Health Care Reform in one (1) sentence!

Give the American people the same health care coverage that the lawmakers in Washington are receiving.

With all the bickering, arguments, and politics that is going on in the White House about the health care reform, the one thing that our lawmakers agree on is that they are satisfied with their own health care coverage.  So, if it's good enough for them, why not pass the same coverage to the American people?

Too expensive?  Then they should scale down on their own coverage until it is affordable, then pass the same coverage to the American people.  Doesn't the citizens (American people) deserve the same coverage that their public servants (lawmakers) recieve?  After all, we - the American people - are paying for their health care coverage, anyway.

Posted via web from rommel | badua

The Red Flag Rule - Effective Aug. 1, 2009

With Medical Records being pushed to be made available electronically, hackers are having a field day trying to see how much they can squeeze out of guilty establishments that did not take the necessary precautions in protecting their data.

Two such cases have been posted in the Washington Post:
Extortionists Target Major Pharmacy Processor and Hackers Break Into Virginia Health Professions Database, Demand Ransom.

Effective August 1, 2009 - The Federal Trade Commission will enforce the 'Red Flag Rule' and penalize businesses that do not comply with this federal mandate.  Many health care providers, including home health agencies are subject to comply.  For guidance and resources, our site is a great place to start - http://www.mycmsforms.com.

Does your software vendor protect your patients' sensitive information?  Contact us and we can help you figure it out.

Posted via web from Clinical & Management Solutions

The ideal solution for Home Health Agencies

The Obama administration is encouraging broader use of electronic records in the United States with the aim of reducing medical errors, eliminating redundant testing and saving money overall.

The $787 billion U.S. economic stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama in February, 2009 included $19 billion to promote adoption of health information technology such as electronic medical records.  With the push in automation, home health providers will have to make a choice in choosing the right software vendor that will meet their needs.

Unfortunately, almost all Home Health 'solutions' are more problematic than they are solutions.

There are vendors that target the smaller home health agencies by offering low-priced 'solutions' built with outdated technology that has surpassed its developer's end-of-life' notice and became a patch work of old and, some what, modern technology.  It's like buying a shiny computer with outdated spare parts that are hard to find because they are no longer being manufactured.  Would you trust your confidential patient records in such instability and uncertainty?  Would you compromise your confidential data?  Surprisingly, many agencies are unknowingly heading down this path...and they are paying for this 'technology'!  Does the cost-savings really outweigh the risks?

Then there are the 'big' software vendors who are raking in big bucks in offering costly and lengthy training sessions just to learn how to use and maintain their 'solutions'.  Installation and implementation could take 4 to 6 months - sometimes even more.  In the Home Health industry, time and money is not a luxury.

Some vendors boast offering 24/7 customer support - does it really require 24 hours, 7 days a week to support a 'state-of-the-art' solution?  The more stable and intuitive the solution, the less support it should need.

Because agility is an important factor in survival, the ideal solution is one that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, with the proper security to protect patient records.  With home health agencies being forced to be more efficient, the ideal solution should not require any specialized training such as complex installations and updates.  Many home health agencies cannot afford to have an in-house IT staff so the ideal solution must be virtually maintenance free. Furthermore, to get the clinicians on board and minimize resistance, the user-interface must have the look and feel that they are already accustomed to - paper forms.

Posted via web from Clinical & Management Solutions

Home Health's role in the Healthcare IT market

Healthcare ITNews reported:

The global hospital information systems market will climb past $35 billion by 2015, according to a new forecast by Global Industry Analysts. The United States represents the largest market in the world.

Healthcare around the world is finally seeing the importance of electronic medical records (EMR). The Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) represents the fastest growing hospital information systems market, exhibiting a compounded annual growth rate of 11.5 percent over the next few years, according to analysts. Despite being a smaller market in terms of revenue, the Asia-Pacific promises excellent growth opportunities for hospital information systems, they said.

According to the report:

The growth of the emerging health informatics market is high in countries such as Australia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, India and the Philippines. Emergence of a fast-growing healthcare industry in the Asia-Pacific region augurs well for the future of the global market.

The world is taking significant steps toward enabling healthcare that's safer, more efficient and better connected. We, as individuals, must do our part in taking better care of ourselves. Until then, Clinical & Management Solutions, Inc. will continue to help healthcare providers in providing the best care possible. The best place to start is at home - the Home Health Care industry's focus is to keep patients out of the hospital.

Posted via web from Clinical & Management Solutions