Healthcare Providers

Beyond EHRs: Information Exchange and Your Practice

The 2013 Summit Series will bring together some of the best resources in eight New York State regions to help answer questions about how EHRs and your Regional Health Information Exchange (RHIO) can benefit your organization. Leadership and representatives from the RHIO, the NYS DOH, and current RHIO members will answer real questions about the capabilities of the health information exchange services offered by the RHIO. Ask questions. Get answers. Get connected.

The NYeC REC has launched a new program seeking to improve clinical outcomes for the seriously and persistently mentally ill. HEAL 22 works to establish seamless exchange of health information within and across the NYS Health Homes, providing technical assistance and EHR adoption support to mental health/behavioral health providers and pediatric providers of behavioral health services.

Social Media, a Healthy Risk

The world of social media is not just a strategic way of conducting public relations, but to some, simply a way of life. When John Lynn (@techguy), professional blogger and founder of many successful healthcare blogs, participated in our DHC 2012 panel on social media last fall, he brought to it the perspective of someone who takes social media as a given. The panel addressed fears and cited benefits of using social media for healthcare organizations.

Watch: HIE, Making a Difference

Still skeptical about the benefits of HIE? You shouldn’t be. Produced by the Office of the National Coordinator, this video, featuring David Whitlinger of NYeC, and Bronx-based healthcare provider, Dr. Sumir Sahgal, shows how radically HIE has improved physicians’ practices and patient care throughout the country.

Congressman Higgins Endorses EHRs

New York State Congressman Brian Higgins recently addressed the benefits of using EHRs, discussing their effectiveness during natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy, and also in general, to improve the quality of patient care.

New York Digital Health Accelerator Reveals Inaugural Class

On October 15 the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Partnership for New York City Fund (Partnership Fund) revealed the inaugural class of the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA), a program that will make New York a hub for the emerging digital health technology industry. The partnership is the largest-funded health IT accelerator program in the United States, and the first to provide access to senior-level healthcare providers who are committed to the success of the eight growth-stage companies selected.

These charts and tables provide a detailed look at a variety of data in order to provide more a complete picture of health IT across New York State and the nation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the final requirements for Stage 2 meaningful use that hospitals and healthcare providers must meet in order to qualify for incentives in the second stage of the program.

Join a RHIO or Else

Given the immediate nature of blogging, we have the ability to be timely in discussing different topics as they arise. So, today, I’ll interrupt the thread that was started last week, relating to Health Homes and the Digital Health Accelerator, to jump onto something very topical.

Welcome to our blog!

Greetings, salutations and welcome to our blog – a feature of our new NYeC website and a communication tool that I’ve been looking forward to for several months now!

As many of you know, the incredibly talented and dedicated NYeC team has been hard at work on a number of industry leading efforts.

The SHIN-NY is a secure network for sharing clinical patient data across New York State via Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). The SHIN-NY is coordinated by NYeC in conjunction with the New York State Department of Health, and the state’s 11 RHIOs.

Currently, the two main capabilities of the SHIN-NY are Direct Messaging and Patient Record Look-Up. Direct Messaging functions like a highly secure email, giving clinicians the ability to seamlessly exchange authenticated, encrypted clinical data with one another. Patient Record Look-Up is comparable to a highly secure search engine, allowing healthcare providers to retrieve individual patient records from across the network once they receive patient consent. Read More

As health information technology grows, new policy must be written, and new standards set. An essential task of NYeC is to develop common policies, procedures, and technical approaches, through an open and transparent process, to support New York’s expanding health information infrastructure. These will ensure the highest quality of service, interoperability, and full patient privacy, security, and safety.  Read More

What is the NY State Health Home Initiative?

The Health Home is a Medicaid sponsored model of service delivery that expands on the traditional medical home model. The Health Home builds linkages to other community and social supports, enhancing coordination of medical and behavioral healthcare, with the main focus on the needs of patients with multiple chronic illnesses. Health Homes are responsible for assuring that their members receive all necessary services, including medical, mental health, behavioral, social services (such as housing, transportation to and from medical appointments), and long term care, if required.

Development of health information technology (HIT) solutions can facilitate the complex coordination of care across all involved healthcare providers. Read More

For Healthcare Providers

As a member of the healthcare community, you may already be using EHRs. You may have made the switch from paper some time ago, or you may only now be looking to make the leap.  Read More

“More than one-third of the nation’s 5,000 acute care hospitals now use electronic medical records, and the share of primary care doctors using them has doubled to 40 percent in the last two years, said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the Obama administration’s national coordinator for health information technology.” Read More.

Source: NYT

NYeC collaborates with stakeholders to provide a series of tools to help you in the process of learning about and implementing electronic health records. These PDFs and Excel documents may be downloaded by consultants, practices, and any other organization working in health IT. Some of these documents provide a general education and overview, and others offer more specific instructions tailored to meet your needs as you move forward. Read More

What is Meaningful Use?

Meaningful Use is a term that applies to the use of electronic health records in a meaningful way. This refers to usage which increases both the quality and efficiency of healthcare, and reduces medical errors.

Using an EHR meaningfully engages the patient and family in their healthcare, along with maintaining the privacy and security of sensitive health information. Meaningful Use should improve transparency and empower patients, in hopes of improving individual patient outcomes and, on a larger scale, increasing the amount of data available for public health reporting.

How Can You Achieve Meaningful Use?

Meaningful Use has been divided into stages (Stage 1, 2, and 3). Eligible healthcare providers who attest to these requirements may receive federal incentive payments. The following resources and links can help you determine what programs you may be eligible for, and outline some of the objectives and measures for Meaningful Use.

