Healthcare IT News For VARs — January 30, 2015
By Megan Williams, contributing writer
In this week’s news, Healthcare.gov faces questions over consumer data use, a group denies the possibility ICD-9 will skip directly to ICD-11, and legislators debate the March deadline mandating many prescriptions in New York State to be issued electronically.
Healthcare.gov Officials Questioned Over Consumer Data Use
In a Tuesday House hearing, lawmakers questioned officials around the use of consumer data collected on Healthcare.gov. The hearing was in direct response to the revelation that the federal health exchange was giving patient information (age, income, smoking habits, and IP addresses) to private companies for the purposes of advertising and data analysis. Read more at The Hill.
ICD-10 Supporters Deny The Possibility Of A Skip To ICD-11
Medical Economics covers the continued denial by ICD-10 supporters that the transition from ICD-9 could lead straight into version 11 of the coding system. The Coalition for ICD-10 (made up of a mix of 22 difference hospitals, health plans, coding societies, and health IT vendors) has been working to quell rumors of a skip over ICD-10 that would lead straight into the even more complex version. According to the coalition, the idea of moving to 11 is only on the distant horizon, with transitions estimated to take as long as four decades to complete.
New York Faces Potential Additional Year’s Delay On e-Prescribing Mandate
Senators in New York are fighting a March 27 deadline that would require almost all drug prescriptions in New York State to be issued electronically. Sen. David Valesky (D-Oneida) has proposed legislation to push that deadline out one year. The original mandate addresses the issue of wide-spread prescription painkiller abuse and addiction in the state and is expected to directly affect forced, stolen, and traded prescriptions. The mandate applies to all types of prescriptions, even non-narcotics, and the delay is being requested to give doctors more time. Read more at Syracuse.com.
AAFP Announces That EHR Certification Methods Fail Physicians And Patients
In a blog post, the American Association Of Family Physicians announced that many physicians in the U.S. are dissatisfied with the performance of their EHRs (electronic health records), and they are beginning to express concern over the federal certification process. They stress physicians are facing decreased efficiency and limited interoperability, and some patients may be experiencing negative side effects. The association outlines seven recommended changes to the current EHR certification process.
Healthcare IT Talking Points
This article on General Surgery News outlines the challenges that a surgeon has run into in his search for an EMR (electronic medical records) system that fits his practice-specific needs. Over a 10-year period, Dr. Jarrod P. Kaufman, MD, FACS, used four different EMRs and participated in demos of more than 15, and is still working to find something that works for surgeons, even from “blank slate” offerings. The article outlines Dr. Kaufmann’s writer-aided search to find an EMR that works for his needs and the process of comparing three, anonymous EMR companies that might have been up to the task.
According to HIT Consultant, the European EHR market is being fueled toward a size of more than $3.5 billion by various factors. A report from Frost & Sullivan names drivers including an aging population, the need for remote monitoring and chronic disease management, the establishment of HIEs (health information exchanges), real-time patient data management, and the advent of personalized healthcare delivery, all along-side rising EHR adoption rates. The report also highlights the fragmented, European approach to EHR implementation.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Healthcare IT Resource Center.