Monday, September 12, 2011

The 2011 Long-Term and Post-Acute Care HIT Summit

On June 13 and 14, the Long-Term and Post-Acute (LTPAC) Health Information Technology (HIT) Summit took place in Baltimore, MD, discussing key issues and solutions regarding health information technology (HIT). The conference consisted of roughly 300 post-acute and long-term care (LTC) professionals from the health information management (HIM) field. The conference also held an exhibit of the industry’s leading vendors, including LINTECH.

The summit served as an educational tool, a resource and a means of support as the health care industry experiences a rapid transition. Particular areas of concentration included the healthcare stimulus and the opportunities for post-acute and long-term care, HIT initiatives, electronic health record (EHR) certification and implementation, and case studies regarding the latest LTC solutions. Industry experts and speakers provided the necessary guidance to ensure successful EHR implementation within their organizations.

Jim Walker, the chief medical information officer of Geisinger Health Systems and HIT Standards Committee member, discussed Long-Term and Post-Acute Care in 2020, concentrating on the direction of healthcare and the impact of technology.

Claudia Williams, Director of the State Health Information Exchange Program for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT, spoke about policy priorities for the agency and resources to support LTPAC adoption of health IT.

Sean Cavinaugh from the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center addressed the significance and initiatives in advancing new models of care in order to achieve the "triple aim" goal. The three components of the triple aim include care, health and cost. This is an attempt to improve the experience of care, improve the health of the population and reduce the cost of healthcare.

Other industry leaders discussed topics including health information exchange initiatives, transition of care priorities and quality resident reporting.

Retrieve Resident Medical Records Anywhere with HIE

Accessing and retrieving clinical data in a convenient and timely manner is crucial in the healthcare industry, particularly in long term care environments where residents need immediate and continuous care. This can become time consuming as the unaffiliated provider may require a detailed background of the resident’s health, including current medications, previous surgeries, allergies and so forth. But, with Health Information Exchange (HIE) organizations, healthcare providers (such as acute care facilities) can electronically receive a resident's medical records from other healthcare providers (such as nursing homes).

HIE allows nursing home staff to electronically move clinical information among various healthcare information systems. With the ability to access and retrieve clinical data, HIE leads to safer, fast and more effective care for nursing home residents. The electronic system allows a facility to access a resident's information including allergies, prescriptions, medical history, and even the results of a medical exam. In addition, HIE improves resident care and safety, reduces the likelihood of duplicate services, cuts costs by allowing automation of administrative tasks, and provides management in the exchange of data. HIE also allows for electronic prescribing, electronic lab ordering and results delivery, and electronic public health reporting.

In order to provide a more structured and organized function for exchanging healthcare information, formal organizations are continuously developing on an independent and regional level. The Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) is a health information organization that brings together various organizations from specific geographically defined areas to share and exchange healthcare-related information electronically.

RHIO helps residents in various situations. For example, if the resident is sent to the emergency room but cannot remember what medication he or she is taking, the doctor can retrieve this information from the RHIO. Also, with RHIO, the resident can avoid taking lab tests as often since a doctor can receive his or her test results from the RHIO.

The HIE and RHIO provide LTC solutions to nursing home residents.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

How the 5010 Standard Will Affect Long Term Care Providers and Billing

As announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 16, 2009, updated versions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) transaction will be required to be used by providers beginning on January 1, 2012. The HIPPA standards for electronic health care transactions are changing from version 4010/4010A1 to version 5010. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) oversaw compliance with these standards and this is required by federal law.

The 5010 consists of a new set of standards regulating the electronic transmission of specific healthcare transactions. These transactions include claims, remittance advices, and requests and responses for eligibility and claims status. The 5010 transactions report electronic claims, electronic eligibility verification, electronic claim status, electronic referral certification and authorization, electronic remittance, and more. The 5010 standards will increase transaction consistency, support pay-for-performance, and streamline reimbursement transactions.

Those who are required to upgrade to the 5010 standard include a range of health care providers, including long-term care providers. In this regard, the implementation may change the software, systems and procedures already used for billing Medicare and other such payers. The 5010 will ensure that insurance companies receive accurate bills in the correct data and formats. LINTECH’s COMET application for long-term care billing is set to assure its users that their submissions will be in full compliance with the 5010 requirements.

Healthcare providers who fail to use only the 5010 transactions as of the January 1, 2012 deadline risk claim rejections and interrupted cash flow. Anyone who already electronically submits transactions, such as checking a patient’s eligibility, filing a claim, or receiving a remittance advice, will be automatically updated to the current version.

