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HL7 Announces Plans for Freely Available IP and Future Membership Model

Health IT Standards Leader Reveals Details of Move
to Make Standards and Other Selected IP Freely Available

New Orleans, USA – March 4, 2013 – Health Level Seven® International (HL7®), the global leader in developing and implementing data, functional, and interoperability standards for healthcare IT, today announced details about its plan to make much of its intellectual property (IP) freely available under licensing terms. The landmark decision represents HL7’s commitment to the betterment of healthcare worldwide by ensuring that all stakeholders have equal access to its HIT standards. The new policy is effective April 1, 2013 and includes all currently published standards, implementation guides and other select IP as determined on a case-by-case basis.

“By making our standards freely available, we hope to accelerate the evolution of healthcare information exchange at the very basic levels, and ultimately to impact wellness and healthcare delivery on a global scale. This decision has met with overwhelming support from members and other stakeholders,” said Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, CEO of HL7.

In conjunction with freely licensing its IP, HL7 also plans to revise its membership model later this year. In addition to the existing benefits of membership, new benefits and services, many of which are designed to assist with implementation, are currently under development and may include: extensive expansion of deeply discounted or free education programs and training, exclusive access to HL7 experts, certification of HL7 conformance; a professionally supported Help Desk; and enhanced testing of individual expertise in HL7 development, training, and implementation.

“We expect not only to retain our current members, who are committed to playing a continuing role in the development of high quality standards, but also to attract new members who understand the value of supporting standards development and implementation support services. Membership in HL7 enables organizations to influence the development of standards that will shape the healthcare of the future, as well as providing access to resources, tools, and community that make implementation easier and more effective,” says Dr. Jaffe.

More information on HL7 membership and standards is available at www.HL7.org.

About Health Level Seven (HL7) International

Founded in 1987, Health Level Seven International (www.HL7.org) is the global authority for healthcare Information interoperability and standards with affiliates established in more than 30 countries. HL7 is a non-profit, ANSI-accredited standards development organization dedicated to providing a comprehensive framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information that supports clinical practice and the management, delivery and evaluation of health services. HL7’s more than 2,300 members represent approximately 500 corporate members, which include more than 90 percent of the information systems vendors serving healthcare. HL7 collaborates with other standards developers and provider, payer, philanthropic and government agencies at the highest levels to ensure the development of comprehensive and reliable standards and successful interoperability efforts.

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March 4, 2013 I Written By John

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit.

Filed Under: Healthcare

Tags:Charles Jaffe Health IT Health Level Seven Health Level Seven International Healthcare Information Exchange HIT

At HIMSS 2013, Siemens Demonstrates Care Coordination Across Healthcare Communities

• Soarian® enterprise EHR synchronizes workflow across care settings
• Siemens MobileMD® HIE helps providers easily and securely share data
• Business intelligence and predictive analytics now available in the Healthcare Intelligence suite

Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, Pa., is demonstrating solutions that connect healthcare communities in booth #2641 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2013 Annual Conference and Exhibition, from March 3 – 7, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Siemens will depict how a growing number of healthcare organizations — both large and small — are using Soarian to connect top-of-the-line patient care with effective bottom line results. The company will spotlight how the MobileMD Health Information Exchange (HIE) is being used by providers to securely deliver clinical and administrative data across a community. Siemens will showcase a solution that addresses the challenges posed by “big data” in healthcare, which is called Healthcare Intelligence. Siemens will continue recruiting top IT talent with on-site Human Resources recruiters, and the company will also make charitable donations to returning veterans through Hope For The Warriors®, a national, nonprofit organization that supports wounded U. S. service members, their families and families of the fallen.

“Healthcare information technology continues to deliver numerous benefits to providers: helping them to better synchronize information and workflows across care settings,” said John Glaser, PhD, CEO, Health Services Business Unit, Siemens Healthcare. “At HIMSS, Siemens will showcase the progress we have made in helping providers achieve a high degree of care coordination and to prepare to meet accountable care objectives.”

Siemens is increasingly being sought out to help organizations transform care delivery by re-engineering inefficient processes, re-imagining the revenue cycle and re-thinking business intelligence. These objectives are easier when enabled by Soarian, an enterprise electronic health record with embedded workflow technology available across the entire care continuum. Soarian helps providers coordinate clinical activities, proactively identify patient risk factors and escalate potential delays and adverse events.

