One of the greatest failings in current medical practice is due to providers having such high patient loads, causing patients to often miss important tests and follow up visits. This results in care not being provided in the most cost effective setting, the primary care office.  Thereby, often providing care in the more expensive emergency rooms and with greater complications. 

The creation of the Department of Health Total Health Record (THR) is critical to improving not only the efficiency, but also the cost effectiveness of Wyoming’s Health Care. The THR approach is a system supported by a web-based electronic health record (EHR) that allows current medical guidance, allergies, diagnoses, procedures, lab work, etc. to be on-line, real time, available to all providers involved in a client’s care. The THR provides patients, their Medicaid providers, and appropriate Medicaid staff the ability to view online a broad range of information pertaining to the patient’s health conditions, treatments, and medical history.

The THR is also designed to have interoperability with the majority of current EHR’s so will be useful to those who have already purchased their systems. The THR could also be expanded to other payers in addition to Medicaid. This is a system that will help health care providers work more efficiently, to ensure their patients are meeting current parameters in the treatment of chronic disease, and to help more efficiently use their staff’s time to order and follow up on these tests.  

Wyoming could be a place where instead of debating how to insure more people, we are actually helping to change the manner in which medicine is practiced, making it more effective and efficient through the tools inherent in the technology.

The overall goal of the THR is to integrate patient-centered and preventive care into the electronic THR in order to emphasize pro-active quality care as a component of provider reimbursement and to facilitate an integrated team approach to managing each patient’s healthcare. The specific goals of the THR are to:

• Improve the quality of care provided to patients by use of electronic tools that support the coordination of services across the continuum of care, the medical home, and specialty care providers.
   
• Enhance opportunities for continuous care improvement and at the same time reduce wasteful use of resources.
   
• Promote adoption of evidence-based care through increased awareness of and participation in available disease management protocols, aimed at improving health outcomes and preventing further disease complications among patients.
   
• Integrate Wyoming Department of Health’s existing information technology infrastructure.

Through the THR, patients will have user-friendly access to their personalized healthcare information in one location, and access to healthcare professionals and educational materials. As a result, the emphasis on improving care management and distinctive health outcomes, along with the reduction in duplicative or unnecessary services, will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Medicaid Program and ultimately lower Medicaid costs.

                                                                                                                                                                             

WHAT'S NEW

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program Website is now available on CMS.gov!

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) has launched the official website for the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. This website provides the most up-to-date, detailed information about the EHR incentive programs.

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals and hospitals as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Bookmark this site and visit http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/ often to learn about who is eligible for the programs, how to register, meaningful use, upcoming EHR training and events, and much more!

 

ONC Issues Final Rule to Establish the Temporary Certification Program for Electronic Health Record Technology

The Office of the National Coordinator for the Health Information Technology (ONC) issued a final rule to establish a temporary certification program for electronic health record (EHR) technology.  The temporary certification program establishes processes that organizations will need to follow in order to be authorized by the National Coordinator to test and certify EHR technology.

For more information about the temporary certification program and rule, please visit http://healthit.hhs.gov.certification.