Flowchart to Determine if You Are an Eligible Provider for EHR Incentives from CMS:

Meaningful Use Eligibility Flowchart.pdf

Information on the Medicare Version of the EHR Incentive Program:

Meaningful Use Medicare Incentive Program.pdf

Information on the Medicaid Version of the EHR Incentive Program:

Meaningful Use Medicaid Incentive Program.pdf

Meaningful Use Stage 1 Objectives and Clinical Quality Measures

Objectives, Measurements and Exclusions for EPs (Core and Menu Set):
Objectives and Measures for Eligible Professionals.pdf

Clinical Quality Measures for EPs (Core, Alternate Core, and Menu Set):
Clinical Quality Measures for Eligible Professionals.pdf

Meaningful Use Stage 2 Fact Sheets

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the final requirements for Stage 2 meaningful use that hospitals and healthcare providers must meet in order to qualify for incentives in the second stage of the program. Stage 2 meaningful use, which will begin as early as 2014, increases health information exchange between providers and promotes patient engagement by giving patients secure online access to their health information.

Meaningful Use Stage 2 Overview Tip Sheet

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Final Rule Fact Sheet

Office of the National Coordinator Final Rule Fact Sheet

Choosing an Electronic Health Record and its associated equipment and infrastructure can be a time-consuming task, due to the number of vendors available and the complexity of the products. To help its participants, the Regional Extension Center partners with four types of vendors: Preferred Vendors, Meaningful Use Partners, Accredited Partners and IT Vendors.

The New York Digital Health Accelerator is a program run by New York eHealth Collaborative and the New York City Investment Fund for early- and growth-stage digital health companies to develop cutting edge technology products in care coordination, patient engagement, analytics and message alerts for healthcare providers.

About NYeC Fact Sheet

NYeC REC Quick Facts

Hosted by the NYeC’s board of directors, the Gala and Award Ceremony took place at Chelsea Piers on December 1st. It was an elegant evening of cocktails and dining to celebrate the advancements and accomplishments in health IT throughout New York State.

Digital Health Conference 2012

The 2012 NYeC Digital Health Conference brings together a diverse group of professionals from across and beyond the health IT field, for two days of lively intellectual exchange.

To ease the transition from paper-based to electronic health records, we provide consulting and training services for healthcare providers through our Regional Extension Center (REC) program.

At the NYeC REC, we offer guidance from adoption of new technologies, all the way to achieving Meaningful Use. We can provide guidelines for how to go about selecting the right software and hardware vendor for your practice, and help you and your colleagues make any necessary changes for a smooth transition to electronic health records.  Read More

EPs can earn up to $44,000 for participating in the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program and successfully demonstrating meaningful use. The program runs from 2011 through 2016. The last year to begin participation is 2014

Whether you are looking for information about EHR consultants in your area, the most up-to-date information about federal incentive programs, or the address of your local Regional Health Information Organization, we can help.

The Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) is a network of information transmitted between users. Like the internet, as more users connect, it grows, evolves, and becomes more secure, efficient, and easy to use.

Events

We host and promote a variety of events to help inform members of the community about health IT. For general event inquiries, contact NYeC Event Manager Tom Tagariello at ttagariello@nyehealth.org or 646-619-6761.

Medicaid, DOH, RHIOs, Health Home participants, Health Plans, and NYeC discuss Health IT requirements of key Health Home program challenges

New York, NY – Stakeholders in the New York healthcare community came together today to discuss how to tackle various challenges and issues using health information technology (health IT) in the state’s new “Health Home” program, an initiative designed to make the state’s treatment of Medicaid patients more coordinated and efficient.

The meeting was hosted by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC), the organization charged with promoting the implementation and adoption of health IT in the state. NYeC invited the New York State Dept. of Health (DOH), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH), regional health information organizations (RHIOs), providers participating in the Health Home program, and others to learn more about health IT resources and identify challenges and potential solutions to those challenges in implementing the Health Home program.

The Health Home initiative was created under the recommendation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team as a way to treat patients with multiple chronic illnesses more cost effectively and efficiently. Qualifying Medicaid patients are assigned to a healthcare facility that coordinates their care across multidisciplinary teams. The goal of the Health Home program is to develop and administer a consistent plan to improve care coordination and service integration. Medicaid estimates that there are approximately 700,000 Medicaid beneficiaries statewide who would be eligible to be enrolled in a Health Home.

Health IT is a critical part of making the system work, allowing providers to communicate with various parties involved in care management, track progress and results, etc. At today’s meeting, leaders from NYeC and the DOH coordinated conversation about how to leverage IT solutions for Health Home implementation and how NYeC and the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHINY) can help.

Greg Allen, Director of the Division of Financial Planning and Policy at the NYS DOH, explained to the audience that a large percentage of the most at-risk Medicaid patients receive behavioral health and substance abuse care along with treatment for other medical issues. This care is often uncoordinated.

“We are trying to rebuild care management for some of our sickest patients. We need to wire the crevasse,” Allen stated.  “But we need a new set of tools, or we just create new gaps.”

“The tools to bridge the gaps that we are starting to see with Health Homes-the tools for a managed care environment-don’t exist,” agreed David Whitlinger, NYeC’s Executive Director, speaking to the audience. “This is an opportunity to catalyze the health IT industry to build those tools for us. We want to learn about the requirements from you and embed them in the SHINY so developers start building products that meet your needs.”