News

Collaborating for Compliance: Helping Actors Comply with Cures Act Final Rule

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, October 21, 2021.

As actors work to comply with the Cures Act Final Rule, it’s become clear that greater consensus is needed regarding the interpretation of the definition of electronic health information (EHI) and the designated record set (DRS). As many readers know, the Cures Act Final Rule includes interoperability requirements related to information blocking and health IT certification. Both rely on the definition of EHI, which is grounded in the definition of the DRS, as defined by HIPAA.

I’m proud my organization AHIMA has been able to collaborate with the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) on a taskforce to examine the relationship between specific aspects of the Cures Act Final Rule and the definitions of DRS and EHI.

Healthcare IT Today»

Collaborating for Compliance: Helping Actors Comply with Cures Act Final Rule

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, October 21, 2021.

As actors work to comply with the Cures Act Final Rule, it’s become clear that greater consensus is needed regarding the interpretation of the definition of electronic health information (EHI) and the designated record set (DRS). As many readers know, the Cures Act Final Rule includes interoperability requirements related to information blocking and health IT certification. Both rely on the definition of EHI, which is grounded in the definition of the DRS, as defined by HIPAA.

I’m proud my organization AHIMA has been able to collaborate with the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) on a taskforce to examine the relationship between specific aspects of the Cures Act Final Rule and the definitions of DRS and EHI.

Healthcare IT Today»

Brad Bostic of hc1: In Light Of The Pandemic, Here Are The 5 Things We Need To Do To Improve The US Healthcare System

Posted in Client News Coverage on Friday, October 15, 2021.

The COVID-19 Pandemic taught all of us many things. One of the sectors that the pandemic put a spotlight on was the healthcare industry. The pandemic showed the resilience of the US healthcare system, but it also pointed out some important areas in need of improvement.

In our interview series called “In Light Of The Pandemic, Here Are The 5 Things We Need To Do To Improve The US Healthcare System”, we are interviewing doctors, hospital administrators, nursing home administrators, and healthcare leaders who can share lessons they learned from the pandemic about how we need to improve the US Healthcare System.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Brad Bostic, CEO of hc1.

Brad founded hc1 to bring the benefits of precision health to all patients after witnessing his mother lose her battle with cancer while being treated like a number. He created hc1 with a bold vision to bring the power of precise diagnostic and treatment insights into the care delivery process, believing that transforming lab data into personalized healthcare insights would empower healthcare organizations to ensure patients get optimal diagnostic lab tests and personalized prescriptions for the best possible outcomes. Today, hc1 is the bioinformatics leader in precision testing and prescribing and its hc1 Precision Health Cloud™ is live across more than 20,000 lab and health system locations.

Authority Magazine»

EPtalk by Dr. Jayne

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, September 30, 2021.

Due to critical shortages of healthcare personnel and ICU beds, several states have declared “crisis standards of care,” including Alaska. As if they don’t need one more thing to worry about, a new virus has been detected in the state. Dubbed “Alaskapox” by the media, the virus was found in two additional patients who sought treatment at a Fairbanks urgent care clinic. The symptoms include skin sores, fever, joint pains, and swollen lymph nodes. Both patients recovered within a few weeks, but it’s worrisome as these cases are similar to an initial case in 2015 and another one five years later. The virus has been identified as one from the same family as smallpox and cowpox. Epidemiologic investigation linked the virus to outdoor cats who may have picked it up from cows or other mammals, including voles. Just goes to show that public health was important before COVID-19 and will continue to be important in the future. Let’s hope governmental entities show up with their pocketbooks to fund the kinds of investigations needed to tackle emerging illnesses.

A new report from AHIMA, AMIA, and EHRA asks for consensus on the definitions of “electronic health information” and “designated record set” to better help organizations operationalize the requirements found in the 21st Century Cures Act. The organizations had formed a task force last year in preparation for key compliance deadlines. The task force will be asking stakeholders for feedback on the report and will continue to refine their work as the 2022 deadlines for compliance to the information blocking portions of the Act approach. The health information export portion of the Act kicks in at the end of 2023.

HIStalk»

Cures Act EHI Definition Needs Clarification, Health IT Orgs Say

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.

ONC must standardize the definition of electronic health information (EHI) for the successful operationalization of the 21st Century Cures Act final rule’s interoperability goals, according to a report from three major health IT organizations.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) formed a task force to create the Defining EHI and the Designated Record Set in an Electronic World report.

EHR Intelligence»

AHIMA, AMIA, EHRA call for consensus on electronic health information

Posted in Client News Coverage on Thursday, September 23, 2021.

Three major healthcare informatics organizations this week published a new study designed to help guide the conversation around how electronic health information should be managed and put to use by healthcare providers and technology developers.

WHY IT MATTERS
The American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Informatics Association and the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association on Monday put out a report, Defining EHI and the Designated Record Set in an Electronic World (PDF), which focuses on  issues around operationalization of the definitions of electronic health information and designated record set.

Healthcare IT News»

Why the definition of 'electronic health information' is a barrier to compliance with HHS' interoperability rules

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

The definition of "electronic health information" will need to be standardized to ensure compliance with HHS' Cures Act Final Rule, according to a recent report by The American Health Information Management Association, the American Medical Informatics Association and the Electronic Health Record Association.

Becker's Health IT»

AHIMA, AMIA, EHRA Release Preliminary Report on the Definition of EHI and DRS

Posted in Client News Coverage on Tuesday, September 21, 2021.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) (@AHIMAResources), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) (@AMIAinformatics), and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) (@EHRAssociationannounced the release of a preliminary report that examines key issues related to the operationalization of the definitions of electronic health information(EHI) and designated record set (DRS).

