OCTOBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
The Future of Health Records is Now—Are You Ready?
Classes Offered to Assist Medical Professionals with new Electronic Health Record Laws
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009, President Barack Obama has declared all health records to be computerized by the year 2014.
Benefits of this new procedure, according to the ARRA, include improved healthcare quality, prevention of medical errors, reduced healthcare costs, increased administrative efficiencies, decreased paperwork and expanding access to affordable care.
Incentives given to encourage switching to Electronic Health Records (EHR) consist of a choice between Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare’s incentive allows up to $44,000 in payments spread out over five years, beginning January 2011, to those physicians who have begun to practice the new procedure. Medicaid will provide funds to any hospitals and physicians who begin using EHR meaningfully and promptly.
To assist medical professionals in taking the proactive steps necessary toward EHR and to ensure they receive maximum incentives, Nate Solberg, owner of Nordic PC, based in Boone, and Patrice Walker, JD, have put together a series of classes that cover the new Red Flag and HITECH rules.
“We want to make sure that any doctor who is thinking about implementing to EHR knows the rules they’ll need to adhere to and can complete the necessary check boxes in the next five years. But also if some people aren’t planning on switching to EHR, we teach them that it can be paid for by the government and there will actually be penalties if they don’t switch,” said Solberg.
Penalties for hospitals and physicians who haven’t begun using EHR by 2015 differ between Medicare and Medicaid. Penalties from Medicare include a 1 percent decrease in Medicare payments in 2016, 2 percent in 2017, 3 percent in 2018 and up to a maximum decrease of 5 percent. Medicaid penalties are not yet finalized.
Solberg and Walker hold classes throughout North Carolina and have classes planned for Friday, October 30, in Greensboro, a Raleigh workshop on December 11 and another on December 14 in Greensboro. These classes focus on enabling medical professionals to start developing a game plan for getting on board with EHR. “We advise them to have a consultant come in and look at what they’re doing now, how they’re going to implement EHR and tell them how they can prepare to start planning,” said Solberg, who has worked in Boone as an IT tech for six years.
As well as the classes, Solberg and Walker have worked together on a book titled, Dentistry and North Carolina Law. The book focuses on how to own a dental practice, employment law, malpractice, the Dental Board, patient confidentiality, dental charting (including EHR) and collections. “I’ve taken it upon myself to be the High Country’s health guy. Because it was something I saw we needed, and since Walker has been teaching about it for 20 years, she and I have decided to take it on together,” Solberg said.
Solberg and Walker have also been partnering with Jennifer Anderson for the classes on EHR. Anderson is the Electronic Health Record Consultant for The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence and provides information focusing on the incentives and disincentives that come with switching to EHR, as well as an educational webinar for medical professionals online available by clicking to http://www.thecarolinascenter.org/default.aspx?pageid=20&item=265.
With all the helpful resources available to medical professionals to make converting to EHR easier, Solberg hopes people will come to him for assistance. “It’s a really long and involved process, and most people will say they don’t want to switch because it’s going to change the entire way their practice works. Things will change, but if medical professionals plan now, they’ll be prepared for next year by gaining important knowledge and having certain expenses already cut into the budget.”
To begin making proactive decisions about these changes in using EHR, Solberg suggested, “Medical professionals should start by signing up for webinars and learn about the incentives on Jennifer’s website. They should also know there is someone in the area that can help them. Whether they want to set up a consultation or if they have something started already and just want to make sure they’re on the right path, I’m available to perform a risk assessment. It can be informal or formal, but the most important thing is for them to start thinking about these changes and to realize that Obama has said everyone will be on EHR by 2014; that’s where this incentive plan has come from and why we’re trying to help get everyone make these changes correctly.”
For more information, contact Solberg at nate@nordic-pc.com.
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