As 2012 comes to a close, we find ourselves in that intriguing situation where the last day of the year coincides with our weekly Monday post. Not surprisingly, the last day of the year falls on a Monday four times every 28 years. Thanks to the “leap day” required within the Gregorian calendar, however, ending the year at the start of the workweek does not occur at evenly spaced intervals. Calendar trivia aside, this year has witnessed a number of changes at the intersection of health information technology and nephrology and many of those changes were topics in this blog. I spent some time reviewing this year’s posts and with our final post of 2012, let’s examine the highlights:
January
The last post of the first month provided a quick overview of Smartphones and their impact on Health IT. Research in Motion was trying to correct what many considered a death spiral as Blackberry continued to lose market share. That trend continues today. Of interest the survey at the end of this post garnered more response than any survey we have published to date.
February
In February we received confirmation from Secretary Sebelius that the ICD-10 transition had been postponed yet again. Officially, 1 year and 9 months separate us from the new ICD-10 compliance date, October 1, 2014. We should not be surprised if many providers elect to retire on September 30 of that year.
March
As spring rolled around we had our first glimpse of the proposed rule for the second Stage of the meaningful use program. There was a lot to digest in the NPRM, not the least of which was the idea that the program would continue beyond Stage 3.
April
April showers brought a couple of unusual posts. The first was a review of the lessons delivered by that technology icon, the late Steve Jobs. The second was an excursion through Prospect Theory, reminding us that losses loom larger than gains. The arrival of the eRx penalty in 2012 brings real perspective to this theory.
May
May’s flowers included an e-prescribing update from Surescripts. Almost 60% of office-based providers were using electronic prescribing by the end of 2011. The rapid rise in adoption over the past few years occurred concurrently with the CMS eRx program, not a coincidence in my view.
June
June brought us a review of the PQRS CKD measures group. In spite of some interesting challenges presented by the 2012 version of this widely popular nephrology choice, in our experience PQRS registry demand has never been greater as we conclude the fourth year of Acumen PQRS. June also spawned a post related to Atul Gawande’s presentation at the FMC medical directors meeting. In his view, medicine continues to train Cowboys in a world that increasingly needs Pit Crews.
July
In July, Dr. Evan Norfolk provided one of our many guest blog posts of the year. Evan’s discussion of the impact of texting in our professional lives highlights an area we anticipate will only grow in importance in the months ahead. In the same vein, we also learned about the physician value-based payment modifier, another topic with importance to our collective futures.
August
Things slowed down during the dog days of summer, but there was time to explore the important relationship between PQRS and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s maintenance of certification program.
September
In September we tackled two important topics related to Meaningful Use. First the Stage 2 final rule was reviewed from a distance. Later that month, avoiding the approaching meaningful use penalty was the topic of conversation.
October
As fall weather approached we provided an overview of the PQRS program’s history and explored the program’s future. Hard to believe we are concluding year six of this original CMS pay-for-reporting program.
November
Proving November is not just for turkeys, CMS published what is likely to become one of the most useful mechanisms to avoid future eRx penalties. If a provider either registers for the meaningful use program or demonstrates meaningful use during one of the eRx payment adjustment reporting periods, they will be excluded from the penalty.
December
And hot off the press is last week’s insight into Stage 3 garnered from a review of the HIT Policy Committees early request for comment. We will not face the Stage 3 hurdles until 2016, but one can never start too soon.
As we look forward to 2013, let’s not forget what we learned in 2012. I hope this brief trip through our blog’s last 12 months has been useful. As we prepare for 2013, all of us at the Acumen blog would like to wish you a Safe and Prosperous New Year.
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