Topics of Interest

2013 WEDI Report Released Today - Will Serve as a New Roadmap for Health IT

Ten Key Recommendations That Will Shape the Next Generation of Healthcare Information Exchange  Reston, VA – December 5, 2013 – Today, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Foundation, a leading authority on the use of Health IT to improve healthcare information exchange, in partnership with industry leaders, released the 2013 WEDI Report.  The culmination of a nine month public-private effort with more than 200 subject matter expert volunteers, the 2013 WEDI Report... more

Industry Stakeholders Weigh In on Adjusted Meaningful Use Timeline

Industry stakeholders have begun to comment on CMS’ decision to adjust the timeline of the meaningful use program. Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments. Background On Friday, federal officials announced that CMS has proposed delaying the start of Stage 3 of the meaningful use program, while the Office of the... more

IG 101: What is Information Governance

Unlike most businesses and industries, in a simplified view healthcare is really about life and death, where data and information can be considered the lifeblood of any organization in providing healthcare services. Healthcare information a critical resource that must be understood and utilized appropriately in order to provide safe, effective, and high-quality care. With the current environment of incentives and other drivers for adoption of health information technology, there is a... more

CMS Meaningful-use deadline pushed back one year

The CMS is giving providers another year to show they’ve met the Stage 2 criteria of the federal government’s incentive program to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records. That means the start of the next phase will be pushed back a year.  Stage 2 will be extended through 2016 and Stage 3 won’t begin until at least fiscal year 2017 for hospitals and calendar year 2017 for physicians and other eligible professionals that have by then... more

Obama won't require insurers to upgrade existing plans to meet ACA requirements

Seeking to defuse a growing political furor as millions of Americans receive cancelation notices from health insurers, the Obama administration will not require insurance companies to upgrade existing individual plans to meet the requirements of the federal healthcare law for 2014.  The announcement comes a day after the administration reported that just 106,000 Americans enrolled in private plans through the law’s health insurance exchanges through Nov. 2. A number of... more

Eight Common Evaluation and Management Mistakes to Avoid

It seems like everyone wants a piece of evaluation and management coding, the most frequently billed physician service. Auditors, enforcers and whistleblowers have sunk their teeth into it, and health systems, wary of all the attention, are auditing the physician practices they plan to acquire to identify possible E/M liability. “E/M coding seems to be getting a lot of attention at the federal level,” says Kevin Cornish, national director of the healthcare dispute, compliance and... more

Pages