What's New
Imagine, Build, and Transform
2013 Campaign for Western Connecticut Health Network
Every day, WCHN physicians and hospital staff come to work with specific objectives of what we will accomplish.
Together we imagine the results we create, build the necessary resources to deliver that care to our patients and communities, and transform people as a result of all our efforts.
That’s what the 2013 Campaign for Western Connecticut Health Network is all about, how we IMAGINE, BUILD, and TRANSFORM.
The Campaign aims to raise awareness about the high level of expertise and technology available within the Network and also raise the funds needed to provide our patients and their families with the best care for generations to come.
The 2013 Campaign will directly benefit the Critical Care Unit in the new Patient Tower at Danbury Hospital and the new Emergency Department at New Milford Hospital to support life-saving healthcare needs in our community.
ICD-10 Education is Underway!
The ICD-10 Education Workstream, led by Kathy Petruzzelli, is developing the strategies to educate the various learning groups, such as coders and documenters, affected by the transition to ICD-10 coding (required by October 2014). The strategies and the timeline developed by the Education Workstream will help ensure that the job functions across the Network that are impacted by ICD-10 are prepared in time for the changeover. Therefore, individual practices and departments within Western Connecticut Health Network DO NOT NEED to research, purchase or develop their own training or education modules.
"Click here for overview of the timeline for ICD-10 training and education, a good deal of which is already underway. Please review this chart to better understand the general timeframes for the various learning groups. If you have any questions or concerns about education/training for employees in your practice, please contact Kathy Petruzzelli directly.
Preparing for the Affordable Care Act
Robert Langley, Executive Director
WCHN PHO
The WCHN PHO will use DOC-Line to offer suggestions to help physicians and their practices prepare for the Affordable Care Act. This introductory column will address technology. Succeeding articles will cover Preparing for ICD 10 and working with Health Insurance Exchanges (HIXs).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (ACA) often referred to as Obamacare, addresses many health care issues including improved access to insurance coverage, the expansion of public programs, insurance mandates and subsides for both individuals and companies, system performance and quality improvement, changes in reimbursement, and the provision for Health Insurance Exchanges intended to allow individuals to shop for insurance plans.
Two very practical guides to understanding the ACA can be found at KFF.Org (Kaiser) and acponline.org (American College of Physicians) Michelle We need links for stuff in red http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/affordable_care_act/ You can direct your patients to Healthcare.gov for a clear explanation aimed at non-professionals.
The ACA is being implemented over several years. The acponline.org/advocacy website, in addition to a clear description of the ACA, also has a detailed time line for implementation. Some provisions are already or close to being implemented, including coverage for dependents up to age 26, coverage for pre-conditions, lifting lifetime limits on coverage, providing for preventive care and establishing comparative effectiveness research. The Medicare Shared Savings (Accountable Care) program and the national pilot program on payment bundling are among other provisions now being implemented.
Whether physicians judge the ACA as good or bad policy, it is here and needs to be managed. AND THE FIRST THING YOUR PRACTICE SHOULD DO - PREPARE YOUR TECHNOLOGY
Your practice will require sophisticated health information technology in order to function in the new health care environment formed by the ACA and other reforms. Here are some of the complex activities your practice will face:
- Participating in the new Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) so that you will have access to patients who use the exchange to choose their insurance plan. (We will discuss HIXs in a future article.)
- Transitioning to ICD 10, the replacement coding for ICD 9.
- Participating in CMS’s ‘Pay for reporting’ programs and demonstrating quality and coordination of care to earn higher reimbursement and avoid penalties.
- Transitioning to the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) care model and achieving recognition status from NCQA. (ncqa.org/Programs/Recognition/PatientCenteredMedicalHomePCMH.aspx)
- Participating in new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that involve significant coordination, collaboration and communication to achieve clinical integration among the ACO providers.
- Demonstrating ‘meaningful use’ of EMRs in order to secure available CMS incentive payments.
- Streamlining administration and paperwork with insurers and avoiding occasions of fraud and abuse.
For all of the above, the EMR is a basic requirement, but there are other technical issues of connectivity, HIPPA, clinical and operational functioning. Each practice must diagnose its technology status, identify its needs and develop a plan to meet those needs.
The WCHN PHO has chosen Complete HealthCare Solutions (CHS), McKesson’s premier EMR business partner to provide local implementation services. CHS is providing the following service and support for our PHO EMR initiative: EMR and Practice Management software, Revenue Cycle Management, Meaningful Use consultation, and a full team of service and support specialists. Several PHO practices have implemented the CHS EMR solution during the past six months, met Meaningful Use stage 1 requirements, and are live and satisfied. Our CHS representative is Adam Provost, and he can be reached at 800-250-8687 or aprovost@mailchs.com.
Complete HealthCare Solutions is now familiar with WCHN and we have some influence with them, but there are other Health Information Technology firms. You can internet search for them or talk with other practices that are upgrading their technology.
The PHO welcomes inquiries from all members of the medical staff. If you have questions about preparing for the ACA and the technology challenges, please contact me at Robert.Langley@wchn.org or 203-739-6499.
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