Posts Tagged ‘ARRA’

A recent RAND Corporation study provides another incentive for physicians to implement electronic health care records (EHRs) — in addition to that really good one that mandates EHR meaningful use by 2014. According to the study, dedicated EHR use improves quality of care for patients and facilitates quality reporting for physicians. This, in turn, ensures eligible professionals (EPs) receive the full Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive. An Ingenix survey, however, says many physicians remain skeptical that the benefits would outweigh the cost of implementing an EHR system. Read more »

Computer hardware giant Dell has joined the fray of electronic health record (EHR) vendors. The Round Rock, Texas-based company announced Sept. 10 its new Affiliated Physician EMR Solution. Read more »

A number of community health centers nationwide will receive a combined total of $25.7 million in stimulus grants in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Aug. 23.

“These grants could not be coming at a better time,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “With more than 14.5 million Americans out of work, and 47 million without health insurance, the health centers are seeing more patients now than ever before.” Read more »

Health care providers hemming and hawing over electronic health record (EHR) implementation and the viability of earning financial incentives for “meaningful EHR use” need not worry. The federal government is putting up $1.2 billion to ensure your success. Read more »

Health care providers, health plans, and other entities covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will soon be required to notify individuals in the event their unsecured personal health information (PHI) is breached. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an interim final rule with comment period Aug. 24 providing new regulations regarding the HIPAA notice of breach requirements. Read more »

Approximately 8,000 students and credentialed health care professionals will get the financial backing they need for training by the end of 2010. Read more »

A nationwide effort to lower health care associated infections (HAIs) in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) will begin later this month. Twelve states will survey more than 125 local ASCs before Sept. 30, at an estimated cost of $1 million, to identify why there has been an increase in HAIs and what can be done to prevent them, according to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) July 30 press release.

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The Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee met June 16 to begin the process of defining “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs).

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced, May 28, the release of $81.7 million to expand services offered at the nation’s health centers. On the same day—100 days after the signing of the Recovery Act—HHS also awarded $25.6 million in non-Recovery Act grants to expand medical capacity at 54 existing health centers, helping an additional 230,000 individuals in 25 states receive primary health care services, the agency said.

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David Blumenthal, MD, Health and Human Services (HHS) national coordinator for health information technology (HIT), announced, May 8, the membership of the HIT Policy Committee established under the stimulus bill. The committee held its first meeting May 11 to begin planning a national HIT strategy.

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