Pressure Driving EMR Use: Embracing Meaningful Use (8 ...

Pressure Driving EMR UseEmbracing Meaningful Use
Lawrence R. Kosinski, MD, MBA, AGAF, FACG
Prepared for
Electronic Medical Records Symposium
2010 ACG Regional Postgraduate Course
August 27th , 2010

Disclosures
Practicing Gastroenterologist
Managing Partner, Illinois Gastroenterology Group
No financial relationship to any commercial EMR
IGG uses NextGen
Member AGA Nominating Committee
Member AGA Clinical Practice and Quality Management Committee
Member HIMSS Patient Safety and Quality Outcomes Committee
Board of Directors AAAHC
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Webinar Overview
Introduction
What is the HITECH Act?
What’s in it for us?
What is “Meaningful Use” (MU)
How do I become compliant?
How do I get my ARRA payment?
Practical implications of regulations for GI practices
How does this effect my EHR decision?
What do I have to do now?
Controversial issues
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Objectives
Participants will be able to describe:
Objectives of the MU proposed rule
Key elements of the MU federal regulation
MU quality measures
Key regulatory dates impacting MU quality reporting
Steps GI practices need to take to comply with the MU quality measures
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EHRs for Americans
“Because we know that spiraling healthcare costs are crushing families and businesses alike, we’re taking the most meaningful step in years towards modernizing out healthcare system.
It’s an investment that will take the long overdue step of computerizing America’s medical records, to reduce the duplication and waste that costs billions of healthcare dollars and medical errors that cost thousands of lives each year…
We have done more in 30 days to advance the cause of healthcare reform than this country has done in a decade.”
President Barack Obama
Feb. 17, 2009
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HITECH Act: Overview
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (ARRA)
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
Formal establishment of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Funding to support regional and state initiatives to promote the adoption of electronic health record (EHR) technology and best practices
Estimated $17-$19 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive funds for eligible hospitals and providers that adopt EHR technology before 2015
Directed the ONC to issue regulations
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HITECH Act: New National Coordination Process
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HITECH Act: Regulations
Two regulations published in the Federal Register on July 13th, 2010
CMS-0033-F
RIN 0938-AP78
Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.
ACTION: Final rule.
45 CFR Part 170
RIN 0991-AB58
Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation
Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology
AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
(ONC), Department of Health and Human Services.
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HITECH Act: Final Rule Overview
Final Rule on Meaningful Use:
Defines the initial criteria for eligible professionals (EP) and eligible hospitals (EH) to qualify for incentive payments
Creates 3 Stages of implementation
Defines Stage 1 MU and specific criteria to meet definition
Defines payment years and reporting periods
Calculates the incentive payment amounts
Other program requirements
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Certification Final Rule Overview
Interim final rule covers:
Adoption of initial set of standards
Implementation, specifications, and certification criteria for EHRs
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The National Coordinator
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MU: Vision and Progression
Goals:
Improve quality, safety and efficacy
Engage patients and their families
Improve care coordination
Improve population and public health
Reduce disparities
Ensure privacy and security protections
Vision of Meaningful Use:
To enable significant and measurable improvements in population health through a transformed health care delivery system.
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The Balancing Act
Balance competing considerations to...
Ensure reform of health care and improved healthcare quality
Encourage widespread EHR adoption
Promote innovation
Avoid excessive or unnecessary burdens on healthcare providers
...and within the short time-frame available under the HITECH Act for providers and hospitals to begin using certified EHR technology
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Meaningful Use Definition
“Meaningful Use” is described in the Act as:
Use of "EHR technology in a meaningful manner" (which for physician incentives shall include the use of e-prescribing)
Electronic exchange of health information to improve the quality of care such as promoting coordination of care
Reporting on clinical quality measures (which shall become more stringent over time)
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What Practices Need to Consider
EP must choose to draw down incentives under Medicare or Medicaid.
An EP for Medicare: Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy
Not eligible if you provide >90% of your care in an Inpatient or Emergency Room Setting
Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners
Not eligible as an EP under Medicare
Eligible as an EP under Medicaid if they practice in a Rural Health clinic or Federally Qualified Health clinic
Medicare payments will be calculated on an individual-practitioner basis.
Requires physicians to demonstrate Meaningful Use of EHRs in more than 50% of patient encounters
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Medicare EP Incentive Path
Medicare EPs will not be able to collect both eRx incentives and EHR meaningful use incentives.
They must choose one incentive program
The definition of ‘payment year’ is ‘any calendar year beginning with 2011’.
