In addition to the Information Blocking updates we discussed in a recent blog post, the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule also requires use of Cures Act Edition certified software. This will include some new and revised certification criteria. Providers will need to have their EHR updated with these new requirements in time for the 2022 reporting period. Is your EHR provider ready?

The information blocking requirements of the Cures Act Final Rule will take effect on November 2, 2020. This means healthcare providers have barely a month to ensure they are in compliance or risk financial penalties. When it comes to allowing proper access to information as required by HIPAA, commonly called “Right of Access,” regulatory entities have already begun cracking down on violators. In 2019, the Office for Civil rights (OCR) at HHS had announced its intention to more aggressively enforce the rights of patients to have prompt access to medical records without being overcharged for it.

No matter whether your practice is small or large, creating a Quality Improvement Team can provide the ability to remain viable in today’s rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Practices now face penalties up to 9 percent for 2020 and 2021 (an increase of 5 percent from when MIPS started) for poorly demonstrated performance. These penalties will only increase as the years go on, reaching 11 percent by the end of 2023. However, for practices that are able to properly demonstrate high quality and value, bonus potential continues to rise as well. In addition to MIPS, many insurance companies offer incentive programs with significant bonuses based on demonstration of high quality and value in a practice.

In a blog article back in November of last year, we took a close look at the ongoing problem of physician and staff burnout in healthcare, as well as how EHR should be reducing the problem instead of adding to it. However, that was 2019. Needless to say, 2020 has turned out to be a completely different ballgame and the world we now live in is a very different place. Unfortunately, when it comes to burnout and mental health issues among healthcare workers, this situation has only worsened.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently released a broad update to CPT codes for 2021, including guidance for several new codes related to COVID-19. This update to the CPT code set was reviewed and approved by the CPT Editorial Panel convened by the AMA. This is seen as a rather significant event because it is the first AMA overhaul of office visit and outpatient E/M coding in more than 25 years. These new code changes range from 99201 to 99215 and are proposed to be adopted by CMS on January 1, 2021.

Having a specialty-specific EHR is important. However, subspecialty features are sometimes left out of EHR designs. Glaucoma specialists have their own particular needs, and the best EHR should be designed to meet them. For example, it can sometimes be difficult for glaucoma specialists to analyze patient trends over time in order to determine how they are responding to treatment. Also, it can be inefficient when you have to navigate through multiple areas of a patient’s chart to document glaucoma-related data.

Advancements in health IT have come to encompass a wide range of specialized EHR functionalities, including tools designed to address various specialty-specific documentation needs. However, many EHR and Practice Management (PM) solutions remain limited in this regard. A 2015 survey found that 77 percent of respondents were working with EHR solutions that were not designed for, or suited to, their specialties. The same study also found that 80 percent of physicians at the time were dissatisfied with their current EHR solutions. How things have changed in just five short years.

Welcome to the second half of our two-part blog series on Boling Vision Center (BVC), and how their practice not only survived but thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Part 1, we focused on how they created a safe and enjoyable patient experience by developing new processes and services in addition to modifying old ones. In this blog, we will examine how they were able to cost-effectively achieve record numbers by executing an aggressive social media and community outreach initiative during the COVID-19 lockdown.