Law & Malpractice

We have been in the process of preparing for meaningful use attestation. We have had to make some changes in how we practice. Not how we practice medicine, mind you - just how we play the game.

With government incentive dollars flowing and new tech tools like tablet computers and patient portals emerging, more practices are embracing a digital future. But for many, the old barrier to adoption - money - remains.

Physicians, if quality of care and productivity measures are not yet influencing your compensation, a new reimbursement model is likely headed your way. Health reform initiatives are significantly altering the way physicians - even those that remain independent - will be paid in coming years.

While practices are using patient portals to show meaningful use of EHRs, they can also help increase practice efficiency and improve the quality of care.

The feds have aggressively stepped up their fraud and abuse efforts. Your practice may play by the rules, but that doesn't guarantee it will escape federal scrutiny.

When it comes to practice management software, it appears more physician practices are aligning their purchases with another big health IT investment: their EHR.

The time has finally come. My practice has adopted the latest software download for reporting meaningful use of our EHR software. I have been feverishly working with compiling the necessary requirements for the attestation process. The data has been collected for the 90-day time period and I was all set to go.

In a little more than two years your practice will have to start seven-digit, alphanumeric ICD-10 codes. Even sooner, you’ll have to get acquainted with 5010.

Did the definition of healthcare fraud change?

If you are leaning more towards procrastination than preparation when it comes to readying for CMS' compliance deadlines for 5010 and ICD-10, you may want to start taking action. But when it comes to Stage 2 of proving meaningful use for your EHR, you might be in luck.

Getting an EHR to achieve certification is not always an easy feat for practices that had EHRs pre-meaningful-use, judging by the results of our 2011 Physicians Practice Technology Survey.

E-prescribing has not only improved the efficiency of this practice, it has improved quality at the same time.

The feds are cracking down on (even accidental) violations of data security rules. Here's how to avoid serious financial and administrative penalties.

Social media isn't just a tool for doctors to share health information. It's also a tool to establish your practice as a credible source for health-related information.

I have had sleepless nights, palpitations, and tantrums over the last couple of weeks just trying to get myself and my practice ready to for meaningful use attestation.

We’re sure there are at least a few physicians you know (maybe at your practice?) who are like old dogs when it comes to documentations. But would those physicians and staff most unwilling to learn new tricks actually quit if forced to change?

I can easily see what we’ll need to do for the meaningful use thing. But there are a few things that will need to be explained to me and my staff.

For small practices, implementing an EHR and achieving meaningful use is a whole lot easier with a helping hand. Newly created regional extension centers are there to provide it. Here’s how to make the best of them.

When it comes to EHRs, vendors are quite happy to offer products that are inefficient, awkward, and uncomfortable to use and to do so with aplomb. Customers, for their part, are apparently quite willing to ignore performance requirements, and perhaps never define them; something they rarely do when purchasing other items.

A few months ago, we posted some of our readers' top questions on the topics of EHRs and meeting meaningful use with answers directly from CMS. In response, several of you sent us new questions to ask the Federal agency on your use of the technology and how to be in the best position to receive federal incentive payments. Here are your answers.

Involving your support staff is essential to achieving meaningful use of a certified EHR. Do you have a plan?

Anyone who thinks that physicians' slow adoption of EHRs makes them modern-day Luddites hasn't seen a doc with an iPad. Tablet computing does seem uniquely suited to healthcare, and physicians are warming quickly to the intuitive gizmos. But will tablets revolutionize medical practice - and yours?

Here's some simple guidance on how to comply with the Stage One initiatives of CMS' meaningful use initiatives and achieve meaningful use of your EHR.

After months of preparation, family physician Douglas Foreman was one of thousands of physicians to go online today and make his case to CMS that he was in fact achieving "meaningful use" of his EHR.

The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, is the roadmap for healthcare reform for the next decade. The legislation includes several initiatives that will impact the way physicians operate and change their everyday business practices. Here is a year-by-year outline of the biggest benchmarks that will affect physician practices.

You've probably heard of state and regional Health Information Exchanges, but what the heck are they, exactly, and can they be of any use to your practice?

Are you ready to make social media platforms part of your practice? Make sure you put reasonable constraints in place.

Posting a general disclaimer on your practice's social media platforms protects both you and your patients.

Healthcare IT is in a state of flux and change, with constant improvement and upgrades. With established companies rolling out new versions of their systems, alongside new entrants who are bringing new systems to market, the features and horsepower of HIT systems has never been greater.

Medical associations representing practices and other healthcare providers teamed up to ask CMS for more specificity and clarity when it comes to Stages 2 and 3 meaningful use measures.