This year is action-packed with policies, mandates and programs to
keep physicians, hospitals and healthcare consumers all busy and
wondering what they need to do or how they may be affected. In this
article, Dr. Jitesh Chawla explores of the key programs and legislation
that will start up in 2014.
Health Information Exchanges
One on-going problem has been that different healthcare institutions have different IT systems. The fact that the average patient in the US moves through various providers over the course their healthcare treatment life cycle poses a problem for continuity of care as information about their past is often not available in real-time to their current provider. Meaningful Use requires system to be able to exchange data with each other. Standards such as HL7and CCR/CCD have been created. In fact, national networks such as NHIN and programs such Direct Project enable a national information highway. However, it is also at the state level that such data transfer needs to happen and health information exchanges (link) have been setup. Dr.Chawla has the opinion that patient privacy and HIPAA compliance will be of paramount importance as patient data is sent and received through the cloud. For more information about the topic, please go to http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/health-information-exchange.
Health Insurance Exchanges
You all have probably heard in the news for the last several months how the Affordable Care Act legislation has mandated that everyone sign up for health insurance or face penalties. This effort, dubbed Obamacare, will have profound effects on the population. For one, today is the first day that people are using these exchanges and must have signed up for them by end of Dec 2013. The idea is to offer plans that anybody can afford. The government wants even healthy individuals to take insurance so as this will ensure subsidies to finance the sick. Other stipulations include penalties for businesses that don't sign up their employees. The penalties varies depending on the size of the businesses. Jitesh Chawla, MD feels that without acheiving the individual mandate and a national healthcare insurance system, these efforts will be short-lived and lead to only minor curbing of the unfair advantage of patients that insurers are taking. For more information about the topic, please go to http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/healthcare-reform-2014-mandated-coverage-insurance.html.
Meaningful Use Stage 2
Meaningful Use is a term referring to the recording and reporting of certain data by providers and hospitals to CMS in order to get extra money in their Medicare or Medicaid payments or avoid penalties. The program is divided into 3 stages each of which run, on average 2-3 years in length. For this second stage, new requirements such as emailing directly with patients, bringing up radiology reports with the EMR and entering data into speciality registries (ie. cancer, etc.) may be challenging and new for many people. Furthermore, extra expense and re-training is needed because EMR systems will have to be upgraded to allow the extra features needed to perform these functions. Dr. Jitesh Chawla feels that MU 2 compliance will be low and the standards may be lowered or another year will be added to allow time for better compliance. More information about the topic can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Stage_2.html.
These are just some of the changes proposed to take place in 2014 that will affect provider, hospitals and patients. There are still other programs such as PQRS, MPPR, etc.that we won't have timeto discuss in this article but are important and you should know about. The best way to be ready is to understand what is expected of you through this article and links given and work with your local RECs, consultants or experienced office managers to devise a plan for compliance. Dr.Jitesh Chawla feels that though 2014 may be a year of many firsts for healthcare in the US, providers, hospitals and consumers will still be able to financially survive and make it work.
Health Information Exchanges
One on-going problem has been that different healthcare institutions have different IT systems. The fact that the average patient in the US moves through various providers over the course their healthcare treatment life cycle poses a problem for continuity of care as information about their past is often not available in real-time to their current provider. Meaningful Use requires system to be able to exchange data with each other. Standards such as HL7and CCR/CCD have been created. In fact, national networks such as NHIN and programs such Direct Project enable a national information highway. However, it is also at the state level that such data transfer needs to happen and health information exchanges (link) have been setup. Dr.Chawla has the opinion that patient privacy and HIPAA compliance will be of paramount importance as patient data is sent and received through the cloud. For more information about the topic, please go to http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/health-information-exchange.
Health Insurance Exchanges
You all have probably heard in the news for the last several months how the Affordable Care Act legislation has mandated that everyone sign up for health insurance or face penalties. This effort, dubbed Obamacare, will have profound effects on the population. For one, today is the first day that people are using these exchanges and must have signed up for them by end of Dec 2013. The idea is to offer plans that anybody can afford. The government wants even healthy individuals to take insurance so as this will ensure subsidies to finance the sick. Other stipulations include penalties for businesses that don't sign up their employees. The penalties varies depending on the size of the businesses. Jitesh Chawla, MD feels that without acheiving the individual mandate and a national healthcare insurance system, these efforts will be short-lived and lead to only minor curbing of the unfair advantage of patients that insurers are taking. For more information about the topic, please go to http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/healthcare-reform-2014-mandated-coverage-insurance.html.
Meaningful Use Stage 2
Meaningful Use is a term referring to the recording and reporting of certain data by providers and hospitals to CMS in order to get extra money in their Medicare or Medicaid payments or avoid penalties. The program is divided into 3 stages each of which run, on average 2-3 years in length. For this second stage, new requirements such as emailing directly with patients, bringing up radiology reports with the EMR and entering data into speciality registries (ie. cancer, etc.) may be challenging and new for many people. Furthermore, extra expense and re-training is needed because EMR systems will have to be upgraded to allow the extra features needed to perform these functions. Dr. Jitesh Chawla feels that MU 2 compliance will be low and the standards may be lowered or another year will be added to allow time for better compliance. More information about the topic can be found at http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Stage_2.html.
These are just some of the changes proposed to take place in 2014 that will affect provider, hospitals and patients. There are still other programs such as PQRS, MPPR, etc.that we won't have timeto discuss in this article but are important and you should know about. The best way to be ready is to understand what is expected of you through this article and links given and work with your local RECs, consultants or experienced office managers to devise a plan for compliance. Dr.Jitesh Chawla feels that though 2014 may be a year of many firsts for healthcare in the US, providers, hospitals and consumers will still be able to financially survive and make it work.
