Choosing a Certified Electronic Health Record

Presentation by Nora BelcherExecutive Director, TeHA

An Education Event of the Greater Houston Behavioral Health Affordable Care Act Initiative

The Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston303 Jackson Hill, Houston, TX 77008

Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 1:00 p.m.

Agenda

• Who I am and what I do• What I can and cannot do to help you• EHR selection process- overview• EHR selection process- what goes wrong• News from the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

TeHA was established in 2009 to support HITECH implementation in Texas and to provide the IT vendor community with a

voice in public policy.

What I Can’t Do

Change existing federal or state law (at least not right this minute)

Recommend any specific system over any other system

Negotiate pricing

What I Can Do

Advice on selecting or changing systems Advice on EHR contracting Introductions to vendors who may be open to

group pricing

Why Use an EMR?

Meaningful use may apply to your facility (psychiatrist, NP)

ROI from faxing, chart pulls, paper and transcription, storage space

Over the long term, better integration and business opportunities with other providers in the health care ecosystem

EHR Toolkit forBH Providers

The Toolkit follows the “Six Step Approach to EHR Implementation” provided by the National Learning Consortium:

1. Assess Your Practice Readiness- readiness assessment tools2. Plan Your Approach- workflow, backup plan, chart abstraction, privacy and security tools3. Select or Upgrade to a Certified EHR- certification, references, contracting

EHR Toolkit forBH Providers

4. Conduct Training & Implement an EHR System- “go live” checklist, testing plan5. Achieve Meaningful Use- guidelines available6.Continue Quality Improvement- meaningful use and other quality measures

http://www.hinfonet.org/for-providers/ehr-toolkit-mental-health

Where Things Go WrongOn the Provider Side

• Buy-In (vendors can’t overcome this on their own)

• Workflow (even the best technology can’t fix an inefficient workflow)

• Training (skip it now and you will pay later)

Where Things Go WrongOn the Vendor Side

Poor service (unreturned calls, slow response times)

Product gaps, code quality, poor usability (absolutely not acceptable)

Feeling nickel-and-dimed (every bit of customization has a cost)

Contracting

• Total Cost of Ownership• Data Ownership• Data Transitions

Medicaid PhysicianSpecialist Program

As of October 2013, each REC received federal funding through the Texas Health & Human Services Commission. With this funding, all costs are covered for eligible physicians and NO FEES are associated with this program.

Services are available for physicians, who serve a Medicaid population of 30% or greater, in selecting, implementing, and achieving meaningful use of certified EHR products, as well as, support with privacy & security and registration/attestation assistance for Medicaid EHR incentive payments.

Eligible specialties include:•Cardiology•Endocrinology•Pulmonary Disease•Psychiatry