Cavanaugh Consulting Group®

An Introduction to CCG

Our Background

What We Do

Our Professional Staff

Our Clients

Industry Links

Brochures

Email Us

Experienced and Knowledgeable Navigators

· Which Components of Health Information Technology Will Drive Financial Value? Hyperlink For EHRs in particular, there were 15 unique high-scoring functionalities and 27 high-scoring functionality-setting combinations (Table). Examples of high-scoring EHR functionalities included: providing alerts for expensive medications (ambulatory and inpatient care), providing alerts for redundant lab orders (inpatient and ED care), and displaying imaging results (ED). For HIE, there were 16 unique high-scoring functionalities and 27 high-scoring functionality-setting combinations (Table). Examples of high-scoring HIE functionalities included: sending and receiving imaging reports (ambulatory, inpatient, and emergency care), receiving laboratory results (ambulatory and emergency care), and enabling structured medication reconciliation.

· In conclusion, EHRs are most likely to generate a positive financial effect through the use of clinical decision support. HIE is most likely to generate a positive financial effect through its ability to coordinate care among providers. Adding decision support to HIE could potentially yield even greater financial returns. Implementing Stage 1 meaningful use is likely to yield positive financial effects, but the largest positive financial effects may be still to come.

· Meaningful Use Consulting Firms Booming and Delivering Hyperlink

· KLAS identifies a total of 51 firms that have conducted at least one MU-related project, engaging in everything from strategic advisory services and lead roles in implementations to supporting implementation engagements and to implementation and staff augmentation projects.

 

· Stage 2 Rules Affect Mobile Health Hyperlink

· Requiring health-care providers to assess whether they need to encrypt protected health information data while at rest, in reaction to multiple breaches of PHI from mobile devices.

· Requiring providers to use computerized physician order entry – which specifically can include a mobile device -- for 60 percent of patients and 30 percent of laboratory and radiology orders.

· EHRs: Which Ones Doctors Like and How Their Lives Changed  Hyperlink In a recent survey, Medscape asked more than 21,000 physicians from 25 specialties what they liked and disliked about their EHR systems and how the systems had affected their practices. The results:

· Amazing Charts, Practice Fusion, VA-CPRS, MEDENT, and e-MDs earned the highest overall scores. Collectively, about 8% of users rely on those systems.

· Top-ranked Amazing Charts was the most popular system among physicians in practices with 25 or fewer doctors.

· VA-CPRS ranked first with physicians in the 26-100 physician category and second among practices with 6-10 and 11-25 physicians.

· For large practices with more than 100 physicians, e-MDs came out on top, followed by VA-CPRS and Epic.

· The lowest-ranked EHR systems overall were Practice Partner, McKesson, and NextGen.

· Are You Satisfied With Your Vendor? Less than one quarter (21%) of users were either very unsatisfied or unsatisfied with their vendors; 35% were neutral, and 45% felt either satisfied or very satisfied with their vendor. The vendor with the highest percentage of "very satisfied" scores was Epic, with 29% of users saying that they were very satisfied. The second highest percentage was achieved by VA-CPRS (6%).

· Survey: Most Physicians Using, Starting To Implement EHRs. Hyperlink Researchers interviewed 21,202 physicians from 25 specialties (Hirsch, FierceEMR, 8/28).

· 82% of respondents reported using an EHR system or being in the process of installing one. Meanwhile, 6% of respondents reported having no plans to adopt an EHR system in the next one to two years (FierceEMR, 8/28).

· The new survey found that 44% of respondents reported already attesting to meaningful use and that 31% said they expected to within the next year.

· Physicians' Satisfaction With EHRs

· 62% of respondents reported that they are happy with their EHR systems;

· 38% said they are dissatisfied with their EHR systems (Medscape, 8/23);

· 28% said they are unhappy with their EHR but have invested too much to switch to a different system; and

· 10% said they plan to change systems (Modern Healthcare, 8/30).

· 54% of respondents said they are not happy with their EHR systems' interactivity;

· 26% reported decreased productivity with their EHR system;

· 23% said that their system boosted efficiency; and

· 6% said that their system helped them earn more money.

· 2012 National Physicians Survey Today's Physicians at Technological Tipping Point; 1 Out of 3 Using Laptops, 20% Smartphones, 12% iPads To Manage Workflow. Hyperlink Two out of three physicians (66%) say the integration of electronic medical records (EMRs) is among their practice challenges. Despite that, most doctors (66%) acknowledge EMRs will at least improve or have a neutral effect on their future business. Almost one out of three doctors (30%) are using laptops regularly for e-prescribing, EMRs and more. Almost a quarter (20%) are using Smartphones and 12%, iPads, for clinical needs. Additional survey highlights:

· Peer-to-peer communication is occurring via email—despite not being a "secure channel."

