Leveraging Technology
Policymakers can advance care delivery and benefit patients by expanding access to telehealth in Medicare and new payment models, according to a new AHA issue brief. 鈥淎 growing body of evidence shows that telehealth can not only expand access to services but also create cost savings,鈥 the report鈥
Telehealth is increasingly viewed as a cost-effective method to deliver patient care and expand access. The growing use of telehealth reflects larger health care trends that place the patient's care and experience at the center of treatment decisions.
The Department of Health and Human Services鈥 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology seeks public input through June 3 on how to measure the achievement of widespread exchange of health information through interoperable certified electronic health record technology by鈥
The AHA today launched a web resource offering comprehensive information on telehealth, available at www.aha.org/telehealth. The site includes information on federal and state telehealth initiatives, research documenting telehealth value, AHA-member case studies showing telehealth in action and AHA鈥
The AHA yesterday encouraged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to eliminate its 鈥渁ll-or-nothing鈥 approach to meaningful use of electronic health records, which is 鈥渙verly burdensome鈥 and not required by statute.
The Department of Health and Human Services is looking to make meaningful use of electronic health records 鈥渕ore flexible and much more focused on clinical outcomes and interoperability鈥 as it implements changes to the Medicare physician payment system under the Medicare Access and CHIP鈥
Hospitals eligible for incentive payments for meaningful use of electronic health records are more likely than ineligible hospitals to have at least a basic EHR system, meet Stage 1 criteria for meaningful use and exchange health information electronically, according to a study reported today鈥
State expenditures to help providers in Medicaid Electronic Health Records Programs exchange health information with other Medicaid providers may be eligible for federal matching funds under the HITECH Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced this week in a letter to鈥
Seventeen companies that make an estimated 90% of the electronic health record (EHR) products used by hospitals have pledged to help providers share health information for care whenever permitted by law, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced Feb. 29.
They also pledged鈥