By the EHRA Privacy & Security Workgroup
Whether you work for a large health system or small physician practice, you know that securing your patients’ data is important, and it’s a responsibility you take seriously. But chances are, you haven’t fully implemented as many cybersecurity best practices as you could. Read the full post »
Posted by EHRA on October 29, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/10/29/five-easy-healthcare-cybersecurity-tips-from-ehr-developers/
By Sasha TerMaat
Co-Chair, EHRA Executive Committee
The final 2019 IPPS rule included changes to the Promoting Interoperability/ Meaningful Use program beginning January 1, 2019. Disappointingly, with only six weeks between the close of the public comment period for the proposed rule in late June and the publication of the final rule in early August, CMS’ rushed process and failure to fully consider stakeholder comments (including EHRA’s) led to a rule filled with measures that will be unworkable, inefficient, and onerous.
In a previous blog we delved into PDMP query as just one of the measures where EHR developers anticipate challenges. In that case it’s due to differing levels of PDMP integration with CEHRT and inconsistent references within the rule about whether the query needs to be made via CEHRT, along with other areas in which the measure is ambiguous.
In this blog post, let’s look at the reasons we’re concerned about a different measure, this one related to opioid treatment agreements.
Posted by EHRA on October 16, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/10/16/ipps-ambiguous-measures-wont-reduce-burden/
By the Clinical Impact Subgroup,
EHRA Opioid Crisis Task Force
During National Health IT Week, we celebrate and take pride in the value that health information and technology has brought to patients and their healthcare providers. We also look ahead to new benefits that health IT can bring.
EHRA is committed to bringing together forward-looking experts from among our 34 member companies to collaborate on solving industry challenges. In 2018, we formed an Opioid Crisis Task Force to research and provide recommendations on ways EHR technology can help with solving the complex puzzle of the opioid crisis. Read the full post »
Posted by EHRA on October 12, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/10/12/coming-soon-guide-to-implementing-cdc-opioid-rx-guidelines-within-the-ehr/
By Sasha TerMaat
EHRA Vice Chair
On August 2, 2018, CMS published the 2600-page pre-publication version of the 2019 IPPS Final Rule. EHRA members have begun digging into the Promoting Interoperability/Meaningful Use program, hoping to see changes based on their public comments on the proposed rule released in May. While we’re glad to see the requirement for 2015 CEHRT in 2019 confirmed, overall we’re disappointed that CMS failed to respond to many of EHRA’s comments as well as other stakeholder feedback.
In releasing the final rule less than six weeks after the public comment period closed (during which it received 1,058 comments), CMS appears to have rushed what should have been a thoughtful process. Several measures will be infeasible to program. Other measures will result in additional burden on clinicians, solely for the purpose of measurement rather than improved patient care.
Read the full post »
Posted by EHRA on August 8, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/08/08/final-ipps-rule-ignores-ehr-developer-concerns-includes-impossible-measures-will-lead-to-increased-clinician-burden/
By Emily Richmond and Tammy Coutts
Chair and Vice Chair, EHRA Clinician Experience Workgroup
Developing a deep understanding of users and their surrounding environment is an important first step in the process of designing usable, safe and effective products. Documenting the who, why and how of individual users and the scenarios they face as part of normal (and abnormal) workflows can take the form of a persona, representing a real user based on qualitative and quantitative research and first-person experience. Personas enable clear understanding of the different users of a product and their goals, problems and backgrounds, cultivating empathy within a development team for who their users really are.
EHRA is pleased to introduce the EHRA Persona Library, created by the EHRA Clinician Experience Workgroup using the input of last year’s Usability Summit participants as a starting point. The library launched with 11 persona templates—ranging from Hospitalist to Family Caregiver to Medical Assistant—with plans to add additional personas in the future. Read the full post »
Posted by EHRA on April 24, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/04/24/introducing-the-ehra-persona-library/
By Nam Nguyen and Sayee Balaji Chandrasekaran, Chair and Vice Chair, EHRA Privacy & Security Workgroup
Cyber-threats are all over the news, including attempts to hack elections, steal corporate trade secrets, and hold medical records for ransom. Phishing is rampant, and is the way most hackers ultimately get into secure systems. The U.S. government has, of course, taken notice, and is taking action on several fronts.
One of those fronts is healthcare, with the release by HHS of the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force’s “Report on Improving Cybersecurity in the Health Care Industry,” which was delivered to Congress in June 2017. The task force wrote, “Our nation must find a way to prevent our patients from being forced to choose between connectivity and security.”
EHRA welcomes this report, which we view as a path forward for increasing security in the healthcare sector. The report directly aligns with two of EHRA’s privacy and security positions: Read the full post »
Posted by EHRA on April 5, 2018
https://ehrablog.org/2018/04/05/why-hhs-needs-a-privacy-leader-and-a-cybersecurity-leader/
