PBN Minute - Up to the minute information for your financial success

	Up to the minute information for your financial success.	To ensure you receive future Minutes, click this link. *To ensure you don't, click here to opt out.* October 6, 2010
	Taking your practice into the digital age : Part IV: Putting it all together In previous issues in this series we’ve covered just about every digital technology available to modern medical practices, and if you’ve taken it all to heart (and have unlimited time and resources) . . . You have begun developing and using your EMR system. You’ve automated your billing. You have a simple practice portal that coordinates all the Drs and other practitioners on your staff. You have an email application or an online messaging system that allows you to email or instant-message your patients securely. You have a patient portal where patients can fill out and upload health history and intake forms, request an appointment, check lab results, review statements, request a prescription refill, all from home before they ever set foot in your office. Having access to all of this information raises some new questions: How do you integrate the information you gain from these disparate systems and make them work together strategically for your practice? How can this information be standardized and shared among providers? Can we share this information on a larger scale to improve healthcare overall and help eliminate fraud in the healthcare system? Integrating Patient Data via Continuity of Care Documents (CCD) via the Continuity of Care Record (CCR) Standard ASTM and several prominent healthcare organizations have published standards for exactly the kinds of patient data that should be included in a complete patient record. According to the standard, CCDs should include all of the patient’s “. . . relevant administrative, demographic, and clinical information” and serve primarily as a means for one healthcare provider to send a complete digital patient record to another provider. A key benefit of a CCD is that it provides a standard electronic data format for a complete or summary electronic health record (EHR), which makes records portable between data systems, which means— patients can easily change providers or work with multiple providers without having to wait for or rely on a doctor’s office to forward paper records, patient records are more accessible to the patient, doctor, and other providers, so errors and omissions are more easily detected and fixed, and the potential for benefits from sharing patient date within a larger information landscape (state and federal health policy authorities and health information exchanges) is opened up. In the long run, practices that adopt and integrate EHR data are predicted to save costs, improve care, and allow for more “evidence-based” medicine through statistical and analytical use of digital medical records to identify trends in disease and treatment on a broad scale. How do we get there from here? Whatever the political or business landscape of the future brings, medical practices will adopt more and more digital technologies and share more and more data between and among practices. Practitioners who get started now are likely to benefit more and extend those benefits to their patients sooner than those who wait to see how it all plays out. _________ P.S. . . . PMR \| EMR \| ARRA “Meaningful Use” Certification Updates As a follow-up to the special edition of the PBN Minute published earlier this month, here are the latest happenings in the race to adopt EMR, meet “meaningful use standards,” and qualify for ARRA incentives; ONC authorized a third testing and certification body (ATCB), InfoGard Laboratories September 20th. CCHIT, one of the first two authorized testing and certification bodies is now accepting applications from providers for certification. At the same time, CMS is taking a new look at the current and Stage 2 and 3 requirements, with special attention to how to move “smaller practices and hospitals . . . operating without EHRs” into the digital age. 20 Questions . . . the ONC posted new Regulations FAQ’s (and yes, there are 20 questions) providing detailed answers to applicants questions regarding meaningful use certification. To find out how PBN can help your practice move into the digital age, contact . . . PBN Business Development, 800.288.4901, All content © 2010 Physicians Business Network \| 10950 Grandview Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 66210 \| 800.288.4901 \| pbnmed.com Opt-in to subscribe. \| Opt-out to unsubscribe.	Inside the What's it really about? A major national survey of 3,000 U.S. hospitals published just last month reported that “Only 2 percent of U.S. hospitals reported having electronic health records . . . meet[ing] . . . "meaningful use" criteria.” Many hospitals and practices are also unaware that the same law that incentivizes early adoption of effective EHR use will also penalize late-or non-adopters (starting as early as 2015 ). So the message is clear—it’s time to start moving forward with Electronic Health Records . But, in this rush to adopt electronic records and other new technologies, let’s not forget that the point of all this effort is to improve communications efficiency and accuracy between health care providers and especially among members of health care teams, specifically including communications between health care providers and patients . Just setting up a patient portal won’t magically solve communications problems between providers and patients. Take a look at the issues and solutions outlined in this “Open Letter and Call to Arms ” regarding physician patient communications—really, it’s worth a look. Then, as we move forward with new digital communications technologies, let’s remember to take the opportunity to refocus on general communications issues and solutions . . . and maybe build in some good old-fashioned analog solutions. Whatever your healthcare communications challenges, PBN is here to help. --Jud Jud Neal, President & CEO Coming Next Month, The Minute’s Annual . . . Top Ten Creepiest Health Care Practice Incidents of 2010 . . . Visit us online at the new PBNMed.com.

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