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January 2015 - Happy New Year!
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 In this Issue of REConnection
Welcome to the January issue of REConnection.
We have lots of great information to share with you.
Here are some of the highlights:
Best Regards,
The RI REC Team
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2014 was a busy year for our provider community. We congratulate you on your achievement in reaching your goals and thank you for helping us to reach ours as well. To date, the RI REC has assisted 1,345 primary care and specialist providers with Meaningful Use requirements which lead to 865 successful Stage 1 attestations.
More of you have implemented CurrentCare services (Viewer and Hospital Alerts) and continued to enroll your patients. By the end of the year, CurrentCare enrollments totaled 439,999 - an increase of 26% over 2013 total enrollments (348,916)! Together, we are close to having 1 in 2 Rhode Islanders enrolled in CurrentCare and the number grows every day.
Nearly 1,900 providers and care team staff now have access to CurrentCare services. That's 295 practice sites with CurrentCare Viewer (online portal) and 194 practice sites with Hospital Alerts (ED and hospital admission and discharge notifications).
CurrentCare now has 90% of all lab reports in the state, 90% of all medication histories, and admissions, discharge, and transfer information from all acute care hospitals in Rhode Island and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in Connecticut, with the VA coming on board in 2015. To see the complete list of CurrentCare's Information-Sharing Partners, click here.
We praise you for your continued collaboration in in advancing healthcare transformation to achieve the Triple Aim: 1) better health for all Rhode Islanders, 2) better care and 3) lower per capita cost.
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CurrentCare at Feed 1000 
On December 13th 2014, three RIREC staff members represented CurrentCare at Feed 1000 at the RI Convention Center. The event, a Christmas party for 2000 of RI's homeless, was sponsored by Priority Management Group in Pawtucket. RIQI's Kerri Costa, Brian Miller and Erica Manganelli spoke to attendees about the benefits of enrolling in CurrentCare. Brian and Kerri reported that many were excited to know that their medical information could be in one place, should medical personnel need to treat them in the future.
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RI REC Launches New Website
TransformYourPracticeRI.org Replaces DocEHRtalk.org
On December 24th 2014, the RI Regional Extension Center launched its new website TransformYourPracticeRI.org. The newly designed website replaced the former DocEHRtalk.org.
"We wanted to create a resource for our practices where they can find information about Meaningful Use, becoming a patient centered medical home, privacy and security, and CurrentCare services," said Darlene Morris, RI REC Director. "There are resources and links to educational events that can help today's providers transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment models. The site offers an easy way for people to join the REC at no cost, which entitles them to receive this newsletter and to have access to a variety of valuable health IT-related information and resources."
Providers who use the CurrentCare Viewer can also find resources on best practices and can access updates on the kinds of information being added to CurrentCare. You can visit the new site at www.TransformYourPracticeRI.org.
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We still need your help with signing up patients for CurrentCare!
If you need new forms, new posters or completed forms picked up,
please contact Rhode Island Quality Institute at 888-858-4815
or send an email to CurrentCare@RIQI.org.
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Reminder: February 28th, 2015 is the deadline for Medicare providers to attest to Meaningful Use. This is also the last day to submit 2014 PQRS data which will determine a provider's incentive payment and the 2016 payment adjustment. For more information, please contact your RI REC Relationship Manager at 888-858-4815 or email RIREC@RIQI.org.
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Welcome to the New England QIN-QIO Q&A Corner!
 Beginning this month, the New England Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization ( NE QIN-QIO), administered by Healthcentric Advisors in partnership with Qualidigm, will host a PQRS/VM Q&A corner. The NE QIN-QIO provides support services to health care providers, organizations and community stakeholders to assist in achieving elements of the Triple Aim through quality reporting programs. Some of the current focus areas include:
- Practice Transformation (focus on cardiac and diabetes population health management)
- Enhancing Patient Engagement (focus on electronic communication)
- Quality Reporting
- Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)
- Meaningful Use (MU)
- Value-Based Payment Modification (VM)
- Quality & Resource Use Reports (QRUR)
Please submit your PQRS/VM questions to neqinqio@healthcentricadvisors.org.
Topics that have a more global interest will be posted in this corner and serve to inform future NE QIN-QIO webinars. Deadline Approaching! Do you have an Individuals Authorized Access to the CMS Computer Services (IACS) account? I ACS accounts have been established to provide CMS Business Partners a means to apply for and receive a single User ID they can use to access many CMS applications. On their website you will find information about the applications your IACS User ID can be used with, how to register and login to IACS, and information about the Help Desks that support your applications. This account serves as a pathway for accessing Physician Feedback Reports once you report PQRS and registering for the Value Modifier.
CMS is switching the platform for their IACS accounts on February 9th, 2015 and applications must be approved by January 30th, 2015. Please note, there may be an approval backlog so do not wait to complete this process. VM Webinar Save the Date! The CMS Value-Based Payment Modifier Program -What it is and What it Means to Physician Practices To register for the New England QIN-QIO webinar on February 11th, 2015 at 12:00-1:00pm click here or go to http://bit.ly/1BlkfKD. |
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Health IT Professional CertificationA Free Professional Development Opportunity
The RI Regional Extension Center offers free licenses to take online Health IT professional certification courses. Courses are administered by Health IT Certification - an online based organization that provides professional training and certification for those responsible for planning, selecting, implementing, and managing electronic health records (EHR) and other health IT. The RI REC will process your free license for one or more of the available courses, and Health IT Certification creates an account for you to get started. This offer is available to Rhode Island primary care providers and specialists, their office staff, and any Rhode Island-based college students enrolled in a health IT-related course of study.
To take advantage of this opportunity to enhance your professional development, click here.
To request a license to get started, contact the RI REC at 888-858-4815 or email RIREC@RIQI.org. The RI REC has a limited number of licenses available and participation is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Rhode Island Medical Journal:
RIQI is pleased to share the latest edition of the Rhode Island Medical Journal, the monthly publication of the Rhode Island Medical Society.
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The RI Regional Extension Center (RI REC) is a service of the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and value of health care in Rhode Island. To learn more, visit www.TransformYourPracticeRI.org.
RI REC and its services and materials are made possible through a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology with US Department of Health and Human Services support.
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REConnection is intended to provide the Rhode Island healthcare community and other interested stakeholders with timely news and information about RI REC's programs, resources, and educational activities that support the adoption of health information technology.
To learn more about participating in RI REC's EHR Adoption, HIE/CurrentCare, and Direct Adoption Programs, please call 888-924-4156 or write to rirec@riqi.org.
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