Friday, December 10, 2010
Medicare Cuts Spared
AMA: Congress Passes One-Year Delay Of Medicare Physician CutBill Now Moves to President for SignatureFor immediate release:Dec. 9, 2010Statement attributable to:Cecil B. Wilson, MDPresident, American Medical Association“The AMA welcomes bipartisan House passage of legislation to stop the Medicare physician payment cut for one year. Stopping the steep 25 percent Medicare cut for one year was vital to preserve seniors’ access to physician care in 2011. Many physicians made clear that this year’s roller coaster ride, caused by five delays of this year’s cut, forced them to make difficult practice changes like limiting the number of Medicare patients they could treat. “The AMA will be working closely with congressional leadership in the new year to develop a long-term solution to this perennial Medicare problem for seniors and their physicians. This one-year delay comes right as the oldest baby boomers reach age 65, adding urgency to the need for a long-term solution before this demographic tsunami swamps the Medicare program.“Now that the legislation has passed both the U.S. Senate and House, the bill moves to the President to be signed into law. The AMA thanks bipartisan leaders in both the Senate and House and President Obama for their leadership on this issue to preserve seniors’ health care. The joint efforts of AARP, the military community, AMA and other physician groups helped make this one year delay a reality for patients and their physicians.”###Media contact:Katherine HatwellAmerican Medical Association(202) 789-7419katherine.hatwell@ama-assn.orgBrenda Craine Director, AMA Media Relations(202) 789-7447 brenda.craine@ama-assn.org
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tramadol Warning
Audience: Pain management healthcare professionals
Ortho-McNeil-Janssen and FDA notified healthcare professionals of changes to the Warnings section of the prescribing information for tramadol, a centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesic indicated for the management of moderate to moderately severe chronic pain. The strengthened Warnings information emphasizes the risk of suicide for patients who are addiction-prone, taking tranquilizers or antidepressant drugs and also warns of the risk of overdosage. Tramadol-related deaths have occurred in patients with previous histories of emotional disturbances or suicidal ideation or attempts, as well as histories of misuse of tranquilizers, alcohol, and other CNS-active drugs. Tramadol may be expected to have additive effects when used in conjunction with alcohol, other opioids or illicit drugs that cause central nervous system depression. Serious potential consequences of overdosage with tramadol are central nervous system depression, respiratory depression and death. Tramadol has mu-opioid agonist activity, can be abused and may be subject to criminal diversion.
Read the complete MedWatch 2010 safety summary, including links to the "Dear Healthcare Professional" letters, at:
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm213264.htm
Ortho-McNeil-Janssen and FDA notified healthcare professionals of changes to the Warnings section of the prescribing information for tramadol, a centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesic indicated for the management of moderate to moderately severe chronic pain. The strengthened Warnings information emphasizes the risk of suicide for patients who are addiction-prone, taking tranquilizers or antidepressant drugs and also warns of the risk of overdosage. Tramadol-related deaths have occurred in patients with previous histories of emotional disturbances or suicidal ideation or attempts, as well as histories of misuse of tranquilizers, alcohol, and other CNS-active drugs. Tramadol may be expected to have additive effects when used in conjunction with alcohol, other opioids or illicit drugs that cause central nervous system depression. Serious potential consequences of overdosage with tramadol are central nervous system depression, respiratory depression and death. Tramadol has mu-opioid agonist activity, can be abused and may be subject to criminal diversion.
Read the complete MedWatch 2010 safety summary, including links to the "Dear Healthcare Professional" letters, at:
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm213264.htm
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Article by Vin Penry
Please note an article published in the CT ASCP Newsletter, Winter 2010 Edition written by Vin Penry. Dementia 101 is the title located on page 2 of the newsletter which may be accessed at the following website www.ct.ascp.org.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Electronic Health Record Information
About the HITECH Act of 2009
What is the HITECH Act?
On February 17, 2009 a $787 Billion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aka “the Stimulus Bill,” was signed into law by the federal government. Included in this law is $19.2 Billion which is intended to be used to increase the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) by physicians and hospitals; this portion of the bill is called, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act. The government firmly believes in the benefits of using electronic health records and is ready to invest federal resources to proliferate its use. Title XIII in Division A, pages 112 through 165 and Title IV in Division B, pages 353 through 398, cover the HITECH portion of this economic recovery act.
Why did the government pass this law? Why is it important?
There has been extensive research done to show that utilizing an EHR would serve to improve patient care, increase patient safety and simplify compliance in the US healthcare system. Additionally, it would help cut costs in the long term, as it would minimize errors, increase productivity and administrative efficiency. For additional information on the potential benefits and savings associated with investing in an EMR system, the following link provides a good reference: HealthAffairs.org
What does the HITECH Act mean to physicians and hospitals? What incentives are available to me?