To connect care communities, Siemens offers the MobileMD HIE, which securely delivers clinical and administrative data across a community. This cloud based HIE serves as an important building block in enabling care providers within a community to better coordinate care for individuals and populations while achieving clinical and financial objectives.

To meet future needs as the focus shifts to managing population health, HIMSS 2013 attendees can explore a solution such as Healthcare Intelligence, which collects both clinical and financial data as well as structured and unstructured data for analysis. Healthcare Intelligence gives organizational leaders rapid access to detailed analytics on individual patients or entire patient populations so they can better manage risks and achieve the outcomes associated with value-based purchasing, bundled payments and accountable care.

Siemens adds more health IT talent, strategic consulting
Addressing the demand from Siemens customers, the company will use its pres-ence at HIMSS to recruit top-tier talent into the Health Services Business Unit and the North American Sales organization, including the recently announced Strategic Consulting group. The Strategic Consulting group is growing at a rapid pace and helps customers meet the objectives of accountable care through a combination of Soarian, quality reporting tools, healthcare intelligence tools, risk identification and stratification, program dashboards, content fueled workflows, and advisory, optimization and performance improvement services. Workforce expansion in the Siemens health IT business is directly in line with one of the main pillars of the Agenda 2013 program, a two-year global initiative, which focuses on continually strengthening Siemens through people development and talent acquisition.

Follow Siemens LIVE from HIMSS at www.twitter.com/siemenshealth and at www.twitter.com/siemenshealthit

For further information on Soarian, please visit: http://usa.siemens.com/soarian

Siemens Healthcare, Media Relations
Carly Heimer, phone: +1 610 448-3460
E-mail: carly.heimer@siemens.com

Launched by Siemens Healthcare Sector in November 2011, Agenda 2013 program is a two-year global initiative to further strengthen the Healthcare Sector’s innovative power and competitiveness. Specific measures will be implemented in four fields of action: Innovation, Competitiveness, Regional Footprint, and People Development.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 51,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2012 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 13.6 billion euros and profit of 1.8 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Tags:Business Intelligence EHR Health Information Exchange Health IT Healthcare Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Healthcare Intelligence suite HIE HIMSS HIMSS 2013 Hope For The Warriors John Glaser MobileMD Siemens Healthcare Siemens MobileMD HIE Soarian

HIMSS13: athenahealth Issues HIT Industry ‘Code of Conduct’

Code Lays Out Five Basic Principles to Move Industry Forward

WATERTOWN, MA, and NEW ORLEANS, LA — March 4, 2013— athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination services to medical groups and health systems, today proposed a Health Information Technology (HIT) ‘Code of Conduct’ that calls upon the health information industry, particularly electronic health record (EHR) vendors, to abide by five principles related to data portability, patient safety, provider freedom of choice, and Meaningful Use.

The HIT Code of Conduct responds to recent statements by National Coordinator for Health IT, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, who has challenged the industry (HIT vendors) to “step up” and agree to a Code of Conduct that sets forth principles to protect patients, guard against fraud, and empower HIT to finally realize its potential to revolutionize health care. Motivated by the challenge, athenahealth has outlined a framework that its peer vendors can sign on to, and other industry stakeholders can sign up in support of, and today launched an online portal to gather online “signatures.” The five principles HIT vendors are being challenged to adhere to are:

Empower Data Portability and Provider Choice
Build a True Nationwide Information Backbone
Protect Patients
Prevent Fraud
Drive Meaningful Use

“The HIT Code of Conduct is a call to the industry to abide by a uniform set of high standards that providers should expect and demand as they invest in technology and services as a means to improve care delivery,” said Jonathan Bush, CEO and Chairman of athenahealth. “These are things we’ve committed to do for our clients—things that we believe our industry must do if HIT is going to join the 21st century and finally realize its potential to transform healthcare.”

“These are simple propositions that we think can have a significant impact—if we get broad buy-in from our peer companies and the providers we all serve,” said Dan Haley, VP of Government Affairs, athenahealth.

