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What is HIT?
Health Information Technology (HIT) has been cited as a crucial tool to help improve the health care system. According to the Institute of Medicine "the development of an information technology infrastructure has enormous potential to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of health care in the United States." However, health care providers' adoption of HIT has been limited due to various factors. The challenge persists of devising strategies to promote broader adoption and more effective use of HIT.
> What is Health IT and Why Is it Important
> ACP Health Information Technology Overview
> New York State Strategy
Funding and Financial Assistance| top
Primary Care Information Project (PCIP) - multifaceted program to support the adoption and use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) among primary care providers in NYC's underserved communities.
The Interboro Regional Health Information organization (RHIO) -is providing financial assistance for Qualifying Practices in Queens, northern Brooklyn, and surrounding communities to implement Electronic Health Records (EHR). Interboro through a HEAL NY grant from New York State is subsidizing the implementation and license costs of select EHR products, including Primary Care Information Project’s eClinicalWorks Product and MedLink TotalOffice EHR, for qualifying physicians that elect to participate in the Interboro RHIO Heath Information Exchange. For more information, contact info@interbororhio.org.
Western New York HEALTHeLINK™, - the Western New York clinical information exchange, is leading a new initiative on behalf of Western New York Health Plans (WNYHP) designed to increase the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) among area physicians. WNYHP, which is comprised of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, Independent Health and Univera Healthcare has hired HEALTHeLINK™ to implement the program that seeks to add 500 physicians over the next three years to the ranks of those who use EMRs.
New York State Small-Office HIT implementation Funding Opportunity Available
In keeping with our commitment to assit our members with the ever changing world of medicine, we are collaborating with the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP) of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in an application to become a Federally-designated Regional Health Information Technology Extension Center (RHITEC). For more information and application procedures please click the corresponding link in regards to your location.
>For Members in Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn
>For Members in Long Island, Hudson Valley Region, and Upstate Region
HIMSS Healthcare IT Grant Support Program -
HIMSS introduced The Grants Advantage: A Funding Intelligence Service to empower HIMSS Members to advance healthcare IT funding initiatives by providing tools and resources for all aspects of the grants management lifecycle. Developed in collaboration with Grants Office LLC, HIMSS Grants Advantage allows subscribers to save time and money by accessing a single, trusted, reliable resource for valuable and timely healthcare IT grant information from a variety of funders.
Practice Redesign | top - Successful implementation of health IT is more dependent on effectively transitioning your practice than just implementing the technology itself. EHRs will ultimately change the way work is done in your office, and careful planning will help you avoid dissatisfaction or outright rejection of the system. The resources below from AHRQ provide pragmatic approaches for change management.
| Stary by Building Buy-In... |
- Change Management - Building buy-in for change requires getting approval from senior management, staff at all levels, and even patients. These resources are good places to start in bringing about a consensus for change.
- ACP Advance Planning and Workflow Analysis - MEMBER ONLY
A 3 stage overview of how to to minimize practice disruption and to promote staff and clinician acceptance.
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...Then Transform your Practice.
Training -A comprehensive training program is the cornerstone of most successful implementations. As with any technology implementation, careful consideration should be given to basic IT skills as this will guide the training program that you need to develop. It is critical that training should be viewed as an on going activity and not something an organization does only as part of the implementation phase of a new clinical system.
System Implementation - The system implementation phase requires the vendor to play a very prominent role. In addition to the workflow analysis, full system testing is completed during this phase. Other key activities that would occur include piloting of the new system, formal go-live and the immediate post implementation period during which any application issues are resolved.
Evaluation - A variety of resources can help to inform your evaluations and enable your practice to optimize the success of your health IT implementation.
Other Areas to Consider
Personal Health Records
Privacy and Security
Electronic Prescribing
Advanced Topics
The HIMSS Digital Office eNewsletter - The Digital Office connects medical practices, clinics and Community Health Centers with the latest information on Health Information technology and Electronic Medical Record's. The Digital Office is a complimentary resource for physicians, the media and anyone involved and interested in the transformation of today’s medical practice through healthcare IT.
Selection of an EHR | top -This is a crucial stage in the process of adopting Health IT. Here we provide you with a compilation of tools to help you review and select a product/vendor and negotiate a contract. The time spent on evaluations and negotiations will be well worth it as it directly impacts the success of implemenation.
| Start by Assessing Your Practice and Setting Up Your Team... |
ACP Practice Management Check Up Tool
This tool will provide your practice with an opportunity to evaluate your performance on productivity, coding, and office functions in comparison to national benchmarks. You can use the results of this analysis to help identify opportunities for practice work flow improvements, scheduling and other key office functions.
ACP Coding Scenario Tool - MEMBER ONLY
Some EHRs provide coding assistance. If your practice is currently undercoding, an EHR could help in properly coding and documenting, thereby increasing practice revenue. This tool compares your coding pattern against the Medicare national average and provides a hypothetical estimate of the dollar difference between your current coding and coding adjusted to the national average.
ACP Transcription Cost/Savings Calculator - MEMBER ONLY
If your practice currently uses a transcription service, this tool will provide you a projection of potential savings from avoiding transcription through the use of an EHR
ACP Vendor EHR System Checklist
This is a one page checklist for important steps in the EHR selection process.
HIMSS Flyer - Getting started Overview
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...Then Select the Right EHR.
ACP EHR Partners Program - Using the EHR Comparison Tool, physicians can review information on 22 EHR systems that have been certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), based on baseline criteria for functionality, security and interoperability.
ACP EHR Feature and Evaluation Checklist and ACP Vendor Request for Information
The sample checklists contain a broad range of EHR features that you may find useful in creating an RFP or evaluation materials for site visits and demonstrations.
HIMSS Flyer - What Vendor is Right for Me
New York State Strategy for Adoption and Use of Health Information Technology | top
The Office of Health Information Technology Transformation is an office within DOH charged with coordinating health IT programs and policies across the public and private health-care sectors to enable improvements in health care quality, affordability and outcomes for all New Yorkers. These programs and policies will establish the health IT infrastructure and capacity to support clinicians in quality-based reimbursement programs and new models of care delivery.
>Read More
>Provider Education Toolkit
NYeCollaborative (NYeC)
NYeC (pronounced "nice") was founded by health care leaders across the state, with leadership and support from the New York State Department of Health, as a public-private partnership that will serve as a focal point for health care stakeholders to build consensus on state health IT policy priorities, and collaborate on state and regional health IT implementation efforts.
>Read More
Last Updated: 1.21.10
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