As described in the most recent published news, the intended use of the $19 Billion will be for incentive payments, grants and loans.
$17 Billion will be used for incentive payments to physicians and hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. These incentives will be issued to current users and new adopters of certified EMR systems, who use the system in a meaningful way. The certification process and standardization criteria have NOT yet been determined, and will be decided upon by the end of 2009. The government has NOT yet made any reference to partnerships with any existing EMR certification organizations.
Medicare- Physicians seeing Medicare patients can receive up to $44K over the course of 5 years. An additional 10% is available to physicians operating in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), for more information go to www.hpsafind.hrsa.gov. The general depiction of the payout schedule is in the following table.
How to read this table: The first row represents the year you adopt an EMR system. The first column represents how much the payout will be each year. For example, if you are a current user, your payout for 2012 will be $12K. If you adopt an EMR system in 2013, your payout will be $15K in 2013, $12k in 2014, and $8K in 2015.
Medicaid - Physicians whose caseloads include at least 30% Medicaid patients are eligible to receive up to $64K over the course of 5 years, the exact payments have not yet been determined. Physicians cannot obtain incentives from both Medicaid and Medicare, but hospitals can.
Hospitals - Hospitals can receive a base payment of up to $2M initially. Additional incentives are available according to a formula based on discharges, year of adoption etc., with a cap at $6M. The exact payment schedule is not yet determined.
The remaining $2 Billion will be dispersed as grants and loans to promote advancements in healthcare information technology (HIT) and improve accessibility to HIT in underprivileged areas. The grants will be available to researchers, Community Health Centers, Rural Health Centers and Indian Health Centers.
What happens if I don’t adopt and EMR system?
After 2015, further financial incentives will not be available and penalties will kick in. There will be a 1% reduction in Medicare fees per year, up to 3% by 2017.
What is the HITECH Act?
On February 17, 2009 a $787 Billion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aka “the Stimulus Bill,” was signed into law by the federal government. Included in this law is $19.2 Billion which is intended to be used to increase the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) by physicians and hospitals; this portion of the bill is called, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act. The government firmly believes in the benefits of using electronic health records and is ready to invest federal resources to proliferate its use. Title XIII in Division A, pages 112 through 165 and Title IV in Division B, pages 353 through 398, cover the HITECH portion of this economic recovery act.
Why did the government pass this law? Why is it important?
There has been extensive research done to show that utilizing an EHR would serve to improve patient care, increase patient safety and simplify compliance in the US healthcare system. Additionally, it would help cut costs in the long term, as it would minimize errors, increase productivity and administrative efficiency. For additional information on the potential benefits and savings associated with investing in an EMR system, the following link provides a good reference: HealthAffairs.org
What does the HITECH Act mean to physicians and hospitals? What incentives are available to me?
As described in the most recent published news, the intended use of the $19 Billion will be for incentive payments, grants and loans.
$17 Billion will be used for incentive payments to physicians and hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. These incentives will be issued to current users and new adopters of certified EMR systems, who use the system in a meaningful way. The certification process and standardization criteria have NOT yet been determined, and will be decided upon by the end of 2009. The government has NOT yet made any reference to partnerships with any existing EMR certification organizations.
Medicare- Physicians seeing Medicare patients can receive up to $44K over the course of 5 years. An additional 10% is available to physicians operating in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), for more information go to www.hpsafind.hrsa.gov. The general depiction of the payout schedule is in the following table.
How to read this table: The first row represents the year you adopt an EMR system. The first column represents how much the payout will be each year. For example, if you are a current user, your payout for 2012 will be $12K. If you adopt an EMR system in 2013, your payout will be $15K in 2013, $12k in 2014, and $8K in 2015.
Medicaid - Physicians whose caseloads include at least 30% Medicaid patients are eligible to receive up to $64K over the course of 5 years, the exact payments have not yet been determined. Physicians cannot obtain incentives from both Medicaid and Medicare, but hospitals can.
Hospitals - Hospitals can receive a base payment of up to $2M initially. Additional incentives are available according to a formula based on discharges, year of adoption etc., with a cap at $6M. The exact payment schedule is not yet determined.
The remaining $2 Billion will be dispersed as grants and loans to promote advancements in healthcare information technology (HIT) and improve accessibility to HIT in underprivileged areas. The grants will be available to researchers, Community Health Centers, Rural Health Centers and Indian Health Centers.
What happens if I don’t adopt and EMR system?
After 2015, further financial incentives will not be available and penalties will kick in. There will be a 1% reduction in Medicare fees per year, up to 3% by 2017.
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