Added Haley, “The principles in the Code squarely address some of the central policy issues facing the HIT industry, providing not only a push to move the industry forward, but also a strong signal to our providers and to government that our industry understands its responsibility to proactively address those issues.”

HIT vendors, industry stakeholders, and policymakers interested in reviewing the full Code of Conduct are encouraged to visit it here: http://www.athenahealth.com/codeofconduct, where vendors can sign on to the Code in full, or just to the provisions that apply to their businesses, and other stakeholders can sign on to publicly show their support.

About athenahealth

athenahealth, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based Best in KLAS electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination services to medical groups and health systems. athenahealth’s mission is to be the most trusted service to medical care givers, helping them do well by doing the right thing. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com or call 888-652-8200.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: Cloud Computing

Tags:Athenahealth Dan Haley Dr. Farzad Mostashari EHR Electronic Health Record Health Information Technology Health Information Technology Code of Conduct Health IT HIT Inc Jonathan Bush Meaningful Use NASDAQ: ATHN

NoMoreClipboard to Demonstrate Blue Button+ as Part of ONC Effort at HIMSS13 Interoperabilty Showcase

Fort Wayne, Ind. – February 28, 2013 – NoMoreClipboard will demonstrate the ability for consumers to receive electronic health data from provider health IT systems as part of The Path to Blue Button+ demonstration at the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase. This use case is part of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) presence in the Showcase.

“We are elated that the ONC is working with healthcare providers and health IT vendors to demonstrate how simple and secure it can be to satisfy new View/Download/Transmit requirements using Blue Button+,” said NoMoreClipboard president Jeff Donnell. “While many providers are concerned with Meaningful Use Stage Two patient engagement requirements, Blue Button+ coupled with Direct Protocols dramatically simplifies data sharing between consumers and clinicians.”

At the Path to Blue Button+ kiosk, NoMoreClipboard will serve as a consumer endpoint for providers who are transmitting data to a personal health record. “Providers will simply enter a NoMoreClipboard cc:Me address into their EHR systems and send data in a standard electronic format to this Direct compliant mailbox,” added Donnell. “When the data arrives, we will show how patients can not only view the incoming consolidated CDA document, they can compare and reconcile incoming data with existing PHR data and selectively import discrete data elements to update their personal health record.”

“Several patient engagement solution providers are working with us to show real world Blue Button+ solutions at HIMSS this year,” said Pierce Graham-Jones, West Health Innovator in Residence with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Not only will these collaborators demonstrate Blue Button+ at the Interoperability Showcase, they are ready to deploy these solutions in the marketplace today to accelerate electronic patient engagement for providers and consumers who are eager to begin sharing data.”

About NoMoreClipboard

NoMoreClipboard is a leader in electronic patient engagement, connecting consumers and clinicians to improve communication and foster collaboration. NoMoreClipboard gives consumers portable, interoperable personal health records to access, manage and share health information. Provider solutions include branded patient portals designed to integrate with clinical workflow, enhance efficiency and contribute to improved patient outcomes. Visit www.NoMoreClipboard.com for more information.

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March 1, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Tags:Blue Button Blue Button+ kiosk EHR electronic health data Health IT HIMSS HIMSS Interoperability Showcase Jeff Donnell Meaningful Use Stage Two NoMoreClipboard Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Personal Health Record PHR Pierce Graham-Jones U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Wolters Kluwer Health and FHN Memorial Address the Role of Intuitive CDS and Evidence-Based Order Sets in Core Measures Performance at HIMSS13 in New Orleans

A Second Session will Focus on Clinical Documentation and RAC Readiness

Minneapolis, MN (February 28, 2013) — Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today it will team up with FHN Memorial Hospital to provide HIMSS13 attendees with insight into the use of intuitive clinical decision support to improve core measures outcomes. The session, “Improving Core Measures with Evidence-Based Order Sets and Intuitive CDS,” will take place on March 4 at 12:15 p.m. in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 388 and will be led by Adam Lokeh, MD, of Wolters Kluwer Health (Booth #1740) and Lucio Martinez, MD, of FHN Memorial Hos pital.

