Feds Mandate Electronic Health Records with National Database and Reporting System to Track and Control Your Healthcare

Government as the Health IT Security Standard

February 15, 2010

Federal Computer Week - 1105 Government Information Group presents Gail Belles, director of the Health Care Security Requirements Service at the Veterans Health Administration, Khalid Kark, security analyst with Forrester Research, and Steve Lubniewski, Vice President of Lockheed Martin Health Solutions, in this presentation where they discuss how the government's experience with securing digital health records can inform the health care debate.

Since the dawn of the information age, the government has been quick to realize the national security implications of the cyber threat. Often, safeguards and practices which are used to secure specific government programs become industry standards. Today, as the debate over health care reform hinges on the role of government in this critical area, proponents of health IT have pointed to the digitizing of medical records as a major area of reform. Opponents cite the security and privacy concerns inherent.

This presentation addresses:

· The current state of health records management across the country;
· The scope of the cyber threat to digital health records;
· The evolving mission of the government in health care;
· Examples of digital health records systems at government agencies;
· Recommendations and suggestions for a digital health records' cybersecurity standard; and
· Cybersecurity and the future of health care.

All 1105 Government Information Group events in this series are free of charge.

Duration: 1 hour

HHS Advisers Consider New Database for Health IT Safety

Goal is to mitigate safety risks related to digital health records

March 12, 2010

Federal Computer Week - A federal advisory group today proposed to create a new national database and reporting system to track health information technology-related hazards that could affect patient safety.

Under the national health IT reporting system under consideration, doctors and hospitals confidentially would report data on all “incidents” and “potential hazards” to a patient safety organization, according to a draft report by the Adoption/Certification Workgroup of the federal Health IT Policy Committee.

The patient safety organization would evaluate the reports and provide findings to help other providers improve safety. The data also should be used to influence future criteria for certification of health IT, the document said.

The panel is advising the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) on distributing $17 billion in economic stimulus law payments to spur adopting health IT. Although using digitized records can lead to improved patient safety, it also has been associated with some safety risks, the draft document said.

“Overall, patient safety is better in health care organizations with IT than in health care organizations without IT, provided that the IT systems have been implemented correctly, and provided that an appropriate improvement culture exists,” the report states.

Also, some hazards inherent in health IT may affect patient care. They include technology problems such as hardware failures, software bugs, and incompatibility between applications and interfaces. Implementation and training deficiencies also create risks.

Also creating vulnerabilities are the “complex interactions of professionals, workflows, and user interfaces,” the report said.

“The complexity of the health care activity coupled with the number of individuals involved with an activity influences the probability of an incident,” committee members wrote.

Under the draft plan, the national health IT reporting system ideally would be patient-centered and consistent with the vision of a learning health care system.

“A ‘patient-centered’ approach focuses more on the patient and less on accountability for an error,” the draft proposal states. “We also want to focus attention on hazards and "near-misses. We want to prevent unsafe conditions that might lead to serious injuries or deaths.”

HHS Issues Proposed Rule for Certification of Electronic Health Records

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking envisions two-phased process for certification of EHRs

March 3, 2010

Federal Computer Week - The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is creating a two-phased program to enable vendors to obtain certifications for their electronic health record (EHR) systems, so that they can qualify for economic stimulus law incentives.

HHS released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on March 2 describing the certification program to test and certify EHRs, Dr. David Blumenthal, HHS’ national coordinator for health IT, said in a news release. The two-phase program includes a temporary and a permanent phase.

The temporary program is being initiated to ensure that certified EHR products are available in time for purchase by eligible hospitals and doctors. The providers must buy and meaningfully use those certified systems to qualify for the $17 billion in stimulus law incentive payments. Under the law, those payments will begin in October 2010.

Under the temporary certification process, the national coordinator for health IT would authorize organizations to assume testing and certification responsibilities. The temporary program would cease once the permanent program began.

HHS is collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop both the temporary and permanent phases of the program.

“NIST is developing a test method and infrastructure that will be used by testing laboratories in the testing component of both certification programs,” according to a news release on the NPRM.

According to the NPRM, the national coordinator may name several organizations to conduct the certifications. Currently, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) is the only organization that certifies EHRs. The group said it was confident that it would meet the criteria to be recognized as a certifying body for EHRs under the stimulus law.

“Having reviewed the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding certifying bodies, we feel confident about our prospects of becoming accredited,” Alisa Ray, executive director of CCHIT, said in a statement March 2. “Today’s release of the Certification NPRM is an important step that will reduce the uncertainty that the health care community has experienced while awaiting this additional information.”

She said CCHIT is “well prepared” to apply for the certification and feels “confident” about its future.

IBM Strikes Electronic Health Care Records Deals

December 22, 2009

eWeek - IBM Global Financing has entered into deals with four health care organizations to help them pay for their EHR projects while they await federal stimulus funds. The deals also will enable IBM to collect interest on the financing and raise its profile in the growing health care IT market.

IBM is looking to help health care businesses put their medical records into a digital format while they wait for federal stimulus funds to become available.

IBM announced Dec. 22 that its lending unit, IBM Global Financing, has signed new financing agreements with four EHR (electronic health records) providers to help them pay for their projects.

According to IBM officials, the issue comes down to the cost of EHR projects and the timetable for the Obama administration to dole out money from the billions of dollars allocated for such projects.

It can cost health care organizations millions of dollars to buy and deploy the technology needed to put their medical records into a digital format. The Obama administration, as part of ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), is offering money and incentives to encourage such projects.

However, it is taking awhile for the federal government to reimburse such efforts through the ARRA, according to IBM. The financing offered by IBM helps bridge that gap, according to Richard Dicks, general manager for North America for IBM Global Financing.

“Customers of electronic health care records solutions soon realize that while health IT technology is necessary, it’s also expensive,” Dicks said in a statement. “Costs have today become a non-technological barrier to health IT adoption. It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario facing medical providers. Many are waiting for government funding working its way through the system, but need the benefits of the technology today.”

IBM Global Financing is currently working with about 40 percent of the top vendors of acute care EHR systems, the company said.

The deals enable IBM to make money through the interest on the financing, while also raising its profile in the burgeoning health care IT market.

The latest IBM financing deals are with Siemens Healthcare, Lavender & Wyatt Systems, Healthcare Management Systems and SCC Soft Computer.

Electronic Medical Records: Does This Mean Microchip Implants for Health Care Plans?

November 18, 2008

Reuters - Primary care doctors in the United States feel overworked and nearly half plan to either cut back on how many patients they see or quit medicine entirely, according to a survey released on Tuesday. And 60 percent of 12,000 general practice physicians found they would not recommend medicine as a career. Seventy six percent of physicians said they are working at "full capacity" or "overextended and overworked."

Health care reform is near the top of the list of priorities for both Congress and president-elect Barack Obama, and doctor's groups are lobbying for action to reduce their workload and hold the line on payments for treating Medicare, Medicaid and other patients with federal or state health insurance.

The Physicians' Foundation, founded in 2003 as part of a settlement in an anti-racketeering lawsuit among physicians, medical societies, and insurer Aetna, Inc., mailed surveys to 270,000 primary care doctors and 50,000 practicing specialists.

Many of the health plans proposed by members of Congress, insurers and employers's groups, as well as Obama's, suggest that electronic medical records would go a long way to saving time and reducing costs.