P4P
Smaller practices to share in Medicare's pie
The Numbers
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CMS plans to test a new initiative to pay physicians for improving the quality of care they provide to seniors and disabled
beneficiaries with chronic conditions. While the agency has previously implemented pay-for-performance demonstrations for
hospitals and large multispecialty groups, the new program is aimed at physicians in solo-to-medium-sized practices. During
the first year, the program will be a "pay-for-reporting" initiative to collect baseline information on quality and to familiarize
physicians with the measurement process. In subsequent years, practices will be eligible to earn an annual incentive of up
to $10,000 per physician and up to $50,000 per practice. Scheduled to launch in 2007, the three-year project will be limited
to about 800 physicians in four states: Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, and Utah.
AIR TRAVEL More passengers are getting the boot
The number of airline riders bumped involuntarily from their flights rose to more than 33,000 during the first half of the
year, says the US Department of Transportation. By comparison, about 25,000 confirmed passengers didn't get a seat during
the same period a year earlier. Regional airlines Atlantic Southeast and Comair had the highest bump rate, while JetBlue and
AirTran had the lowest rate. Plan on getting to the airport as early as possible, since the last passenger to check in is
usually the first to be bumped.
TECHNOLOGY
Low-cost EHRs get official approval
The government-backed Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) recently certified 11 EHRs,*
adding them to the list of 22 products that it approved in July. The newly certified EHRs were among 17 programs that vendors
submitted to CCHIT in August. The companies that make the other six EHRs either withdrew their application, postponed testing,
or failed to demonstrate compliance with all of CCHIT's 152 criteria.
Most of the recently approved EHRs are inexpensive products from small vendors. Health IT experts say that this undercuts
claims by CCHIT critics that certification is a plot by big vendors to drive small ones out of the market. On the other hand,
the fact that six products didn't make the cut this time suggests that many EHRs can't pass the test. Mark Anderson, a consultant
based in Montgomery, TX, predicts that no more than 50 of the 300 EHRs on the market will get certified, and he wonders whether
that number will dwindle further when CCHIT toughens its certification requirements in coming years.
*ABELMed PM-EMR by ABELSoft, AcerMed by AcerMed, Bond Clinician EHR by Bond Technologies, Medical Practice EMR by CPSI, Sunrise
Ambulatory Care by Eclipsys, CareRevolution by EHS, PrimeSuite by Greenway Medical Technologies, MediNotes e by MediNotes, MedPlexus EHR by MedPlexus, Avatar by Netsmart Technologies, and NoteworthyEHR by Noteworthy Medical Systems.
CCHIT also approved a certification tag for ProPractica's StreamlineMD, which is a privately labeled version of a previously
certified product.
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