Addressing the challenges healthcare organizations face with heightened core measures expectations under a competitive pay-for-performance reimbursement landscape, Dr. Lokeh and Dr. Martinez will discuss how leveraging electronic, evidence-based order sets embedded with intuitive clinical decision support (CDS) functions can impact quality improvement initiatives. Specifically, the session will feature a case study view of FHN’s deployment and adoption of order set technology and the far-reaching impact the initiative has had on standardization of care, lowering costs and improving overall care performance.

Dr. Lokeh currently leads a team of medical personnel responsible for the design and development of CDS software at Wolters Kluwer Health. A board-certified plastic surgeon, he specializes in reconstructive, hand, microvascular and aesthetic surgery at Twin Cities Plastic Surgery. Dr. Martinez is a hospitalist with FHN Memorial Hospital and currently chairs the Pharmacy, Therapeutics and Dietetics and Document Template Development committees for the organization’s EMR. Board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, he also served as the physician champion of the Order Set Development Committee at FHN.

An on-demand session titled “Clinical Documentation Improvement in Advance of RAC Prepayment Audits” will be presented by Brian Carlson, Senior Marketing Manager, Wolters Kluwer Health. Available as part of HIMSS13 Online, the presentation provides insight into the financial challenges cardiology and other specialties face under prepayment audit programs. Carlson will also outline the proactive measures that must be implemented to ensure documentation accurately demonstrates medical necessity.

“Wolters Kluwer Health is honored to have been selected by HIMSS to lead two sessions covering significant health IT challenges and opportunities,” said Arvind Subramanian, President and CEO, Wolters Kluwer Health, Clinical Solutions. “Not only do these opportunities showcase our partnership approach to resolving client needs, but they are also a testament to the emphasis our clinical, informatics and technical teams place on ensuring that our clients can leverage the latest in clinical decision support and health IT to continuously improve quality outcomes and patient safety.”

More information on Wolters Kluwer Health can be found at Booth #1740 during HIMSS13, taking place in New Orleans March 3-7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer Health (Philadelphia, PA) is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries and territories worldwide, Wolters Kluwer Health’s customers include professionals, institutions and students in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy. Major brands include Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Ovid^®, Medknow, UpToDate^®, Medi-Span^®, Facts & Comparisons^®, Pharmacy OneSource^®, Lexicomp^® and ProVation^® Medical.

Wolters Kluwer Healthis part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer had 2012 annual revenues of €3.6 billion ($4.6 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Online Learning for Health Informatics Simplified

CHICAGO (February 21, 2012) – Many people prefer the option of virtual learning, especially busy healthcare professionals, interested consumers, faculty and students who want to better understand health informatics, but need a flexible and on-demand environment easily adaptable to their own schedules.

Now, the Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform – known as TIGER – introduces its Virtual Learning Environment. The TIGER Initiative Foundation’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) provides an interactive web-based learning opportunity with resources and information about health IT and related topics for health professionals and consumers.

Online learners can find out more about topics in an interactive environment with ongoing updates and resources. Topics covered include:

electronic health records,
usability,
clinical decision support,
health information exchange,
care coordination,
meaningful use,
standards and interoperability,
consumer health information,
mobile health,
privacy and security,
health IT and nursing practice, and
other related topics.

This convenient format provides real-time accessibility to online content through a variety of formats, including webinars by industry experts, in-depth education sessions, fact sheets, white papers, and other educational materials. All materials can be accessed on the VLE site and downloaded into a virtual briefcase.

“The TIGER Initiative Foundation brings together interested professionals to develop a shared vision, strategies and specific actions for improving nursing practice, education, and the delivery of patient care through the use of health IT. Through a collaborative effort, this group studied both the benefits and challenges of a virtual learning environment, a process that resulted in the introduction of this new educational platform,” says Sally E Schlak, RN, MBA, Senior Director, TIGER Initiative Foundation.

Go to http://www.thetigerinitiative.org/ to learn more and access the TIGER Virtual Learning Environment.

About TIGER

TIGER was formed in 2004 to bring together stakeholders to develop a shared vision, strategies and specific actions for improving nursing practice, education, and the delivery of patient care through the use of health information technology (HIT). With support from over 70 contributing organizations and a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2006, TIGER Phase II emerged with over 1,500 volunteers in many collaborative working groups. In July 2011 the TIGER Initiative Foundation was formed as a 501(c) (3) organization operating for charitable, educational and scientific purposes.