2014 is the last year an EP can qualify for any level of incentive payment
CMS will stop making incentive payments altogether in 2017
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Definition of Eligible Professional (EP)
If an Eligible Professional (EP) is eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, the Eligible Professional may choose to accept the Medicare or Medicaid incentive, but may not receive both.
An EP is permitted to change their election once during the life of the EHR incentive program, after making the initial election.
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Medicare Incentives for EPs
Up to 75% of approved services or the above maximum
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Meaningful Use Stages:
2009
2011
2013
2015
Stages of Meaningful Use
Meaningful Use Criteria
HITECH Policies
Stage 1
2011 Meaningful Use Criteria (Capture/share data)
Stage 2
2013 Meaningful Use Criteria
(Advanced care processes with decision support)
Stage 3
2015 Meaningful Use Criteria (Improved Outcomes)
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Vision and Priorities for Stage 1
Vision
Enable significant and measurable improvements in population health through a transformed healthcare delivery system. Improve quality, safety, efficiency and reduce health disparities
Stage 1 Priorities
Provide access to comprehensive patient health data for patient's healthcare team
Use evidence-based order sets and CPOE.
Apply clinical decision support at the point of care.
Generate lists of patients who need care and use them to reach out to those patients.
Report information for quality improvement and public reporting
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Objectives
Core and Menu

Core Measure: Improving Quality, Safety, Efficiency and Reducing Health Disparities
Use CPOE for medication orders
Implement drug-drug, drug-allergy interaction
Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically (eRx)
Record Demographics
Preferred Language
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Date of Birth
Maintain an up to date Problem List of Current and Active Diagnoses
Maintain active Medication List
Maintain active medication allergy list
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Core Measure: Improving Quality, Safety, Efficiency and Reducing Health Disparities
Record and chart changes in Vital Signs
Record Smoking Status in patients >12
Implement one clinical decision support rule relevant to specialty or high clinical priority along with the ability to track compliance with that rule
Report ambulatory clinical quality measures to CMS or the States
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Core Measure: Engage Patients and Families in Their Health Care
Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information (including diagnostic test results, problem list, medication lists, allergies), upon request
Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit
Capability to exchange key clinical information (for example, problem list, medication list, medication allergies, diagnostic test results), among providers of care and patient authorized entities electronically
Protect electronic health information created or maintained by the certified EHR technology through the implementation of appropriate technical capabilities
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Menu Set: Improving quality, safety, efficiency, and reducing health disparities
Implement drug-formulary tests
Incorporate clinical lab-test results into certified EHR technology as structured data
Generate lists of patients by specific conditions to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities, research or outreach
Send reminders to patients per patient preference for preventive/follow up care
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Menu Set: Engage patients and families in their health care
Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information (including lab results, problem lists, medication lists, medication allergies) within four business days of the information being available to the EP
Use certified EHR technology to identify patient-specific education resources and provide those resources to the patient if appropriate
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Menu Set: Improve Care Coordination
The EP, eligible hospital or CAH who receives a patient from another setting of care or provider of care or believes an encounter is relevant should perform medication reconciliation
The EP, eligible hospital or CAH who transitions their patient to another setting of care or provider of care or refers their patient to another provider of care should provide summary of care record for each transition of care or referral
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MU Components: Stage 1
Certified EHR
Defined in the Certification Final Rule
HIE (health information exchanges)
Structured data
To patients, to public health agencies
Quality measures reporting
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Certified EHR
Complete EHR or a combination of EHR Modules, each of which:
Meets the requirements included in the definition of a Qualified EHR
Has been tested and certified in accordance with the certification program established by the National Coordinator
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Qualified EHR
An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that
Includes patient demographic and clinical health information, such as medical history and problem lists
Has the capacity
To provide clinical decision support
To support CPOE
To capture and query information relevant to health care quality
To exchange electronic health information with, and integrate such information from other sources
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Types of EHR
Complete EHR
EHR technology that has been developed to meet all applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of HHS
EHR Module
any service, component, or combination thereof that can meet the requirements of at least one certification criterion adopted by the Secretary
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Examples of EHR Modules
An interface or other software program that provides the capability to exchange electronic health information
An open source software program that enables individuals online access to certain health information maintained by EHR technology
A clinical decision support rules engine
A software program used to submit public health information to public health Authorities
A quality measure reporting service or software program
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Certified EHR Summary
The EP must use a certified EHR which may be either a complete EHR or a combination of modular EHR components that together equal an complete EHR.
The EHR certification process is currently being redefined and a final rule is in process. It will open the door for entities other than CCHIT for certification.
The Bottom Line: You have to be using an certified EHR!
If you have an EHR, is it MU certified?
What plans does your vendor have to get certified?
If you have not migrated to an EHR then only choose one from a company that is currently certified.
