Hot Dog Buns and Health Records

The next time you’re at Costco ogling flat screens and buying a pallet of paper towels, you may also be surprised to learn that Costco members are now eligible to receive incentive pricing on a Costco-branded cloud-based electronic medical record. During my maiden voyage to Costco after arriving in the Bay Area,  I saw a promotion for a Costco-branded EMR, billed as a “Service of the Month.” I was so baffled that I almost crashed into the guy with the cart brimming with hot dog buns. Fortunately, he was more amused than annoyed with me. (When I asked him to pose for this photo, he thought I was crazy.)

I’m not sure if posting marketing materials in Costco’s exit lane is an effective way to target a potential audience of EMR purchasers. However, it demonstrates that EMR marketers will take just about any approach to find a customer.

I picked up the promotional materials on the way out of the store and conducted some research after getting home. I was also surprised to learn that the Costco/EMR partnership was not a first for big-box retailers. Sam’s Club and Dell had a brief affair with another EMR company, eClinicalWorks in 2009, but soon dissolved its partnership due to lack of interest among members.

Given the failed relationship between Dell, Walmart and eClinicalWorks, why is Costco now selling a cloud-based EMR? I asked myself this question. Then I asked this question on Quora and am beginning to collect responses. What’s yours?

News Report about iPad Meaningful Use

Check out this great clip about drchrono and meaningful use, watch it here.

DrChrono.com University: Meeting Meaningful Use 101, Are you an Eligible Professional?

Many doctors can become bewildered by the onslaught of new information coming at them regarding meeting meaningful use criteria. They just want the cash, and they want it to be simple and straightforward and move on with their busy practices. As a doctor myself, I can completely relate. The first step in the process, of course, is to answer the question “Am I an eligible professional?”

The incentives for meaningfully using EHR technology is based on individual providers. This means that if you are part of a practice with more than one provider, each eligible professional (EP) within that practice may qualify for their own individual incentive. Each EP can get only one payment annually, regardless of how many places they work at.

A Medicare EP under the EHR incentive program must be one of the following:

• Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy
• Doctor of Dental Surgery or Dental Medicine
• Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
• Doctor of Optometry
• Chiropractor

**Of note, Medicare EP’s may not be hospital-based. They are considered hospital-based if 90% or more of their services are performed in the inpatient or ER hospital setting.

The Medicaid EHR incentive program includes one of the following types of practitioners:

• Physicians (Pediatricians have special eligibility and payment rules)
• Nurse Practitioners
• Certified Nurse Midwives
• Dentists
• Physician Assistants who provide services in a Federally Qualified Health Center or rural health clinic that is led by a physician assistant

**Of note, Medicaid EP’s must not be hospital-based. A Medicaid EP is considered to be hospital-based if 90% or more of their services are performed in the inpatient or ER hospital setting.

If you are eligible as an EP for both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, you must choose only one.

When talking about the Medicare Advantage program, incentive payments are made only to Medicare Advantage organizations that are licensed as HMO’s, by a state.   Medicare Advantage EP’s are individuals that are either employed by the Medicare Advantage organization, or employed by a partner of the Medicare Advantage program. The partner must furnish at least 80% of that entity’s Medicare patient care services to enrollees of the Medicare Advantage organization. In addition, these EP’s must furnish at least 80% of their Medicare-related services to enrollees of the Medicare Advantage organization. They must also furnish, on average, at least 20 hours per week of patient care services.

DrChrono.com has guaranteed that it will meet all meaningful use criteria and will be a certified vendor of EHR technology.

It is the purpose of DrChrono.com University to keep you up to date with the latest information revolving around Meaningful Use so that all clinicians who utilize DrChrono.com’s iPad EHR will smoothly transition to a better, brighter, and patient-centered EHR system that will notably enhance the lives of practitioners and patients alike. The information posted on this blog is applicable only to Eligible Professionals, not Eligible Hospitals or Critical Access Hospitals. Stay tuned for weekly to biweekly updates.

Interview: Blumenthal talks meaningful use

Matthew Holt from THCB Interviews Dr. Blumenthal on meaningful use.

Listen here!

DrChrono.com University: Meeting Meaningful Use 101, A Look at the Menu Set

Last time we reviewed the Core Set which comprised the 15 required essentials that the government must see you, as an Eligible Professional (EP), meaningfully use to qualify for the CMS incentive. This week, we will take a look at the Menu Set, which refers to 10 criteria. An EP must show meaningful use of at least 5 of these 10 criteria along with the 15 criteria of the Core Set to get their incentive.

The criteria are numbered, with the criteria themselves followed by a bulleted explanation of the measures that will be used to test the criteria.

MENU SET

1. Implement drug formulary checks

• Drug formulary check system is implemented and has access to at least one internal or external drug formulary for the entire reporting period

2. Incorporate clinical laboratory test results into EHR’s as structured data

• More than 40% of clinical laboratory test results whose results are in positive/negative or numerical format are incorporated into EHR’s as structured data

3. Generate lists of patients by specific conditions to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities, research, or outreach

• Generate at least one listing of patients with a specific condition

4. Use EHR technology to identify patient-specific education resources and provide those to the patient as appropriate

• More than 10% of patients are provided patient-specific education resources

5. Perform medication reconciliation between care settings

• Medication reconciliation is performed for more than 50% of transitions of care

6. Provide summary of care record for patients referred or transitioned to another provider or setting

• Summary of care record is provided for more than 50% of patient transitions or referrals

7. Submit electronic immunization data to immunization registries or immunization information systems

• Perform at least one test of data submission and follow-up submission (where registries can accept electronic submissions)

8. Submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies

• Perform at least one test of data submission and follow-up submission (where public health agencies can accept electronic submissions)

9. Send reminders to patients (per patient preference) for preventive and follow-up care

• More than 20% or patients 65 years of age or older or 5 years of age or younger are sent appropriate reminders

10. Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information (including laboratory results, problem list, medication lists, medication allergies)

• More than 10% of patients are provided electronic access to information within 4 days of its being updated in the EHR

Next class we will go over what defines a provider as an “Eligible Professional”, and the initial steps an EP needs to take to move toward making their CMS incentive money a part of their wallet or purse.

DrChrono.com, and its mobile iPad/Android EMR platform are guaranteed to meet Meaningful Use Criteria.

It is the purpose of DrChrono.com University to keep you up to date with the latest information revolving around Meaningful Use so that all clinicians who utilize DrChrono.com’s iPad EHR will smoothly transition to a better, brighter, and patient-centered EHR system that will notably enhance the lives of practicioners and patients alike. The information posted on this blog is applicable only to Eligible Professionals, not Eligible Hospitals or Critical Access Hospitals. Stay tuned for weekly to biweekly updates.