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February 23, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: Healthcare

HIMSS13: New Offerings and Programming for Health IT Professionals

Enhancing the In-Person and Virtual Experience, HIMSS Unveils Several New Conference Features Focusing on Industry Trends Including Meaningful Use and Mobile Health

CHICAGO – January 24, 2013 – HIMSS, the cause-based organization devoted to improving healthcare delivery through health IT, today announced new programming and educational offerings that will be part of the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference &Exhibition (HIMSS13) in New Orleans from March 3-7. This year’s latest offerings will be infused throughout the education sessions, exhibit hall programming and live-streaming sessions to provide attendees with the latest health IT content and enhanced networking opportunities.

“We are at the pivotal moment in healthcare we’ve all been waiting for,” said Carla Smith, Executive Vice President, HIMSS. “Technology mandates and quality healthcare have finally come together in a way that we’ve never seen before, and in response, we’ve created specific content around the coming trends in 2013, with a particular focus on meaningful use, mobile health and consumer engagement.”

For example, the Meaningful Use Experience is a special interactive area on the exhibit floor for providers to view demonstrations of certified EHR solutions – including complete EHR and EHR modules for acute and ambulatory settings. Providers will have the unique opportunity to view these solutions side-by-side, listen to vendor presentations and evaluate products based on their specific needs in a credible setting.

Additional new programming for HIMSS13 includes:

· Expanded Workshop Program – As part of educational offerings, HIMSS has added hands-on sessions around the mHIMSS Roadmap, Clinical Workflow Analysis, Health IT Adoption and Mobile App Development
· HIMSS13 Online – Registered attendees can access six on-demand sessions and 12 e-sessions; interviews with top speakers, broadcast live
· The Patient Experience through HIT Forum – Features three new sessions dedicated to the value of enhancing the patient experience
· Top 25 Education Sessions Roundtable Forum
· Clinical & Business Intelligence Symposium
· Extended Learning Webinars and Events
· Global Health Forum
· Public Policy Events and Educational Sessions

HIMSS13 keynote speakers will include President Bill Clinton, Warner L. Thomas, Eric J. Topol, M.D., Karl Rove and James Carville.

With over 300-plus general education sessions and networking events, attendees will also have many, outstanding opportunities to earn continuing education credit at HIMSS13. This year, the Certified Associate in Health Information and Management Systems (CAHIMS) has been added to the certification list. HIMSS13 will also be expanding ways to access these materials as well via its new virtual offering: HIMSS13 Online.

“Quality education comprises a majority of the conference agenda, and to make that programming more accessible, we are offering HIMSS13 Online,” said JoAnn Klinedinst, vice president, professional development, HIMSS. “Due to budget and staffing realities, we understand that many health IT professionals cannot join us in New Orleans. For them, HIMSS13 Online offers conference access – anywhere, anytime – allowing registered attendees to participate virtually in on-demand learning, interact with exhibitors in the virtual setting, and attend selected live simulcast sessions.”

For more information regarding the conference and for a full description of all the latest updates, please the conference website at www.himssconference.org.

About HIMSS

HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 52 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents nearly 50,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 570 corporate members and more than 225 not-for-profit partner organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause, please visit our website at www.himss.org.

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February 7, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare Healthcare Communication Healthcare Conferences Healthcare IT HIE Hospital IT Meaningful Use mHealth Mobile Health

IHE North American Connectathon and Conference 2013 Brings New Features to the Testing Floor

CHICAGO – (January 24, 2013) – The IHE North American (NA) Connectathon and Conference has been deemed the “Lollapalooza of the Health IT” world. Each year, 500 of the industry’s top engineers gather in Chicago for the largest interoperability testing event in the U.S. The Connectathon, which is the health IT industry’s only large-scale face-to-face testing event, will take place Jan. 28-Feb. 2, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago at 151 E. Wacker Drive.

The interoperability testing event boasts 100 vendors and 160 test systems, demonstrating powerful advancements in health IT. Vendor testing registration is closed, but attendees can still register for the IHE NA Connectathon Conference 2013 and obtain a sneak peak of the testing floor on Wednesday, Jan. 30.