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Certified EHR
Defined in IFR
Measures corresponding to the Objectives
To Patients, Public Health Agencies and other EPs
Quality measures reporting
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Health Information Exchange Objectives and Measures
Core Objectives must all be reported
Menu Set Measures – 5 may be left out
Some measures require Numerator/Denominators
Some measures are Yes/No
Some measures require attestation
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Health Information Exchange Objectives and Measures Examples
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Certified EHR
Defined in IFR
Structured Data
to patients, to public health agencies
Quality Measures reporting
OurFocus
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Clinical Quality Measures Definition
Measures of processes, experience, and/or outcomes of patient care
Observations or treatment that relate to one or more quality aims for health care such as effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care
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Clinical Quality Measure Overview
Stage 1 – EPs required to submit summary quality measure data to CMS
Submissions in two measure groups
Core Measures:
Specialty Group Measures
CMS will not be ready to accept electronic transmission until 2012
CMS will establish a secure web portal for reporting
Quality Measures will be submitted by Attestation
Stage 2 and 3 – All Providers required to electronically submit summary quality measure data to CMS
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Sources of Quality Measures
Preference given to the clinical quality measures endorsed by the NQF
Including NQF endorsed measures that have previously been selected for the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) program
HITECH Act does not require the use of NQF endorsed measures, nor limit the measures to those included in PQRI
In selecting clinical quality measures for the Medicare EHR incentive program, the
Secretary is required to provide for notice in the Federal Register with public comment.
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Core Quality Measures for EPs
“For the core measure group we believe that the clinical quality measures are sufficiently general in application and of such importance to population health, we would require that all EPs treating Medicare and Medicaid patients in the ambulatory setting report on all of the core measures as applicable for their patients.”
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Proposed Quality Measures for GI
All need to be reported
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Quality Reporting
“We do not anticipate that HHS will complete the necessary steps for us to have the capacity to electronically accept data on clinical quality measures from EHRs for the 2011 payment year.
It is unlikely that by 2011 there will be adequate testing and demonstration of the ability to receive the required transmitted information on a widespread basis.
Therefore, for 2011, we propose that EPs and eligible hospitals use an attestation methodologyto submit summary information to CMS
on clinical quality measures as a condition of demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology.”
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Submitting Quality Measures
There are several potential routes to report quality information outlined in the proposed rules including:
Use the CMS portal to perform upload process based on specified structures and accompanying templates produced as output from your “certified” EHR module.
Submit the required clinical quality measures data using certified EHR technology through Health Information Exchange (HIE) / Health Information Organizations (HIO).
Accept submission through registries.
This is dependent upon the future development of the necessary capacity and infrastructure to do so using certified EHRs.
Attestation on achieving meaningful use will be required as part of the submission.
Specifications for quality submissions will be developed by July 1, 2011.
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Reporting Period for MU
In Stage 1, the EHR reporting period is any continuous 90-day period within a payment year.
In all subsequent Stages, the EHR reporting period must be the entire payment year.
Reporting in Stage 1 will be by attestation
Tied to calendar year, not adoption year
CMS expects to move to electronic reporting to some degree starting in Stage 2
This applies for both Meaningful Use stage criteria, as well as quality reporting
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Controversial Issues
Are you an Eligible Professional?
By law, hospital-based EP who furnish >90% all their services in an inpatient hospital setting and/or Emergency Room are not eligible for incentive payments.
How do you comply with MU if you practice in multiple settings (ASC, hospital, office)?
50% Rule
Reporting Mechanisms need to be further defined
How much work will it take to complete the reporting?
CMS estimates 8-10 hrs
Meaningful Use is an all-or-nothing approach
Are you ready?
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What Does This Mean to GI
The vision of integrated practice, clinical safety, and elimination of waste can be achieved with well designed electronic health records and processes of care
Meaningful use is a game changer – maybe greater than Y2K or HIPAA.
Many practices do not have the resources to adopt EHR technology.
Detailed planning and change management is required.
Process change - not just functionality - will be required
Meaningful use will necessitate a fundamental change to clinician processes such as common tasks of documenting care during a visit.
Quality measurement must become a byproduct of care and documentation
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Thoughts on Provider Strategies
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Conclusions
The HITECH Act is law
It is not part of healthcare reform
The HITECH Regulations are drafted
The train has left – you better be on it or you may get hit by it.
EHR adoption and MU compliance take time
If you haven’t implemented an EHR, you are behind the curve
Choose an EHR from a company that has the ability to meet MU requirements
Embrace the process
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Pressure Driving EMR Use: Embracing Meaningful Use (8 ...

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