Timely advice: Begin preparations for "meaningful use" now
Our collaborator and friend James Oakes, a Principal at Health Care Information Consultants, LLC in Baltimore, Md., authored a wise and timely call for action for healthcare providers hoping to capitalize on the incentive payments for meaningful use of certified EHR technology included in the HITECH Act.
The article, appearing in BNA's Health IT Law & Industry Report, argues that even though the HHS has yet to produce final regulations defining such key HITECH Act terms as "meaningful use" and "certified EHR technology," healthcare providers should not wait any longer to begin planning for the transition from paper to digital records, or the likely required updates to existing EHR systems:
Given the uncertainty surrounding these issues, a number of providers have elected to delay any action towards selecting and implementing an electronic health record (EHR) for their institution until answers are made available, reasoning that they want to know as much as possible before committing to a direction. However, providers who take this path may put themselves at risk for forfeiting eligibility for ARRA funds at all, given the time to execute and implement systems.
Oakes suggests several initial steps to EHR implementation:
- Gain a high-level understanding of the basic provisions of ARRA and the HITECH Act.
- Develop a realistic plan for your institution based on your assessment of the level of automation that is right for your circumstances, environment, and budget.
- Discuss the implementation, transition and any relevant software changes with your current health IT vendor. Considering the huge increase in demand in HIT services, it is important to secure your vendor's support and involvement early on, so that your organization does not end up at the end of the line.
- Know the health IT market because your organization will benefit from having the most customized solution (as opposed to, e.g., the most expensive or feature-rich), at the right price.
"Get started!" urges Oakes:
Going through all of these steps will not be accomplished overnight. Indeed, past experience suggests that if a hospital has not started these steps already, it will take from 24 months to 48 months for a mid-sized hospital to transition from planning to live operation, including full use of clinical capabilities. Given that ARRA incentives start phasing down in FY 2013 for physicians (2014 for hospitals), it is not beyond the realm of possibility that an institution that waits too long to start could find itself shut out of maximum incentive payments.
You can find the full article, courtesy of BNA's Health IT Law and Industry Report, here.