· 34% of physicians communicate with other clinicians via email—not defined as a "secure channel" by HIPAA.

· Telephone (95%) and fax (63%) are still the primary forms of communication.

· A dinosaur in most other office environments today, the physician's fax, in particular, is kingpin, supporting hand-written notes, insurance forms and lab test result transmissions.

· 58% of doctors communicate with peers in person.

· 5% use social networking sites.

· Doctor-to-patient communication remains fairly traditional, with some online inroads.

· 91% of doctors talk with patients via phone.

· 84% in person.

· 20% via email.

· 8% via Personal Health Records (PHRs)*

· 6% are texting.

· Few physicians are opting for solo practices these days—a good portion are "employed" by hospitals, large practices or Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

· 22% of physicians are in ACO talks, up from 12% last year.

· Of those who stated they were aware of ACOs,

· 37% stated that they would participate as a member of a group practice.

· 27% as a member of a physician-hospital organization.

· 10% as a hospital-employed physician.

· Only 17% of the respondents were unfamiliar with the ACO term, down from 45% last year.

· Says a pediatric cardiologist, "I know if I stay in practice, I'll have to join an ACO. Right now all the hospitals and big players (big practices) are jockeying for position as an ACO."

· Doctors say new patients find them via:

· Word of mouth (71%)

· Practice networks referrals (33%)

· Print directories (29%)

· Internet searches (22%)

· During the onslaught of healthcare requirements and shrinking practice margins, physicians are finding some advocates.

· 41% say their state medical organization/society advocates for them.

· 39% say their national medical organization/society does.

· But 40% report "no one."

· Says an otolaryngologist, "No one advocates for physicians except each one of us and we individually hate what this great country is doing to our great profession."

· Says an internist, "We should have joined the Teamsters."

· Anecdotal responses suggest specialty-focused organizations are stepping in for advocacy.

· Administrative needs still overrunning practices; doctors are pessimistic.

· Overwhelmingly burdened by obtaining reimbursements from insurers (81%) and patient approvals (77%), most doctors (71%) believe the quality of healthcare will deteriorate over the next five years.

· 55% fear they aren't spending adequate time with each patient.

· 38% are concerned they aren't seeing enough patients in a day.

· Comments showcase physicians' frustrations:

· "Medicine is the only industry that can't set our own fees and charges," says a radiation oncologist.

· "Declining reimbursement from Medicare is causing me to seriously consider retirement," says a plastic surgeon.

· "Obtaining adequate reimbursements, I get paid 1/3 of what I did in 1986," confesses a urologist.

· "The system of coding for professional activities related to patient care is a joke. Time is time—time is the only thing I have to give to my patients that I can bill for, and it is not enough," says a family medicine practitioner.

· 4 predictions for the Supreme Court's ACA decision  Hyperlink       Supreme Court Ruling Link

1. Changes are here to stay, regardless of the decision.

2. There will still be a "fresh wave" of industry regulation and compliance mandates.

3. The ruling could impact popular provisions.

4. It will be a waiting game for employers, especially small businesses.

· HIMSS tool gauges financial risk of ICD-10   Healthcare businesses seeking an assessment of their exposure to financial risk in relation to ICD-10 compliance have a new online tool at their disposal. The HIMSS ICD-10 Task Force and Jvion, a healthcare compliance technology and services organization, announced on June 27 the release of their collaboratively developed ICD-10 Financial Risk Calculator. Hyperlink

· Telemedicine Tackles Mental Health Treatment Online communities and computerized cognitive behavioral therapy can help break the stigma of depression, extend providers, and reduce overmedication. Hyperlink

 

 

 

Hyperlink to Past Article Summaries

 

Healthcare IT News

 Cavanaugh

      Consulting Group

CavanaughConsulting.org

Quotes

 

“Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem” Woody Allen, quoted in the Monterey County, California, Herald

 

‘Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”

Thomas Edison, quoted in the Los Angles Times

 

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Henry Ford, quoted in the Modesto, California, Bee

 

‘Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward.”

Thomas Edison, quoted in ScienceDaily.com

 

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history can teach.”

Aldous Huxley, quoted  in The Wall Street Journal

Phone: 708-645-1235

Fax: 708-913-9910

E-mail:

Support@CavanaughConsulting.org