A lot of people are already what the HITECH Act is all about these days. For those who are not familiar with the term, HITECH stands for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health which is part of the American Recovery and Investment Act as stated by the U.S Congress in 2009. This act requires medical establishments to adopt make use of the Electronic Health Records where their deadline falls in the year 2019.
The government nowadays, offers incentive programs for medical establishments who will be following the HITECH Act. Turning their records into EHR systems is highly recommended for better security while getting easy access to their files when needed. Those who are not able to comply with the HITECH Act will be penalized as stated in the act which medical practices are not too keen on experiencing hence the move to the use of EHR.
The HITECH Act project is by far the boldest move of the government in the hopes that medical practices will be using the latest technology there is to help facilitate better service to their patients. Paper filing system is a thing of the past. With HITECH Act, medical practices will no longer have to spend precious minutes writing down patient information when they can simply encode in their computer to be saved with just a click of a mouse.
Through this act, medical facilities will no longer be spending a lot for form sheets, storage centers and the like just to house patient information. What’s more, HITECH Act makes it convenient for patients to get themselves checked up when needed without having to fill up yet another form during their visit. Through EHR, patients can get the right diagnosis and treatment since all the information needed by the doctor can be accessed through the computer database of the medical establishment quickly.
For those who are familiar with health insurance acts, they sure have encountered the term HIPAA. The term literally stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is a law mandating anyone who is a member of a group health insurance to purchase the insurance with a time interval beginning from the time the previous coverage is lost.
This United States health act has two important sections. Title I deals with how health insurance coverage are protected for people who recently lost or changed their jobs. HIPAA Title II deals with the standardization of health-care related information systems. This is the administrative section of the act. The HIPAA in general, establishes mandatory provisions which require extensive changes to the business manner of health care providers.
The act seeks to institute standardized mechanisms in its electronic system for easier data interchange, security, and confidentiality of all data related to healthcare. All patients must have a standard format for its health, administrative, and financial information. Each healthcare entity must also have a unique ID. This means the very issue addressed by this act is security and confidentiality.
With its new mechanisms, it is expected that ill patients will find it easier to obtain health insurance and transmission of medical information are readily available. With HIPAA, individuals will also have to sign a Notice of Privacy Practices to ensure these effects:
- Greater ability to avail of a health coverage when starting a new job.
- Lesser chance of losing existing health coverage.
- Maintain constant health coverage when changing employers.
- Helps in purchasing a new health insurance if lost coverage.
- Enable patients to check and correct their medical records.
- Inform patients on how to use their personal information.
- Privacy procedures are properly documented by health plans/providers.
- Patients can file formal privacy complaints.
These are just few of the benefits an individual can enjoy with HIPAA.
With the nation’s goal of transforming our healthcare system, HITECH Act has a lot to do with how to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of health care. This incentive program is created for Medicare and Medicaid providers demonstrating meaningful use.
Those providers who have been able to meet the requirements of the act will surely benefit from financial payments. They will also enjoy reduction in errors, new reminders and alerts, availability of data and record, electronic prescribing capabilities, and exceptional clinical support.
Here is a summary of the HITECH Act:
INFO 1│ Under the federal economic stimulus package of 2009, health care providers demonstrating meaningful use of the electronic health records (EHR) will obtain incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid. States will receive 90 % funding match from the federal government for the incentive payment distributed by the providers who adopt EHRs with the meaningful use criteria.
INFO 2│ Eligible physicians who check Medicare and Medicaid patients will be given a compensation of $44,000 up to $63,750 through a 5-year term starting next year. However, if the same physicians do not use healthcare IT required by the Federal by 2015, they will be charged with increasing penalties of up to 5 %.
INFO 3│ As part of the incentive, providers will be able to implement individual certified modules which meet the meaningful use criteria. It is important to note that the HITECH Act summary uses the modular approach instead of a paperless EHR.
INFO 4│ Even before the full details has been released, states are advised to start their incentive programs. The Act summary recommends an incremental approach of the program. State agencies are pushing to identify certified systems such as Rcopia-MU- qualifying providers for meaningful use without a full-blown EMR cost. This statement comes from the technical director for the health IT at CMS.
Recently, the arguments on Pres. Obama’s Health Care law have taken all law professionals into debate. The central focus of this controversy is the individual mandate.
Under the Health care bill, everyone is required to have health insurance. This should cover the goal of the bill to spread affordable coverage for everyone with no discrimination. Insurance companies are also mandated to give the same rate for the same age groups.
The first argument is why does the federal government compel people to buy something they may not desire. The government believes that everyone will consume health care in no determined time, which is why a health insurance comes conveniently.
At one point or another, everybody gets sick or is struck by an accident. Therefore, people who has medical care with no insurance will force others who are paying tax and has an insurance coverage to pay for the bill.
But if that mandate is declined, will all other provisions be struck down as well? The government understands how the insurance industry works. You can’t force everyone to buy in and insurance companies won’t be able to give people the same price for those with health conditions and those who are healthy.
This means the administration concedes if ever the mandate is proved to be unconstitutional and that all other conditions should go away too. But will the Medicaid expansion under the health care law forces states to avail of the program?
The joint federal-state program, Medicaid, asks all states to pay for the 50 percent of the costs to care for the disabled and poor. Although states have an option to decline, none has done so far.
This expansion made under Obama’s law will cover those who can’t afford for their bills including pregnant women, children, and all disabled. For the first three years, the government will pay for all the cost. But the states will pay for the 10 percent of the cost by the end of the decade. Looks like, there is no or little argument in the “Medicaid” issue. States have been up for the challenge to take the whole program.
