The AMA stands in the way of nationwide implementation of HIT!?

Washington, D.C. – The American Medical Association (AMA) urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to revise the Medicare e-prescribing penalty policy in a letter sent to HHS Secretary Sebelius. 

AMA asserts that this policy, which would penalize physicians in 2012 if they don’t e-prescribe in the first six months of 2011, "will hurt efforts to implement widespread health IT adoption among physician practices and cause them to take on needless financial and administrative burdens".

Such assertion could not be further from the truth, as implementation of e-prescribing will foster widespread use of HIT, and specifically electronic medical records (EMR). Implementation of e-prescribing will reduce incidence of medication errors, reduce complications of multi-pharmacy and will significantly reduce fraud and abuse of prescription medications.

The facts are in direct contradiction to statements by AMA Board Secretary Steven J. Stack, M.D. regarding the issue, as not aligning these programs will ultimately delay physicians’ efforts to adopt a complete EHR.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS) has said that physicians cannot receive incentives from both the Medicare e-prescribing incentive program and the Medicare EHR incentive program simultaneously. However, if physicians choose not to participate in the 2011 e-prescribing program, they will face penalties in 2012 and 2013 

Once again, the once  relevant organization  ends up with an egg on its face.  I guess the Board of AMA as utilized the same due diligence philosophy used in its ill-fated commercial endorsement of Sunbeam products without testing what it was putting its stamp of approval on..

Dr. Stack, for one, makes me proud of having the foresight to quit AMA in 1981!

For more information on AMA's cockeyed decision process, please contact:

Lisa Lecas

AMA Media Relations

312-464-5980

lisa.lecas@ama-assn.org

Not anecdotal any more--State of California loses medical information on 2,500 Californians!

Over the past 18 years of advocating and working towards adequate protections of privacy and confidentiality of health/medical r records/information,  I have published  at least two dozen  of bleaches  of patient identifiable information. 

Most  losses are due either to intentional and just negligent violation of existing protocols and procedures by the employees of health care organizations (on all levels), or lack of proper technological barriers to prevent losses, or a combination of both. The latest massive breach comes courtesy of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which reported losing data for more than 2,500 facility residents, department employees and other health-care workers to state authorities this week.  The lost information was stored on an unencrypted magnetic tape, and included everything from employee emails and background information on health-care workers to the names and diagnoses of health facility residents and social security numbers for both employees and patients. In September 2010, the tape was sent from a CDPH field office in West Covina to the central office in Sacramento via the U.S. Postal Service; while the envelope that was supposed to have contained the tape arrived, it was unsealed and empty. The standard procedure for handling such media containing personal medical information of thousands of  Californians is to have all patient-specific data encrypted at a proper level, and the tape/CD itself to be send by insured and bonded carrier. CDPH is "not wasting any time" and is taking "immediate corrective measures" to mitigate the consequences by “…notifying anyone who may have been affected by the breach”. Most of these problems could be avoided by implementation of a robust and secure Electronic Medical Record(EMR) or Electronic Health Records (EHR). That is why TeleMed  Partners are working hard to promote and implement such systems on all levels of health care. In a mean time, if concerned with security of your health/medical data/information, please call the CDPH at (916) 558-1784 to inquire as to who and how  is safeguarding your medical information? We gripe, you decide.

Prof. Victor Dorodny in the National Press

January 14th, 2011 issue of Self Funding Magazine publishes the "Killing Granny?" article by Prof. Victor Dorodny of rationing of health care. 

Here is the link: http://www.selffundingmagazine.com/article-detail.php?issue=issue-13&article=killing-granny

                                                     

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The December 2010 issue National Health Reform Magazine publishes Prof. Victor Dorodny's article "HIT $olutions for PPACA or Symbiosis between Telemedicine & PPACA".

Here is the link:   http://healthcarereformmagazine.com/article/hit-olutions-for-ppaca-or-symbiosis.html