Latest California Healthline Stories
Grant Moved Up To Get IT Dollars
Kim Belshé’s committee-of-one turned out to be extremely efficient.
It is a daunting task, applying for a federal establishment grant for the California Health Benefit Exchange — it lays out the direction and scope of the entire exchange, so the board’s plan was to complete it in September. That was complicated slightly by the fact that Belshé was the only board member on the committee supervising the grant application.
It became clear, however, that some of the work needed to get started — particularly the health information technology work — which means it needs federal cash sooner rather than later. So the exchange board announced at last week’s meeting that it is applying for the grant now, with final approval of that grant being sought at next month’s board meeting.
HIPAA Changes Seek Balance of Compliance, Right To Know
HHS hopes proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s privacy rules will be relatively easy for health care providers to comply with and give individuals more details about who has access to their protected health information.
Milestones Mark ARRA, HITECH First Quarter
The arrival of a new national coordinator for health information technology and an invitation to the public to help define the country’s health IT strategy highlighted developments early this year in the federal government’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
EHR Cost Savings Could Extend to Health Plans
Health plans don’t directly use electronic health records, but because EHRs could save insurers some money, health plans will want to do everything they can to make the EHR transition smooth, according to Patrick Johnston, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans.
Johnston’s organization put together a health care forum yesterday in Burlingame that focused on health plans’ involvement in the EHR movement.
“We as health plans do have a responsibility to address cost drivers in our own business,” Johnston said. “That which plans spend themselves and that which cause our providers to spend. And that’s a complex subject matter.”
EHR Security Measure Might Have Hidden Consequences
The intent of SB 850 is relatively simple, its author Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said yesterday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Specifically, the bill requires the electronic health record to log a change or deletion, and that change or deletion note needs to include the identity of whoever made the change,” Leno said, adding “Without these requirements and protections, there could be real concern for the well-being of the patient.”
Changes to an EHR can go unnoticed and can be harder to trace than changes made to paper records, according to Leno.
Health IT Building Blocks Are Building Up
Health information technology is going to be crucial in successfully revamping California’s health care system. In two short years, California hopes to have most physicians across the state using electronic health records — and to have those records linked through a health information exchange system, using a provider directory services database.
California took a big step toward realizing those goals, when Cal eConnect announced yesterday that it’s ready to start taking bids from vendors that would design that provider directory services system.
That RFP, or Request for Proposals, will be a central topic of conversation when Cal eConnect convenes today (Wednesday) for a membership meeting.
Wireless Medicine’s Promise: Less Cost, Better Care
Starting at the cellular level, wireless devices could change the practice of medicine. But like any transformative technology, risks accompany the vast promise of mobile health. That was one take-home message from a national conference of health care journalists last week in Philadelphia.
Wellness, Cost-Cutting Main Themes at Health 2.0 Spring Event
Attendees at last week’s Health 2.0 conference in San Diego discussed ways to use information technology to keep people healthy and less susceptible to chronic problems, remove barriers to research and reduce the cost of health care.
Cal eConnect Set to Absorb CaleRx Consortium
The proposed marshalling of e-forces between Cal eConnect and the CaleRx Consortium has moved forward, and after yesterday’s meeting of Cal eConnect’s advisory group, it looks even more likely that some kind of merger will take place.
“E-prescribing is one of the high priorities for us,” Mark Elson of Cal eConnect said. “We’ve been in discussion with the California E-Prescribing Consortium about consolidating our activities in e-prescribing, and that discussion has been positive. We are now in a position to basically adopt the E-Prescribing Consortium into Cal eConnect.”
Elson said it will soon be presented to the eConnect board, though probably not in time for its next board meeting on Friday. CaleRx members meet on Tuesday.
It Pays To Adopt Electronic Health Records
Providers throughout California are about to get a significant amount of help in establishing their electronic health record systems, according to Raul Ramirez, chief of the state’s Office of Health IT.
“Our hope is to launch the incentive program on April 1,” he said. “We’ve been in contact with CMS (federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), and we expect feedback any time now.”
If the launch goes as planned, providers could start seeing incentive payments starting in May, Ramirez said.