D'Arcy Gue


The Future of EHRs, CMS Feeling the Heat, and Hospital Jobs Trends

March 7, 2014


Healthcare Industry, Meaningful Use / MIPS 2 Minute Read

Looking to the future of EHRs

According to the March edition of the Journal of AHIMA, over 50 percent of practices and 80 percent of hospitals have adopted electronic health records and attested for Meaningful Use / MIPS. This progress marks a new phase in the move to EHRs, managing the challenges and changes the move imposes. The recent journal article was highlighted this week on Healthcare IT News and a number of potential challenges were mentioned, such as interoperability, implementation failures, adoption discrepancies, etc. For more details, visit Healthcare IT News.

Crackdown on CMS for issuing payment for falsified MU attestation

Amidst reports of a hospital executive submitting false Meaningful Use / MIPS attestation, the House Committee has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide details on how they are policing payments to providers. A series of questions were submitted to CMS Administrator, Marilyn Tavenner, regarding the adequacy of their assessments and reporting. An article on Fierce EMR acknowledges the position that CMS is in and the pressures Congress has put on the organization to fulfill incentive payments. Additional information about the situation can be found on Fierce EMR.

Three months of hospital job losses, while healthcare employment in upward trend

Modern Healthcare reports, that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, February was the third consecutive month that hospitals saw a decline in jobs. Hospitals eliminated 1,200 jobs last month. However, it appears that overall healthcare employment is on a steady incline, with 9,500 jobs added in February. While a bit sobering, as the hospital industry hasn’t seen this level of decline in twenty years, these statistics are likely a result of the restructuring of the healthcare system.

 



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