New 2015 HTS Tiered Services and Discounted Pricing
Register for the February 12-13, 2015 Clinical Informatics Boot Camp - Apply for a $100 Sponsorship by January 15, 2015
Become an HTS Subscriber Today and Enjoy the Benefits
Submission Timeframes for 2014 PQRS Data
Health IT Resources
Join Our List

 FOR EHR MEANINGFUL USE INCENTIVES

 
 

February 28, 2015 

Last day for eligible providers to attest to meaningful use

 

See Complete CMS MU Timeline 

 

  ********************

FOR PQRS

 

February 28, 2015 

Last day to submit 2014 PQRS data through EHR reporting methods to determine the 2014 incentive payment and the 2016 payment adjustment

 

 ********************

FOR ICD-10

  

October 1, 2015 

Transition date from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes for diagnoses and inpatient procedures.

 

 

Need Help with ICD-10 Planning?

 

CMS and American Health Information Management Association offer a free webinar recording on 

 

Why

Detailed Clinical Documentation is Important for the ICD-10 Transition, and

How to Train your Staff 

 

To access the webinar, register for the webinar.

 

  

Did You Get a CMS 2015 Penalties Notice?

 

Medicare hospitals began to receive payment adjustments on October 1, 2014,
and Medicare eligible professionals will begin to receive payment adjustments on

January 1, 2015.

 

The Medicare program will penalize more than 257,000 physicians and other healthcare providers 1% of their pay in 2015 for failing to achieve meaningful use of EHR technology in previous years. 

 

Avoid 2016 payment adjustments by contacting Health Technology Services today.

Happy New Years

from

Health Technology Services!

Deb Anderson 

Susan Clarke

Lisa Corino

Mary Erickson

Patty Kosednar

Sarah Leake

Sharon Milanos

Issue #28

       January, 2015   
 EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter   
          
 Welcome to the Montana/Wyoming Health Technology Service's (HTS) EHR and Health IT Perspectives Newsletter. 
 Are You an Eligible Professional Starting MU Stage 2 in 2015?  Find Out What You Need Beginning January 1st!
If you are an eligible professional and are scheduled to report to Meaningful Use Stage 2 in 2015, you must have in place by January 1, 2015 the following -
  1. Must be on a 2014 Certified EHR
  2. Must have 2014 CQMs configured and collecting data (an additional benefit will be that you can also use these for PQRS)
  3. Five Clinical Decision Support (CDS) configured and active (they need to be tied to your CQMs)
  4. Drug Drug/Drug Allergy alerts configured and active
  5. Drug Formulary Access

You will want to take a screen shot of all of the above (include the name of your clinic and the current date in your screen shot) on January 1, for use in your 2015 MU audit folder.  This is critical.
  
For help please contact Patty Kosednar at Health Technology Services.

FREE HTS Public Webinar

 Register for a free webinar!

 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 1 - 2 pm MDT

HTS-Meaningful Use Stage 2 and MU Audits - Deep Dive

 

Agenda

  • Review 2014 CEHRT Certification and reporting periods 
  • Review and simplify MU Stage 2 criteria by directly comparing them with the already familiar Stage 1 criteria
  • Review Stage 1 Menu measures that have been moved to Core measures, the newly combined measures, the thresholds that have been raised in Stage 2, and the new objectives that have been introduced
  • Discuss the Stage 2 Public Health Measures and electronic reporting of the Clinical Quality Measures
  • Review payment adjustments, hardship applications and MU audits 
register

 

See our HTS webinar archive for a listing of past webinars

HTS Subscriber Webinars

2015 Subscriber Webinars soon to be scheduled (registration is required)
  • 2015 PQRS Requirements and How To Get Ready
  • HIPAA Security Education - For Your Staff
  • ICD-10 What To Know For a Successful Implementation

Learn about the benefits of becoming an HTS Subscriber and how to become one

New 2015 HTS Tiered Services and
Discounted Prices
Health Technology Services proudly announces new 2015 service levels and discounted prices for our current and previous clients, for all stages of meaningful use.  Whether you need just a little help now and then with access to our educational webinars and staff, or would like assistance with the complete process we are here to help you.  See our 2015 service offering brochures.

 

 Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant for help or 

contact HealthTechnology Services 

    Register for the February 12-13, 2015
 Clinical Informatics Boot Camp and
Apply for a $100 Sponsorship by January 15th!
The South Dakota Chapter of HIMSS is conducting a Clinical Informatics Boot Camp on February 12 - 13, 2015, at the Lodge at Deadwood in Deadwood, SD.