Visit the HIMSS Blog to hear what participants have to say about the Connectathon and Conference.

The IHE NA Connectathon Conference, a one day educational event, on Jan.30, provides industry professionals with continuing education and networking opportunities. Educational sessions will focus on how technology and IHE are enabling the achievement and sustainability of meaningful use in health IT. View the full agenda and list of education sessions. Additionally, a backstage pass and access to the Connectathon testing floor for a private tour is available to attendees; the testing floor is otherwise closed to the public. Tours will include an insider’s view of the testing environment, infrastructure, tools, and new testing services.

This year, three new features have been added to the lineup, including testing of HL7’s Consolidated CDA, IHE USA’s new Pilot Certification program in partnership with ICSA Labs, plus the first mHealth Hack-A-Thon.

IHE is organized by clinical and operational domains with eight IHE International Domainsavailable for testing at the event. In each domain, users with clinical and operational experience identify integration and information sharing priorities and vendors of relevant information systems develop consensus, standards-based solutions to address them.

The HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) is a document markup standard that specifies the structure and semantics of “clinical documents” for the purpose of exchange. Now, for testing at the Connectathon, the HL7 Consolidated CDA (C-CDA) offers a combined library of CDA templates and common document types, from progress notes to discharge summaries and more. C- CDA is now stipulated in Standards and Certification Criteria of Meaningful Use Stage 2. This national recognition positions C-CDA, for widespread adoption within EHR systems, thus advancing interoperability leading to information exchange, with a specific focus on care coordination.

Introduced in 1999, the IHE Connectathon has continued as an annual event with continued growth in the level and scope of participation. A parallel event in Europe was established in 2001 and has followed a similar trajectory. The next IHE Europe Connectathon will be held April 15-19, in Istanbul, Turkey. Connectathons have also been held in Australia, China, Japan and Korea.

IHE Connectathons are professionally managed and independently monitored testing events. A technical project management team develops detailed test plans for each role being tested at the Connectathon and organizes the process to maximize interoperability testing between corresponding systems from different vendors. Independent monitors observe and record test results, which are published in the Connectathon results database.

“IHE USA and ICSA Labs share the goal of accelerating the adoption of usable, secure, and interoperable health information technology to further the goal of improving patient safety and delivering higher quality of care. To that end, these organizations have formed a collaborative partnership to advance the state of the industry through the IHE USA Certification Pilot Program,” says Joyce Sensmeier, RN-BC, MS, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, FAAN, Vice President, Informatics, HIMSS. “This new program will be held in conjunction with the Connectathon, whose primary purpose is to address specific health IT interoperability issues. By testing the interoperability of their health IT systems, participants are able to improve the acquisition, management and communication of vital health information, while supporting efficient provider workflows and protecting private health information.”

Learn more about IHE North American Connectathon or the one-day educational conference by visiting IHE USA’s website (www.iheusa.org). . Registration is open online, or can be purchased on-site.

About IHE USA
IHE USA (www.iheusa.org) is a not-for-profit organization established in 2010 that operates as a deployment committee of IHE International®. The mission of IHE USA is to drive adoption of standards-based interoperability to improve patient care through innovation, standards profiling, testing, education and collaboration. IHE USA improves the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery by supporting the deployment of standards-based electronic health record systems, facilitating the exchange of health information among care providers, both within the enterprise and across care settings, and enabling local, regional and nationwide health information networks in the United States, all in a manner consistent with participation in the activities of IHE International, Inc.

About IHE International
(www.ihe.net) is the global hub of the IHE initiative, a multi-stakeholder effort started in 1997 to promote the effective use of electronic health records and health information technology (HIT) by driving the adoption of standards-based solutions for interoperability. IHE International brings together HIT experts and stakeholders in more than a dozen clinical and operational domains to develop implementation guides call IHE Profiles that define the use of standards to address specific HIT interoperability needs. It also oversees a process of testing that fosters the adoption of IHE Profiles in real-world HIT products and care settings. IHE interoperability solutions are implemented in hundreds of products and in care sites around the world.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: Healthcare Healthcare IT HIE

EHR Association Responds to HIT Policy Committee Request for Comments on Stage 3 Meaningful Use

The EHR Association has responded to the HIT Policy Committee’s Request for Comments on Stage 3 meaningful use requirements through their usual workgroup-led collaborative effort, with representatives from 24 of our 41 member companies working on this effort.

