Giving a patient medications in the ER, having them pop positive on a test, and then withholding further medications because…
Morning Headlines 6/2/15
New Medicare data available to increase transparency on hospital and physician utilization
CMS releases its latest Medicare payment dataset, covering all inpatient and outpatient hospital billing and reimbursement figures for 2013. The latest data breaks down what hospitals charged, and what Medicare reimbursed, for the 100 most common inpatient DRGs and outpatient procedures.
AMA Weighs Ethical Telehealth, Doctor Care Via iPhone
At the 2015 AMA Annual Meeting this week, the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs will debate and vote on a new telehealth policy that will advise doctors on everything from patient privacy, diagnostic procedures, and follow up care.
Providers want CMS to slow down EHR superhighway
Several provider organizations weigh in with their concerns over the proposed MU3 rules, with Catholic Health Initiatives saying “We are concerned that CMS is trying to force providers to move toward meaningful use of EHRs at a pace that is too fast and impossible to meet,” and the AHA saying “We do not yet have sufficient experience at Stage 2 to be confident that the proposals for Stage 3 are feasible and appropriate.”
R: Providers want CMS to slow down EHR superhighway
Shocking that the AHA wants to slow EHR adoption. The AHA also thinks that we should permanently discard the transition to ICD-10. I’m amazed that so many providers and hospital associations have a sense of privilege that because they spent an extra 4 years in school they no longer have to learn and change with advancements in the healthcare world. In any other profession, if you’re not keeping up with your education (fun camps aka conferences excluded) then you aren’t staying relevant and you’ll soon be out of a job. Granted, there are many exceptions, but as with most online forums, the errant few often have the loudest voice. If you’re a physician that’s embracing technology, speak up and help get EHR adoption moving. Let those that are scared of technology and still want to use paper or the old standards fall by the wayside. Process improvement and change is more often good than not, you just need to overcome your own entropy.