According to Surescripts, e-prescribing increases the likelihood that patients will pick up their prescriptions. Patients whose providers use electronic prescribing are seven percentage points more likely to fill their medications compared with the old paper system. Surescripts provides the infrastructure for nearly all electronic prescribing in the United States.

E-Prescribing offers a number of benefits over the old paper system. First, they are sent via secure internet connection. This makes it much less likely the prescription will be lost or stolen en route. Second, electronic prescriptions makes illegible handwriting a thing of the past. Pharmacists save time trying to decipher the correct medication, dosage, and no longer have to call the physician for clarification.

Electronic prescribing software also has built-in safeguards that help improve patient care. Most systems will check formularies and notify physicians if they prescribe a drug that is not covered by the patient’s insurance. In addition, the software normally checks for potentially harmful or fatal drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions.

It is no coincidence that e-prescribing, formulary checking, and drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checking are required by the HITECH stimulus program. HITECH will reimburse eligible providers up to $44,000 under Medicare or $64,000 under Medicaid for implementing certified electronic health records (EHR) software. Physicians have to meet the guidelines known as meaningful use (MU). MU requires providers to send more than 40% of permissible prescriptions electronically.

In addition to HITECH, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a separate e-prescribing incentive separate from the HITECH program. Providers who have sent a certain number of electronic prescriptions during 2011 are eligible for a reimbursement equal to 1% of their Medicare charges. Providers who do not meet the minimum criteria may suffer a 1% penalty.

If you are interested in more information about electronic prescribing, please feel free to contact us at info@xlemr.com, or visit our website at http://www.xlemr.com. We will be happy to provide you with a free consultation regarding your HITECH or E-rx incentive eligibility. You can read more about our electronic prescribing system here: http://www.xlemr.com/e-prescribe.html.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) recently completed a multi-year pilot program aiming to increase the use of electronic health records (EHR). Results point to a clear improvement in care among practices using EHR. In addition, the pilot program showed a reduction in healthcare costs for EHR adopters.

Participating members saved between 17 and 33 percent compared to practices without EHR systems. EHR allows practices to keep track of health information more easily. It is also easier to share with other care givers, which helps eliminate duplicate tests. Duplicate and unnecessary testing is a major contributor to the cost of health care. Providers without EHR may have to pull many paper results and files to track the effectiveness of a given treatment. With EHR, a provider can track performance at a glance using built-in charts or reports.

EHR also helps providers give better care. Dr. Gus Manocchia, senior vice president and chief medical officer at BCBSRI states that “using EHR makes it easier for us to… manage chronic conditions.” Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, Board Chairman of the Health Care Alliance and CEO of Women’s Care, Inc. elaborates, “every provider believes that they deliver excellent care, but it wasn’t until we looked at the EHR data that we realized… our profession wasn’t meeting the expectation. You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and while paper is very forgiving, software never forgets.”

If your practice hasn’t switched to EHR yet, you are forgoing many benefits. While improving the quality and reducing the cost of care should be at the top of anyone’s list, the federal HITECH incentive program means there’s no better time to switch than now. The HITECH ACT will reimburse physicians up to $44,000 under Medicare or $64,000 under Medicaid for implementing a certified EHR system. If you have questions about how you can improve patient care, reduce costs, or participate in the HITECH incentive program, please contact us at info@xlemr.com.

2011 is drawing to a close, and many physicians and medical practices are considering their plans for 2012. Whether or not they will adopt electronic health records (EHR) rank among the chief concerns for 2012. Converting to EHR is a big decision; physicians must consider many factors and issues.

However, “questions on whether incentive money is being paid out on Meaningful Use SHOULD NOT be one of them,” according to Todd Greenberg of GSG Capital. GSG Capital is the health care industry’s foremost source of financing for EHR and related software. Their ability to offer low interest rates and rapid closing makes them a favorite of medical practices and EHR vendors. As a result, they have helped many physicians participate in HITECH Stimulus program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that over 150,000 physicians and hospitals have registered for the program, as of the end of November. In addition, CMS paid out approximately $1.8 billion to participating physicians and hospitals. Payments to Medicare participants total $920 million. Those who qualified for Medicaid have received $916 million to date.

The HITECH Stimulus program reimburses eligible providers up to $44,000 under Medicare and $64,000 under Medicaid for implementing certified EHR systems. Medicare providers must meet the meaningful use requirements for 90 days to receive their money. Medicaid is easier, and only requires participants to adopt, implement, or upgrade to a certified system during stage one.

Although the EHR market was by and large slow during 2011, CMS paid out nearly one billion of the $1.8 billion during October and November. Analysts predict that the EHR market will move more rapidly in 2012, with many practices trying to complete stage one by the end of the first quarter. Additionally, many practices are moving towards last-minute deals so they can take advantage of Tax Code 179 for 2011.

Tax Code 179 lets businesses deduct the entire cost of capital goods, up to $500,000, during the year in which the goods were purchased. This effectively reduces the purchase price of EHR systems, and helps practices keep more money in the bank. GSG Capital includes a Tax Code 179 analysis with each financing proposal.

Many of our clients have already received stimulus, or are just finishing up their attestation periods now. Now is a great time to get started on your EHR implementation so you can receive stimulus money early in 2012. If you have questions about financing your EHR purchase, feel free to contact Todd Greenberg at 877-270-8306 ex 953. You can contact us via the XLEMR website at http://www.xlemr.com, or send us an email at info@xlemr.com.

Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) is at high risk, according to a new study by the Ponemon Institute. This is the second time Ponemon has conducted its annual benchmark study. It is conducted by interviewing healthcare professionals in hospitals and independent practices.

The study reports data breaches have increased by 32% since last year. Instead of hackers or malicious software, the study finds employee negligence is the primary cause of breaches. The report also states that over half the survey respondents do not protect mobile devices. Data breaches cost the healthcare industry an average of $6.5 billion per year.

In addition, the study reports that federal regulations have not had a measurable impact in reducing the frequency of breaches. Professionals cite lack of budget to implement federal policies. Policies may also not be very effective; personnel do not understand the importance of policies, or willfully disregard them.

Data breaches lead to medical identity theft, according to the study. Perpetrators of medical ID theft typically pose as an individual with adequate medical coverage and then use their stolen insurance for surgeries or other medical procedures. Only 25% of organizations that experience data breaches offer credit monitoring to their patients.

How can practices safeguard their data? The best way to get started is to conduct a standards-based risk assessment. Conducting or reviewing a risk assessment also happens to be the first requirement for HIPAA security rule compliance, in addition to one of the core meaningful use measures.

Risk assessments should cover all aspects of the practice including policies, procedures, and training. Many practices mistakenly focus on computer systems. After completing a risk assessment, a practice should use its resources to address inadequacies that pose the highest risk. Typically, these are policies, training, and backup and disaster recovery plans.

If your practice is interested in learning how to guard against data breaches, please let us know. We would be happy to conduct a standards-based risk assessment to help you qualify for meaningful use. You can reach us at http://www.xlemr.com/contact.html.