ONC Identifies (and Charts) Trends in e-Prescribing

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Earlier this month, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a Data Brief on trends in e-Prescribing as measured over the past few years. The Data Brief available here highlights compelling statistics surrounding e-Prescribing growth and adoption.  Here is what we found most riveting:

10 states with the highest e-prescribing rates as of April 2014:

1. Minnesota — 100 percent
2. Iowa — 95 percent
3. Indiana — 95 percent
4. Massachusetts — 94 percent
5. South Dakota — 90 percent
6. New Hampshire — 87 percent
7. North Dakota — 87 percent
8. Wisconsin — 87 percent
9. Kentucky — 85 percent
10. Oregon — 84 percent

10 states with the lowest e-prescribing rates as of April 2014:

1. Alaska — 48 percent
2. Nevada — 50 percent
3. California — 53 percent
4. New Jersey — 54 percent
5. New York — 59 percent
6. Colorado — 60 percent
7. Hawaii — 60 percent
8. Idaho — 62 percent
9. Utah — 62 percent
10. Tennessee — 63 percent

• December 2008: Every state with the exception of Massachusetts had physicians e-prescribing using an EHR at a rate  below 20% on the Surescripts Network
• April 2014: Every state had physicians e-prescribing using an EHR at a rate >40% and the majority of states had at least 70% of their physicians e-prescribing using an EHR

About DoseSpot
DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. To request a demo of DoseSpot’s e-Prescribing integration platforms, please visit http://www.DoseSpot.com/.

5 Tips To Guide Your EHR Through Meaningful Use Stage 2

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Looking for tips to navigate MU stage 2 requirements?  View one tip on drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks below and visit http://www.dosespot.com/meaningful-use-tips to download all 5 certification tips!

Meaningful Use Stage 2: Tip #2 –

§ 170.314(a)(2) Drug-drug, drug-allergy interaction checks

Objective: In addition to providing drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks, this criteria requires EHRs to adjust the level of interactions based on user roles (ie: administrator).

Tip: Provide an easy-to-use user interface so a user can quickly adjust the interactions. DoseSpot allows the user to turn on and off the drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions as well adjust the severity level display between minor, moderate and major interactions.

Click here for more blog posts at ePrescribing.org on Meaningful Use.

Bear River Mental Health Prescribes with DoseSpot

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About Bear River Mental Health:

Bear River Mental Health (BRMH) provides comprehensive mental health services to more than 3,000 patients annually at their eight locations across Utah.  Delivering mental health services according to the best practice guidelines with respect to appropriate medical necessity for more than 35 years, BRMH offers an array of services including:

• Assessments

• Behavior Management

• Crisis Management

• Medication Management

• Peer Support

• Psychological Testing

• Psychosocial Rehabilitation

• Psychotherapy

• Residential Services

• Respite Care

• Skills Development

e-Prescribing Integration:

“DoseSpot support is second to none” exclaims Thad Hunsaker, BRMH.  All eight of the BRMH offices use DoseSpot, with physicians accessing the e-Prescribing solution from multiple locations.  Thad explains, “Geographic location hasn’t added any difficulty where the service is provided online.” As a mental health organization, BRMH uses DoseSpot for more than just e-Prescribing.  “Patient medication management has long been an integral part of our treatment.  DoseSpot helps us manage this process online” adds Thad.  DoseSpot equips physicians with the capabilities to build a patient’s medication profile and then automatically review any drug-drug and drug-allergy interactions.

For the rest of this Case Study please visit http://www.dosespot.com/bear-river-mental-health.

One Touch EMR Prescribes with DoseSpot

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Case Study:

One Touch EMR is designed to be simple and instinctive, allowing physicians to chart as fast as possible on their iPads and desktop computers. What makes their system unique is it was designed and developed by Dr. Robert Abbate, a physician who understands how physicians think and knows what is needed to provide an effective EMR solution that removes complexities rather than adding obstacles. Dr. Abbate designed One Touch EMR to replicate the medical school workflow students are trained in, making the solution more intuitive to physicians with the perks of being affordable and mobile. One Touch EMR is Stage 1 Meaningful Use certified and is used by more than 400 physicians across the United States.

e-Prescribing Integration:

During the planning and development stages of the One Touch EMR app, Dr. Abbate searched for an e-Prescribing platform that would seamlessly connect with his sleek and intuitive user interface. After thoroughly reviewing his options, Dr. Abbate selected DoseSpot because of its quick integration and easy to use user interface.

For the rest of this Case Study please visit www.DoseSpot.com/onetouchemr-case-study .

