Doctor touts benefits of electronic health records

WASHINGTON — The federal government will pay out billions in Medicare and Medicaid incentives to health care providers that begin using electronic medical records over the next decade, and a Hudson Valley doctor expressed support Tuesday for the reimbursements that will allow others in the nation to follow his lead.
At a House Ways and Means [...]

Subcommittee Pores Over Ramifications Of E-Record Rules

The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee examined HHS’ new electronic health records regulations Tuesday, with Democrats and Republicans alike asking why stricter regulations were not included in the final rule and pushing for multicampus hospitals to be eligible for individual grants.
Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, D-Calif., called the final regulations “responsible,” but ranking member [...]

Pharmacist group calls on CMS to bolster e-prescribing safeguards in new ‘meaningful use’ rule

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) is calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to enhance the patient safeguards in the “meaningful use” rule unveiled by the agency Tuesday.
Doctors, for instance, should be required to perform safety checks before receiving incentive payments for e-prescribing, the group said Tuesday. Additionally, PCMA President and [...]

Final rule on meaningful use finally released

Less than three months before the start of fiscal 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has finally released its final rule on “meaningful use,” which will drive the health IT industry’s installation ofElectronic Health Records (EHRs)under last year’s HITECH Act.
(To the right, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, from the department’s Web site.)
The release was done [...]

Meaningful Use Final Rules Released by HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released two long–awaited “meaningful use” final regulations this morning that will specify what physicians and hospitals will have to do to receive about $20 billion in bonus Medicare payments for adoption of electronic health records.
One of the regulations issued [...]