Wyoming Health Information Technology

The Rural Assistance Center and the National Rural Health Resource Center have developed a Health IT Toolkit for Rural Providers.  The toolkit  is designed to help rural providers find resources for HIT, electronic health records (EHR), meaningful use and related topics.  The resources in the toolkit provide guidance in the planning, setup, implementation and operation of an HIT infrastructure.  Additional information also shows where to find training programs, funding support and management expertise. Resources are broken down by category, and can be sorted for more specific results.

http://www.raconline.org/hit/

January 3rd was the one year anniversary of the start of registration for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. Over the past year, there has been a tremendous amount of interest in the incentive programs as providers across the country have implemented  EHRS.                                                                                                                                                                    

              Year one highlights include:
*43 states have started their Medicaid EHR Incentive  Programs                                                                                                                                                      *Over 176,000 people have registered for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs
                                                                                                                                                   *Over $2.5 billion has been paid in incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) across the country
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          CMS has created useful resources to participants in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. A few new resources include:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            *An Introduction to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program for Eligible Professionals- this interactive guide walks EPs through every aspect of the Medicare program, and provides helpful resources and tips along the way.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                *Updated User Guides- CMS has updated the registration and attestation user guides, which direct EPs and eligible hospitals through CMS’ registration and attestation system. There are five guides that all can be downloaded from the Educational Materials page of the CMS website.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               *Provider Testimonial Videos- these videos, which can be found on the CMS YouTube channel, highlight providers’ experiences participating in the EHR Incentive Programs.

A Look Ahead
As we move into 2012 and the second participation year of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, CMS is hopeful that providers will begin or continue their participation in the programs, and take advantage of these incentives for meaningful use of EHRs.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                If you are considering registering for the programs, but have not done so yet, take a look at the CMS EHR website and use our eligibility tool to find out if you can participate.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Remember: 2012 is the last year in which EPs can receive a full incentive payment in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Beginning in 2013, EPs will receive a smaller overall total payment.

Want more information about the EHR Incentive Programs?
Make sure to visit the EHR Incentive Programs website for the latest news and updates on the EHR Incentive Programs.

Please follow the link below to begin the registration process for Wyoming Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program

http://www.wyomingincentive.com/

Wyoming is participating in the State Cooperative Agreement Program for Health Information Exchange authorized under the Health Information Exchange for Clinical and Economic Health (“HITECH”) Act passed in February, 2009. 

In order to participate, Wyoming submitted a HIE Strategic Plan and a HIE Operating Plan in accordance with guidelines from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Exchange (“ONC”), the federal office administering the Cooperative Agreement Program. Wyoming’s Strategic and Operating Plans were created by members of the e-Health Partnership.

Wyoming’s activities described in the Strategic and Operation Plans will be carried out by the Wyoming e-Health Partnership, Inc.

Follow the link below to review these plans:

Health IT and Health Information Exchange

South Lincoln Medical Center in Kemmerer reached an important milestone recently for using electronic health record (EHR) technology under the Medi­care EHR Incentive Program.
 
SLMC is the first hospital in Wyoming and one of the first Critical Access Hos­pitals (CAH) in the nation to complete a 90-day period of demonstrating EHR “meaningful use” as defined by the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS).  A CAH is a rural hospital located at least 35 miles from any other hos­pital with no more than 25 inpatient beds.  SLMC, a 16-bed facility, has been serving the area since 1961. 
 
Having reached this milestone, SLMC qualifies for a federal incentive payment from Medicare. The Medicare EHR Incentive Program is a CMS effort de­signed to encourage the adoption and use of electronic health records. The Wyoming Department of Health is developing a Medicaid EHR Incentive Pro­gram, which is also likely to provide incentive payments to the Kemmerer hos­pital later this year.
 
Wyoming Department of Health Director Tom Forslund said, “South Lincoln Medical Center’s achievement is a welcome demonstration that electronic health record initiatives can be successful in Wyoming.”
 
Forslund’s department includes Medicaid, which has been developing an in­formation technology initiative known as the “Total Health Record.” As one step toward reaching the “meaningful use” milestone, SLMC transmitted an electronic record from SLMC’s EHR system to the department’s Total Health Record system. “We see a critical role for the Total Health Record in improv­ing efficiency and quality of care for Medicaid clients,” Forslund said.
 
SLMC employees were involved with the selection and installation of the ap­propriate software and training to meet “meaningful use” guidelines. “Our fo­cus has been to improve the quality of patient care and patient safety in addi­tion to improving the exchange of information among healthcare providers and patients through our EHR,” said Eric Boley, SLMC chief executive officer.
 
SLMC received support and technical assistance from Health Technology Ser­vices, which has been designated by the federal government as the Regional Extension Center (REC) for Wyoming.  The REC works under a federal coop­erative agreement to allow smaller facilities to affordably achieve their health information technology goals.
 
The Medicare EHR Incentive Program was authorized under the Health Infor­mation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

A funny thing happened on the way to a 21st century health care system.

Many different groups representing vastly different interests across health care recently came together around an issue that seemed like a roadblock to building a healthier America a short time ago.

At a press conference earlier this month sponsored by the medical journal Health Affairs and Brandeis University’s Health Industry Forum, major insurance companies, provider groups, doctors, hospitals, and patients announced that they will team up to support so-called “meaningful use” regulations – guidelines that doctors and hospitals will have to follow to earn incentives for moving from paper to electronic medical files.

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