MU Reporting Period for EPs Ends December 31, 2013; Prepare for Attestation - Join the MU Hot Topics 
conference call noted above.

You must attest to demonstrating meaningful use every year to receive an incentive and avoid a payment adjustment.

 

EPs must attest to demonstrating meaningful use of the data collected during the reporting period for the 2013 calendar year by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 28.

 

Plan Ahead

Review all of the important dates for the EHR Incentive Programs on the HIT Timeline. 

 

Mu Stage 2 includes several objectives that require information to be shared with another party. Learn more in the new EHR Tipsheet.  

 

 

For healthcare providers connectivity is vital, lack of interoperability is a real obstacle to improving patient care. This user friendly primer on integration and interoperability, by NextGen, is well worth the read.

QHN Contact Information

970-248-0033 

QualityHealthNetwork.org

 

Mesa County Physicians IPA

970-248-8031

Western Colorado IPA
970-249-6368

Mesa County Medical Society
970-243-2808

Mt. Sopris Medical Society
719-884-1184

Rocky Mountain Health Plans
Practice Transformation Team
970-248-8736

Improving Physician EHR Satisfaction With HIE Interface 

A project sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA) sought to characterize factors, in the context of recent healthcare reform, that are affecting physician satisfaction. The AMA gathered data from 447 physicians in six states; the lengthy report was published October, 2013. 

 

One of the most important determinants in the study was how EHR's are affecting physician practice. The conclusions noted that EHRs have both a positive and negative effect on physician satisfaction. Physicians approve of EHRs in concept, sighting the improved ability to remotely access patient information and improved quality of care. They also noted that physicians expressed optimism about the potential of EHRs to improve physician satisfaction, as EHR technology, especially user interfaces to health information exchanges (HIE), improves.

 

Those providers who live in western Colorado have the advantage of having access to one of the most advanced, powerful and proven HIEs in the U.S. QHN has operated a fully functional HIE for almost 10 years and is currently interfaced with more than 18 EHRs, with several in the development queue. As EHR technology evolves and interoperability is enhanced, QHN continues to keep pace and provide the technical expertise needed to support the implementation of robust effective interfaces. View QHN's EHR Connectivity Matrix.

 

"As we have refined the QHN interface process we routinely hear from providers that they immediately see improved efficiency, results flow seamlessly into their EHR, into a logical location, making it so they can now - live in one place -," says Laura Head, EHR Lead for QHN. "The new process facilitates clear communication, between us, the provider and the EHR vendor so through the build and validation process practices can refine work flow and we can work with the EHR vendor to tweak the way the messages flow from the HIE to the EHR."  

Want to get the most out of your EHR? Connect to QHN - a new simplified phased approach clearly delineates the roles, responsibilities and resources from the practice, the EHR vendor(s) and QHN.   

  1. Contact Your QHN Account Manager - They will start the process by collecting information and details on your EHR and exploring with you what functionality you hope to achieve through an interface;
  2. Begin Technical Research - the QHN tech team will research your EHR, make contact with your vendor(s) and explore the system capabilities. They complete an analysis to scope out the technical work needed to complete the interface;
  3. Create Interface Project Charter - this is done collaboratively and it delineates all parties' responsibilities, the corresponding timelines and target start and completion dates. The Charter clearly delineates the deliverables and agreed upon acceptance criteria;  
  4. Create Project Order - Once the Charter is agreed upon by all parties, an order is created. The order clearly defines all pricing for the interface work; this is signed by all parties;
  5. Build Out Interface - this is the technical development work to configure the interface (the mechanism by which data flows between the HIE and your EHR) between you, your EHR vendor(s) and QHN;
  6. Complete Validation & Training - you and your care team have the opportunity to review how the results will look in your EHR and request changes from your EHR vendor. This is a great opportunity to review how the interface will affect work flow and begin training with your staff and EHR vendor;
  7. Sign-off on Project - the practice approves the interface work and verifies that the interface is working properly. The project status is transitioned to support. You are now ready to stop using antiquated paper systems, adopt new procedures to improve work flow efficiency, and start using your EHR to its full capabilities. 

QHN Plays Integral Role in Aspen Valley Hospital, Mayo Clinic eConsult Program 

Aspen Valley Hospital and the Mayo Clinic recently announced that the hospital has been selected to be the first Colorado member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Through the Network providers have access to Mayo Clinic resources, including the electronic consulting (eConsult) which connects physicians with Mayo Clinic experts on questions of diagnosis, therapy or care management. QHN will be instrumental in the secure electronic exchange of medical records for eConsults. 

 

"QHN is pleased to be a part of this exciting process, and it is a great example of how health information exchange (HIE) can help to improve healthcare efficiency and effectiveness" says Marc Lassaux, QHN's Chief Technical Officer. "This shows the power of connectivity and future potential for the utilization of advanced HIE networks. EConsults would not be possible without the secure electronic transmission of information that QHN can provide. This utilization of technology is particularly appealing because the communications can be asynchronous, allowing busy providers to leverage the expert medical opinions from Mayo Clinic in a timely and efficient manner."

 

EConsults benefit both patients and providers. Patients are spared the time and expense of traveling to a Mayo facility, while providers can receive results from eConsults much quicker than scheduling a patient for a highly specialized consult.

 

In an issue brief published by The Commonwealth Fund they found that electronic consultation between primary care physicians and specialists could improve healthcare quality and reduce specialty care costs. The majority of those in the report estimated a reduction in specialist visits at around 30 percent. At the Mayo Clinic, researchers extrapolated that if each provider ordered e-consults two to three times monthly, the healthcare system could avoid 1,800 specialty consultations per year, reducing direct costs by $450,000 annually.