COMET Point-of-Care (Touchscreen) Application

Technology is on a never-ending journey as new devices, tools and applications are created to provide better alternatives for people everywhere. Long-term care for nursing home residents requires documenting information in order for nurses and staff to provide the residents with accurate care. Compared to the traditional usage of papers to track data, LINTECH launched the new COMET Point-of-Care (Touchscreen) application, which provides a faster and more organized data entry system, benefiting both residents and staff.

With this application, staff can spend less time entering data and more time concentrating on nursing home residents. In addition, the application saves in costs and workflow. The Point-of-Care application greatly reduces the likelihood of data entry errors from occurring.

The Point-of-Care application uses a picture icon for each of the nursing home’s residents, which makes it easier for nurses and staff members to verify that they are entering data on the correct electronic file. Even for those who are far from being technology savvy, the Point-of-Care application is extremely user friendly. Anyone who is using an ATM machine can use this application.

With LTC software benefiting nursing home residents and staff already, the Point-of-Care (Touchscreen) application is the perfect addition.

EMR Software Benefits Nursing Home Residents More Than Hospital Patients

Health information technology (HIT) assists caregivers in providing quality care to patients through electronic medical record (EMR) software. Among other things, EMRs help prevent harmful drug interactions, tracks assessments and monitors clinical outcomes. EMRs also track billings and reimbursements thus reducing paperwork redundancies. It is expected that within the next five years, the growth in EMR systems will rise about 15% annually. The focus of an EMR is not to just make it more convenient for health care providers to retrieve patient medical records, have better storage and allow for easy modifications, but to spend more time in caring for patients. While both acute care and long-term care facilities utilize EMR to provide better care for their patients and residents, the usage and emphasis of nursing home EMR is somewhat different than in hospitals.

Hospitals focus on short-term acute care for those of all ages, whereas nursing homes provide care for residents who are typically older and stay a longer period. Fifty percent of nursing home residents stay for at least one year and 21% stay for five years. In addition, not many realize that a long-term care (LTC) setting is much different as compared to a hospital. Differences include the staffing ratios, staff trainings, and care management and systems, among other things.

Nursing home residents take roughly eight medications a day to help with varying conditions, the majority being chronic conditions. A hospital patient, however, is most likely given a prescription pill to take for a certain period of time to cure a short-term health problem. Therefore, EMRs for LTC facilities need to be set up to respond to LTC’s unique setting.

In 2005, Rainu Kaushal, MD, MPH, and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston conducted the study “Functional Gaps in Attaining a National Health Information Network," in which they assessed that there is a 1% adoption of EMRs in skilled nursing facilities. This is significantly smaller compared to the use of EMRs in hospitals, which have an 18% penetration rate. While in recent years the adoption rate of EMRs by LTC facilities has grown significantly, there is no doubt that EMRs in long-term care have still a long way to go.

Friday, June 17, 2011

The Benefits of EMR Software for Nursing Home Residents and Providers

Advancements in technology are continuously sparking, helping the healthcare industry to constantly progress. However, it's not just about new medicines, new treatment options or advanced medical equipment helping this field to progress, but also software technology.

Today's healthcare field, including its long term care sector, relies on electronic medical records (EMR) as opposed to the printed medical records kept in a specific closet drawer. An EMR is a computerized medical record that allows the efficient storage, fast retrieval and easy modification of resident records. EMR has advantages for both residents and providers.

According to the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) seminal study, as many as 98,000 people die each year due to preventable medical errors. These errors occur from incomplete or inaccurate information regarding medication adjustments. But, with nursing home EMR software, these medical errors can be prevented. EMR software monitors medication errors with drug interactions between diseases, symptoms and other drugs. In addition, nursing home residents take an average of eight medications each month. It's estimated that one adverse drug event occurs per patient per day. However, with EMR software, medication errors are reduced and resident care improves. With nursing home EMR, a resident’s information regarding medication, drug allergies and reactions are recorded for clinicians, thus helping reduce the occurrence of a medical problem.

Aside from medical errors, time is important when providing for residents. Did you know that the average provider spends 50% to 70% of their time documenting resident information? Did you know that detailed notes can take up to 5 to 7 minutes per resident? This is because providers are relying on paper medical records. However, with EMR, an average documentation is reduced to 2 to 4 minutes per resident. Also, providers don't have to deal with the hassle of disorganized paper medical records kept in a drawer because EMR software remains organized and at your fingertips.