Apr 12, 2013 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Study findings show that clinical labs and pathology groups have opportunity to add value for consumers who actively monitor their health information
There is the opportunity for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups to build closer relationships with consumers by improving the access consumers have to their medical laboratory test data. A majority of Americans are now tracking health indicators, according to a recently published study.
Americans are becoming more self-aware and are assuming responsibility for their own health status. Those are findings from a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Projects. This study found that more than two-thirds (69%) of U.S. adults track a health indicator for themselves or a loved one, which has changed their overall approach to health. (more…)
Apr 10, 2013 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Ongoing federal program to encourage providers to adopt EHRs is not without its critics who contend the market is dominated by nation’s biggest health IT companies
News reporters have finally begun to notice that it is boom time for vendors of electronic health record (EHR) systems. Over the past three years, revenue and profits have soared at the nation’s biggest health information companies.
Of course, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers had front row seats to watch these events as they unfolded in recent years. Since 2010, every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology group has been working to interface their laboratory information systems (LIS) with the EHR systems of parent hospitals and client physicians. (more…)
Mar 1, 2013 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Final Stage 2 rules give providers another year to meet Stage 1 ‘meaningful use’ criteria and shorten Stage 2 requirements from one-year to just 90 days
Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists may be interested to know that, over the fall months, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released three new rules that affect users of health information technology (HIT).
One rule covers Stage Two of Meaningful Use and includes guidance on how providers should address the need to encrypt patient data. The second rule updates eligibility criteria that providers implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems must meet to qualify for federal incentives. Because medical laboratories and pathology groups maintain ongoing electronic interfaces with hospitals and office-based physicians, it is useful to know some of the key elements of these three recently issued federal regulations. The third rule establishes a date for conversion to ICD-10.
The new regulations were contained in a 1,354-page document published in the Federal Register. These rules represent “a tsunami of change” for providers, observed Patricia B. Wise, RN, MS, MA, COL (USA ret’d), Vice President for healthcare information systems for the Chicago-based Healthcare Information Exchange and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Wise was quoted in a Modern Healthcare story. (more…)
Nov 19, 2012 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Medical laboratory professionals will be surprised to learn that some experts claim American healthcare will not see a return on investment from use of EHR systems
It is the popular wisdom today that universal adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems will lead to significant improvements in patient outcomes, while also delivering substantial cost savings to the American health system.
However, this trend also requires clinical laboratories to spend substantial amounts of money to provide electronic interfaces between their laboratory information systems (LIS) and EHR systems of their client physicians.
Until recently, very little criticism of these federal EHR subsidies has appeared in the media. However, some experts now assert that tens of billions of dollars hospitals and physicians are spending to implement EHRs and integrate their information systems will never be recouped by downstream savings. (more…)
Jun 25, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Digital Pathology, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Adoption of EHR systems by small practices, small hospitals, and rural health providers lags behind the pace of urban-based hospitals and physician groups
As larger numbers of physicians implement electronic health record (EHR) systems, clinical laboratories are faced with the task of building interfaces that connect their laboratory information systems (LIS) to those EHRs.
Recent numbers indicate that hundreds of thousands of physicians are now enrolled in the federal EHR incentive program. This puts medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups squarely in the midst of the drive to encourage physicians to both implement an EHR in their clinical practice and use that EHR in ways that meet “Meaningful Use” requirements.
Some 225,765 providers are participating in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report that almost $4.5 billion in financial incentives have been paid to hospitals and physicians for implementation of electronic health record (EHR).
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