The Association’s comments call for a more pragmatic and focused approach to Stage 3 requirements, building on the substantial capabilities established in Stage 1 and especially Stage 2. As part of this alternate approach, the Association also calls for policymakers to takes into consideration the time and resources required for developers and providers to get all the information needed to effectively develop, test, and adopt new functionality. As we’ve stated in the past, and aligned with comments from other stakeholder groups, we suggest that ONC and CMS should not start Stage 3 until at least three years after the start of Stage 2.

Specific recommendations include that ONC and CMS invest time and attention to the maturity and alignment of quality measures across regulatory organizations, without adding a significant number of new quality measures, and enhancing infrastructure and standards based on the foundational work begun in Stage 2 to advance interoperability,

The EHR Association also notes that the public and private sectors are shifting to accountable care and value-based payment models, which are creating a business case for providers to adopt and use EHRs and other health IT. Such market-based demand will drive additional customer-requested functionality and EHR use patterns for those who have already adopted and demonstrated sophisticated use by attesting for Stages 1 and 2. We believe the needs of such experienced and often sophisticated users will best be met by market innovation, while extensive and detailed standardized requirements dictated by the federal government may actually interfere with the pace and direction of needed innovations.

Go to http://www.himssehra.org/docs/20130115_EHRARespondstoMU3RFC.pdf for the full response

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February 6, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare Healthcare IT Meaningful Use Meaningful Use Stage 2

Tags:CMS EHR EHR Association Health IT HIT Policy Committee ONC Stage 3 meaningful use requirements

HIMSS Statement on Release of Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM

UPDATE 2-24-12: This afternoon, ONC released the proposed rule for ”Health Information Technology: Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology, 2014 Edition; Revisions to the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology

HIMSS is pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have published their proposed rule for Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program Stage 2 (Meaningful Use Stage 2); the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is expected to publish the associated Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria tomorrow. These are significant steps forward in transforming healthcare in the United States of America.

For many years now, HIMSS has championed the best use of information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Since the inception of the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), HIMSS has equipped stakeholders for increasingly sophisticated meaningful use of health information. To help providers and patients improve care delivery and health outcomes for all Americans, HIMSS members strongly encourage the federal government to continue promoting the adoption of EHRs through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program in support of the standards-based collection, analysis, and exchange of health data in a safe and secure environment.

The release of these regulations during the HIMSS12 Annual Conference and Exhibition gives attendees the opportunity to engage directly with CMS and ONC officials about the new rule. Both CMS and ONC have hosted interactive town hall sessions, and more than 80 HIMSS12 workshops, symposia, and general education sessions have focused on meaningful use. Using social media and HIMSS.org, HIMSS staff have been posting – within hours – key takeaways from policymakers’ remarks. HIMSS will be reviewing the proposed rule and posting summaries and analyses in the coming days. Stay tuned to HIMSS’ Meaningful Use OneSource, where we expect to post substantive analyses beginning next week.

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs have already had an enormous impact on EHR adoption rates. Forty-three states have started their Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs; over 190,000 Eligible Professionals (EPs) and Eligible Hospitals (EHs) have registered for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs; and more than $3 billion has been paid in incentive payments to EPs, EHs, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) across the country.

New HIMSS Analytics data, reported in the December 2011Summary of Meaningful Use Readiness, indicates that seven segments of hospitals show increased capability to achieve Stage 1 of meaningful use. The hospitals in these seven categories typically demonstrate IT adoption that outpaces their peers, a segment that also includes hospitals at Stage 6 or Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). Tremendous progress has been made toward improved patient care and efficiencies offered by health IT, and HIMSS is excited to work with our members to move into this next phase of transforming healthcare.

To give providers and vendors adequate time to meet the new requirements, release of the proposed regulations at this juncture meets a recommendation of HIMSS and other organizations that the final rule be released at least 18 months prior to enactment.

HIMSS looks forward to engaging our members and colleagues in the development of HIMSS Board of Directors-approved responses to the proposed regulations that provide practical, real world observations and recommendations.