CMS Updates Meaningful Use Stages 2 and 3 Timeline

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that Meaningful Use Stage 2 will be extended through 2016 and Stage 3 will be delayed until 2017.  In a joint blog post on CMS.gov, Robert Tagalicod (CMS) and Jacob Reider (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, ONC) explain “the goal of this change is two-fold: first, to allow CMS and ONC to focus efforts on the successful implementation of the enhanced patient engagement, interoperability and health information exchange requirements in Stage 2; and second, to utilize data from Stage 2 participation to inform policy decisions for Stage 3.”

The post highlights a number of benefits to the new timeframe including:

• More analysis of feedback from stakeholders on Stage 2 progress and outcomes;

• More available data on Stage 2 adoption and measure calculations – especially on new patient engagement measures and health information exchange objectives;

• More consideration of potential Stage 3 requirements;

• Additional time for preparation for enhanced Stage 3 requirements;

• Ample time for developers to create and distribute certified EHR technology before Stage 3 begins, and incorporate lessons learned about usability and customization.

To read the announcement in full, visit www.cms.gov/eHealth/ListServ_Stage3Implementation.html.

Government Shutdown and Impact on HealthIT

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As we enter day three of the government shutdown, below are a few insightful healthIT and e-prescribing related articles that we think are great resources.

Also to keep in mind, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology website and Twitter handle (@ONC_HealthIT) are not being updated at this time.  You can find the Department of Health and Human Services contingency plan here.

Happy reading and keep up the awesome work!

ONC to take hit in government shutdown

‘Should Congress fail to pass legislation to continue funding the federal government, as it appears likely, the Department of Health and Human Services will be forced to furlough more than half of its employees. And the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT would be hit particularly hard.

Of the total 184 on-board staffers at ONC, only four would be retained and charged with handling “orderly phase-down and suspension of operations.”

Indeed, a government shutdown would mean ONC will put on hold its standards and interoperability work, privacy and security policy activities, clinical quality measure development, as well as maintaining the Certified Health IT Product List.’

According to Tom Sullivan, Editor, Government Health IT

What the Government Shutdown means for HealthIT Development

‘Non-essential US government operations are shut down as of last night.  That has some impacts on us in the Health IT Standards development space:

1. You won’t be able to test your CCDA documents or your implementation of the Direct transport.  TTT is down (the DNS name isn’t even found right now).
2. IHE testing supported by NIST will be offline (the servers are being shut down).
3. The Certified Health IT Products List won’t be updated.  It will still function, but you won’t see newly certified products after 9/27.  Certifiers can still operate if they have local copies of test tools.
4. Federal Employees engaged in standards development will not be on HL7 or IHE calls, or responding to e-mails.  You may see SOME e-mails today ensuring an orderly shutdown, but that will be it until things are resolved……..’

According to Keith Boone, Technology Blogger, Standards Architect at GE Healthcare, Director at large for Health Level Seven

Government shutdown could cause ‘chaos’ for ONC, health IT

‘John Halamka, FierceHealthIT Editorial Advisory Board member and CIO at Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, passed along an email to FierceHealthIT from one of his employees which said that, because the National Insitute of Standards and Technology is closed, certification of technology systems will be delayed. Document verification efforts, instead, will take place manually, it said.’

‘Meanwhile, FierceHealthIT Editorial Advisory Board member Todd Richardson, vice president and CIO at Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus, Inc., said he isn’t too worried about the shutdown.”Perhaps I’m a mid-west pundit, but I don’t get too alarmed by all the noise coming out of D.C., and certainly am not about to make any rash decisions about which projects I need to look at stopping or slowing down,” Richardson, also a FierceHealthIT Editorial Advisory Board member, said in an email.’

According to FierceHealthIT

Government Shutdown Halts Health IT

‘The shutdown’s impact on health IT goes much deeper than the lapse in social media activity. It’s also being felt by multiple key ONC programs. For example, the administration of the Certified Health Information Technology Product List (CHPL) has stopped reporting to work. The CHPL maintains a public repository of EHR systems that have been tested and certified to ONC standards. Providers can only use products from this list to qualify for MU and receive payments under the program.

Work on the federally-funded Standards and Interoperability Framework has also ceased. This program is a collaboration of government agencies and private organizations geared toward improving the interoperability of health IT systems. In addition, the ONC will be unable to continue other standards, testing, and policy activities — all of which could have a marked impact on health IT privacy, security, and clinical quality measure development.

Finally, even though MU incentive dollars are still being paid out to providers during the shutdown, a lengthy government standoff could stall provider efforts to meet current Stage 1 and upcoming Stage 2 MU requirements. For example, without continued certification and testing, many health IT systems will remain uncertified, potentially stalling a healthcare provider’s ability to meet MU targets.

While the government shutdown isn’t “halting” health IT, it’s definitely an unwelcome obstacle standing in the way of continued health IT progress. Hopefully, the shutdown is short-lived.’

According to Ken Congdon, editor-in-chief, Healthcare Technology Online