How these definitions will be operationalized by clinicians and developers are critical to successful compliance with the Cures Act Final Rule. The Cures Act Final Rule includes interoperability requirements related to information blocking and health IT certification, both of which rely on the definition of EHI, which is grounded in the definition of the designated record set as defined by HIPAA.

HealthIT Answers»

Harris Healthcare’s Data Integrity Solutions, RightPatient Partnership Closes the Gap on Efficient, Accurate and Secure Patient Identification

Posted in Press Releases on Monday, September 20, 2021.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – September 20, 2021 – Harris Healthcare’s Data Integrity Solution Business Unit – which includes patient data integrity powerhouses Just Associates, Inc., and QuadraMed® Corporation – have entered a strategic partnership with RightPatient® to integrate biometric patient identification into its existing suite of master patient index (MPI) management solutions. Doing so provides important protections against front-end contamination of the MPI and EMPI and helps eliminate the patient misidentification and safety issues created by “dirty” patient identification data. This is especially important now as spikes in remote patient registrations due to COVID-19 have led to a sharp increase in duplicate patient records.

Hayes Expert Explores the Root Causes of Climbing Claims Denials Rates and Performance Improvement Solutions at AHIMA21

Posted in Press Releases on Monday, September 20, 2021.

Wellesley, MA — September 20, 2021 — Hayes, makers of the industry’s leading integrated auditing, billing compliance and revenue integrity platform for the nation’s premier healthcare organizations, announced today that Vasilios Nassiopoulos, CPC, CCO, will present Leveraging Denial Trends to Identify Risks and Prevent Audits at the AHIMA21 Virtual Conference. The presentation, which explores the catalyst behind rising claims denials and how healthcare organizations can reverse the trend, takes place on Sept. 22 at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Leveraging SDOH in Post-Pandemic Risk Modeling to Overcome Distorted Care Projections for 2021 and Beyond

Posted in Client News Coverage on Wednesday, September 08, 2021.

The uncertainty and risk created by pandemic-related disruptions in care have health plans in uncharted water when it comes to relying on claims data and utilization patterns to inform their risk models. But while these disruptions weakened the reliability of traditional risk models, they also created opportunities to deepen and enrich member data by leveraging consumer and other data related to social determinants of health (SDoH)that can deliver significant performance and accuracy benefits.

Expanding data sources and enhancing analytics capabilities allows health plans to develop the capacity for more precise, holistic member engagement while improving the most impactful health outcomes in individuals and populations. Doing so will help lift Star Ratings, improve care compliance, close gaps, enhance member satisfaction, reduce costs and drive profitability gains.

HIT Consultant»

Just Associates, QuadraMed Power Harris Healthcare’s Data Integrity Solutions

Posted in Press Releases on Thursday, September 02, 2021.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – September 2, 2021 – Two top data integrity powerhouses have joined forces to bring healthcare organizations an unmatched level of innovation and expertise to solve the industry’s toughest data integrity challenges. As part of Harris Healthcare’s Data Integrity Solutions (DIS) Business Unit, Just Associates, Inc., andQuadraMed® Corporation are now partnered to deliver the advanced services and technology solutions needed to address the broad spectrum of challenges associated with patient matching and data integrity.

“Together, these highly experienced organizations will provide clients with best-in-class, industry-leading data integrity services and software that address key health information issues by reducing potential duplicate medical records and minimizing the ongoing cost of maintaining quality patient data,” said Lora Hefton, executive vice president, Harris’ DIS Business Unit.

Electronic Health Record Association Announces FY22 Leadership and Priorities

Posted in Press Releases on Thursday, September 02, 2021.

CHICAGO – September 2, 2021 – The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Association announced the results of its annual Executive Committee elections for terms beginning July 1, 2021. The EHR Association is a trade association of nearly 30 companies that serve most of the nation’s hospitals and ambulatory care organizations using electronic health records (EHRs) and other health information and technology to deliver high quality, efficient care to their patients.

Hans Buitendijk, Director of Interoperability Strategy with the Cerner Corporation, continues as Chair of the Executive Committee, which establishes the Association’s guiding principles and develops and implements strategic plans. David Bucciferro, Senior Advisor at Foothold Technology, returns as Vice Chair.

Carrot Health Joins 2021 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Posted in Press Releases on Thursday, August 26, 2021.

MINNEAPOLIS — August 26, 2021 – Carrot Health, a leading provider of healthcare solutions powered by consumer and claims data, ranked among the top 400 fastest-growing private companies in its inaugural appearance on the 2021 Inc. 5000. The company revealed today that it ranked No. 311 on the annual list with a three-year revenue growth of 1481.5% – an announcement that comes on the heels of Carrot Health’s acquisition by Unite Us, the nation’s leading technology company connecting health and social care services.

“Our growth is a direct result of the shift in the nation’s focus toward creating health equity and improving equitable access to care, which reflects Carrot Health’s long-time mission to help shape a future without health disparities in which everyone nationwide is able to lead their healthiest lives,” said Kurt Waltenbaugh, CEO of Carrot Health. “To be recognized among the elite companies that make up the top 500 fastest-growing private companies is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the entire Carrot Health team.”

How hc1 is generating actionable healthcare insights to support precision medicine

Posted in Client News Coverage on Monday, August 16, 2021.

At the intersection of health tech and diagnostics, hc1's CEO Brad Bostic talked about the company's origins and how it works with medical laboratories, hospitals and health plans.

MedCity News»