SmartSearch Meets the Needs of the Medical Industry

Medical practices continue to fight a constant battle against paper. Despite the emergence of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) solutions, the amount of paper in modern practices continues to present a problem. That’s because information is coming from a variety of sources, which are not limited to patient records alone. Explanations of Benefits (EOBs) arrive from the insurance companies, referrals are received from other doctors and the tide of requests for immunizations rises at the start of each new school year. You cannot eliminate the flow of paper but you can manage it in a much better way.

SmartSearch provides practices with a secure means to eliminate paper-based filing as you manage your patient records with far greater efficiency. Scanned or Imported records are stored in a powerful Microsoft SQL Server database allowing your staff to recall records based on a variety of search methods, including Patient Name, Patient ID, Medical Record Number, or Date of Service just to name a few. As with all SmartSearch databases, users can easily customize the Healthcare database to their individual needs.

Once records are retrieved they can be annotated or redacted prior to being distributed through your choice of email, fax, print or CD export. To assist you with HIPA compliance, your documents are protected from permanent change and an audit trail of all document related activity is maintained.

Call Square 9 Softworks today to learn more about how SmartSearch can help make your practice work more efficiently and, securely as you provide your patients with a higher level of service.

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AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 (ARRA)

ARRA provides approximately $19 billion for Medicare and Medicaid Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) incentives over five years.

ARRA specifically grants financial incentives through the Medicare program to encourage physicians and hospitals to adopt and use certified electronic health records (EHR) in a meaningful way.

This means, healthcare organizations will be incentivised to adopt document management systems and integration with EMR packages much more readily.

Since document management is used quite extensively to manage clinical records as well as assist with routing, notification and access of critical medical record information, SmartSearch complies with HIT regulations. So healthcare organizations can apply for federal funding of document management under the provisions set forth within the ARRA HIT program.

Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to adopt, through the regulatory rule-making process, an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria by December 31, 2009, for qualifying EHRs. So by the end of 2009, healthcare organizations will be able to apply for funds. ARRA requires healthcare providers to be up-and-running with electronic health records by 2011. Those providers who haven't yet begun to migrate from paper to digital systems may not be able to benefit from incentive payments beginning in 2011.

So, what is the payout?
The monies are significant: for physicians, the full payment between 2011 and 2015 will range between $44K and $60K. For each year a physician is not in the program, the incentive payments decline by 1% each year. The ultimate calculation of payments to physicians is based on Medicare patient volume.

For hospitals, the incentive payment begins at $2 million in 2011, with additional payments based on Medicare volumes. As with physicians, the incentive stops in 2015. In 2015, there will be penalties for providers not participating in the program.

The following section for the ARRA HIT act are outlined below.

Section 4201 - Incentives for Eligible Professionals
Incentives for use of Certified Electronic Health Records (EHR) Technology
Payments (Payment Year defined as a year beginning with 2011)
•First payment year - $15,000. If 2011 or 2012 -$18,000
•Second Payment year- $12,000
•Third Payment year - $8,000
•Fourth Payment year - $4,000
•Fifth Payment year - $2,000
•Any subsequent years - $0

•If adopted in rural area, payments increased by 25% from what is listed above.
•No payments if first adopting EHR technology after 2014.
•To be eligible, medical professional must be a, “Meaningful EHR user”, which is defined as:

›Including the use of Electronic prescribing
›Information Exchange - Ability to provide electronic exchange of health information to improve the quality of health care, such as promoting care coordination.
›Reporting on Measures using EHR - eligible professional must submit information for a period in a form and manner specified by the Secretary. This form and manner to be determined at a later time.

Demonstration of meaningful use of Certified EHR Technology & Information Exchange. This may be satisfied by:
•An attestation
•Submission of claims with appropriate coding
•A survey response
•Other means specified by the Secretary
•The Secretary shall post on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website the names of businesses who are meaningful EHR users
•Certified EHR Technology Definition - references sections from the Public Health Services Act where the HIPAA regulations were created. If you are considered Electronic Health Record
Technology by HIPAA Standards, then you are eligible under this program.
•Providing Assistance to Eligible Professionals & Certain Hospitals
•Use of Entities with Expertise - To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall provide such assistance through entities that have expertise in the choice, implementation and use of such certified EHR technology.

Section 4202 -Incentives for Hospitals
Incentive Payment
•The applicable amount a hospital is eligible to received for using EHR is the product of:
›A base amount of $2,000,000.
›An amount based on the number of discharges (regardless of source of payment) in a year using the formula:
1. For 1,150 – 9,200 discharges - $200/ discharge
2. For 9,201 – 13,800 discharges - $100/ discharge
3. For 13,801 – 23,000 discharges - $60/ discharge

›Medicare Share - This part is determined by a crazy formula dealing with the number of inpatient bed days from someone that can’t pay for treatment plus the number of inpatient bed days of patients using Medicare divided by the total number of inpatient bed days minus the amount attributable to charity care.
›Hospitals can received an amount equal to what is determined above from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.
›No payments will be made to hospitals whose first year of using EHR is 2015 or later.
›Requirements to be considered a hospital using EHR are the same as Section 4201.