An occasional topic of conversation around the dinner table at my house concerns the value of the smartphone. Per Wikipedia, a smartphone can be described as “a high-end mobile phone that combines the … [Read more...]
Patient Access to Lab Results
Increasingly we are seeing models or frameworks that are changing the healthcare equation to put the patient at the center. ACOs and the Patient-Centered Medical Home are recent examples of this … [Read more...]
Pay 4 Reporting Update
I had the opportunity last week to speak about meaningful use and pay for reporting at the FMC Medical Directors meeting in Dallas. I thought this week I would provide a quick update related to a … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday: The Acumen Blog Is 1 Year Old!
It is hard to believe but this past weekend marks one year since we began our excursion into the realm of social media. The original post served as an introduction and announced our intent to provide … [Read more...]
Meaningful Use: Are We There Yet?
The CMS EHR Incentive Program, aka Meaningful Use, is a frequent topic in this blog. The program comes in a couple of flavors. In our experience, the Medicare flavor is the one most nephrologists will … [Read more...]
Avoiding the 2012 eRx Penalty: Christmas in September?
Last month I reviewed a proposal by CMS to limit the impact of the 2012 eRx “adjustment.” On August 31, CMS published the final rule entitled “Changes to the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive … [Read more...]
Change Is a Double-Edged Sword
I have spent the last week or so thinking about change and its impact on our day to day existence. Call it a slow week in the Health IT world, but in fact this is a remarkably relevant topic for all … [Read more...]
Proposed Changes to the e-Rx Incentive Program: Is CMS Softening the Blow?
For the past couple of weeks we have been talking about the contents of the proposed rule for the 2012 Medicare PFS. While not written in stone, the proposed rule does provide insight into the … [Read more...]