 

This 2-day intensive course will focus on current clinical informatics trends and issues.  You will learn how to identify key concepts in informatics, information technology and data security. The event is limited to 40 participants.  Download a brochure for more details.  Register now.

  

The Montana Chapter of HIMSS is offering five $100 sponsorships for chapter members to attend this Clinical Informatics Boot Camp.

Sponsorship applications must be received by January 15, 2015. Awards will be selected by the MT HIMSS Program Committee and applicants will be notified on January 25, 2015.
 

To qualify applicants must be current MT HIMSS chapter members with an interest in a Health IT or Health informatics career.  To apply -

  

Step 1:  Proof of successful registration to the Boot Camp is required to receive the sponsorship.              

Step 2: Complete the following information and submit to Deb Anderson via email at danderson@mpqhf.org no later than midnight on January 15, 2015.

 

Name | Organization Name | Title/Student | Please describe your current position

Email address | Phone/Contact number | HIMSS Membership #

Number of years as a HIMSS member

Current post secondary education completed at colleges or any specialized IT or Health IT training | Date event registration was completed

Please describe in 500 words or less your interest in Healthcare Information Technology and Medical Informatics and how you hope this educational experience will help you in the future.

 

Payment preference of sponsorship
                ___ To you personally
                ___ To your organization
                ___ To the SD HIMSS Chapter directly

  Become an HTS Subscriber Today and Enjoy the Benefits
Are you sometimes overwhelmed keeping up with the myriad of Meaningful Use, PQRS, ICD-10 and Privacy and Security requirements for your organization?  Then let Health Technology Services partner with you to help you more easily navigate through these increasing number of regulations and requirements.
  
Become a Health Technology Services subscriber today and enjoy exclusive access to our resources and personnel.  These services include in depth and interactive monthly webinars on PQRS, ICD-10, MU, HIQR, Privacy and Security, as well as panel discussions and personal assistance in addressing your burning HIT questions or topics.  See our upcoming webinars.
Check out the benefits and how to become an HTS Subscriber.

  

Let us Help You.  Contact Health Technology Services.

  Submission Timeframes for 2014 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Data

PQRS provides an incentive payment to individual eligible professionals and group practices that satisfactorily participate or satisfactorily report data on quality measures for covered Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) services. Note that those who do not meet the 2014 PQRS reporting requirements will be subject to a negative payment adjustment on all Medicare Part B PFS services rendered in 2016.

 

Here are the 2015 CMS PQRS data submission times. 
  • EHR Direct or Data Submission Vendor that is certified EHR technology (CEHRT) - 1/1/15 to 2/28/15
  • Qualified clinical data registries (QCDRs) (using QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure (CQM) component of meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program - 1/1/15 to 2/28/15
  • Group practice reporting option (GPRO) Web Interface - 1/26/15 to 3/20/15
  • Qualified registries - 1/1/15 to 3/31/15
  • QCDRs (using XML format) reporting for PQRS only - 1/1/15 to 3/31/15
  • Maintenance of Certification Organizations (MOCs) - 1/1/15 to 3/31/15

 

Need help with PQRS?  Contact Health Technology Services.

Additional HTS Services 

Let Health Technology Services assist you with your HIT needs, from EHR selection/implementation to meaningful use and beyond.  Our HIT services also include: 

  • New 2015 MU HTS Tiered Service Offerings and Discounted Prices for all Current and Previous HTS Clients
  • New 2015 HTS Security Risk Analysis Service Level Offerings and Discounted Prices for all Current and Previous HTS Clients
  • HIT Consulting and Project Management
  • PQRS Reporting Assistance
  • HSMDirect Secure Messaging 

 Contact your HTS REC Health Technology Consultant for help or 

contact HealthTechnology Services 
See more at about these services on our website

Health IT Resources (Links)
CMS ICD-10
Learn how to make an ICD-10 plan by the October 1, 2015 compliance date.  
CMS EHR Incentive Program
Official website for Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.  
CMS EHR Incentive Program Registration and Attestation System
Official website for EHR Incentive Program registration and attestation.   
eHealth University
eHealth University is a CMS tool to help providers find information and materials on each of the eHealth programs in one location.  
Montana Public Health MU Registration
Registration link to submit Meaningful Use immunization electronic data for Montana.   
MT HIMSS
MT Chapter of HIMSS is a local resource for peer networking, education, and information sharing to help navigate through the challenges in healthcare information technology with a focus in large rural areas.
Thank you for reading our newsletter.  Please contact us if you have any questions or comments. We also welcome your feedback. 
Happy New Year!                     

 

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