Meaningful Use to drive Interconnectivity in Health care

The Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee began meeting June 16 to discuss the definition of “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). From this initial meeting, the committee released objectives to further define “meaningful use”. Among the objectives are the following requirements:

• Use CPOE for all order types including medications
• Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically
• Provide patients with an electronic copy or electronic access to clinical information such as lab results, problem lists, medication lists and allergies
• Exchange key clinical information among providers of care
• Submit electronic data to immunization registries where required and accepted
• Provide electronic submissions of reportable lab results to public health agencies
• Provide electronic surveillance data to public health agencies according to applicable law and practice

A common thread of future interconnectivity in the health care industry is woven into each objective. In the current system, technology is built around “silos of information” where each silo is unable to communicate to another.

Providers, hospitals, medical centers suffer financially because of the time and money that is wasted due to inefficiencies in such a fractured system. As patients, we have accepted the consequential inconveniences such as receiving prescriptions by paper, picking up or faxing medical records to new doctors, and receiving unplanned invoices after a visit.

In order for the health care industry to move forward successfully, it must do so as a whole unit rather than individual silos. If all the silos are interconnected, it will greatly increase the efficiency at which health care transactions are processed and will reduce unnecessary expenditures – improvements that will benefit health care providers and patients. The HIT Policy Committee’s decisions will be the catalyst to drive this interconnectivity that is needed to provide true value.

Clearwave Supports MGMA's SwipeIT Campaign

Clearwave supports MGMA’s SwipeIT campaign to promote the adoption of standardized patient identification cards containing HIPAA-compliant, machine-readable information. MGMA estimates that machine-readable patient ID cards will save practices more than $1 billion a year. Focusing on the same goal to reduce health care administrative costs, Clearwave provides real-time patient insurance eligibility information at the point of service.

Widespread adoption of magnetic patient ID cards alone will not solve all of the issues during the check-in process; redundancies must be built into the solution to address the following:

1. insurance companies adopt different standards
2. insurance companies decide not to issue magnetic stripe cards
3. patients don’t carry their card
4. patients’ magnetic stripe card is damaged
5. self-pay and uninsured patients

Clearwave has addressed all of the above items by creating a universal kiosk machine that allows patients with a magnetic stripe card, paper card or no card to successfully check-in without the assistance of office staff.

Once the information enters the Clearwave network, we perform a real-time eligibility check and return the payer’s response to the front desk’s computers. Front desk personnel can now accurately collect amounts for co-payments, co-insurance and remaining deductible before the patient leaves the office. Alleviating data entry errors, Clearwave also reduces a practice’s denied claims because the claim is submitted clean the first time.

Like MGMA, Clearwave is committed to advancing the health care industry by reducing costs and improving inefficiencies. Clearwave’s customers are able to collect more from the patient at the point of care, and on the back end, the office receives faster reimbursement from the payers.

What to expect in 2009

During the past several years, healthcare costs for patients have risen steadily in the form of higher co-pays and deductibles, shifting the burden of payment to the patient. This becomes challenging for healthcare providers as this burden falls into their hands and becomes a serious and costly collection process.

With the cost of healthcare services predicted to rise by 10 percent in 2009, providers need to prepare their staff to collect the correct amount from the patient at the point of service so that higher healthcare costs don’t equal higher collection costs.

The IRS has already set the limits for high deductible health plans for 2009. The minimum individual deductible is $1,150 with the maximum set at $5,800. For family plans, it is $2,300 to $11,600. Healthcare providers need to ensure that they know not only what each patient’s total deductible is but most importantly how much of that deductible is remaining.

If the front desk staff does not have this information when the patient is in the office, then they will not be able to accurately gather payment. Therefore, the office’s collection costs and bad debt expense will only continue to rise.

Following these market trends, Clearwave has strategically positioned itself to help you prepare before you are loaded down with higher collection costs. Clearwave has done the research and is ready with the solution.

There are no surprises about the increase in healthcare costs and the rising number of high deductible health plans, so there is no reason to not prepare.

Breaking Down the Healthcare Barriers

When Clearwave started, we looked at the healthcare industry as a whole, recognized the problems and created solutions to transform the established system. We have maintained this mentality during the past five years.

With established systems, it is easy to identify the problems but difficult to discover the solutions. People become trapped in the inefficiencies of the current system and ultimately become resistant to change because they are looking from the inside out.

Clearwave was formed to bring the necessary solutions to the market to improve the healthcare industry. Starting at the front desk, we have slowly chipped away at the current process and have initiated a more efficient system. With each day, we break down more barriers to change.

Because we realize people are hesitant to change what is familiar, we have taken the approach of “one doctor at a time,” which has been crucial to our success. We are willing to knock on each doctor’s door until the entire healthcare system is transformed.

Clearwave Adds Insight Imaging to Client List

This summer, Clearwave rolled out 24 kiosks to various Insight Imaging locations in Texas and California and is quickly adding them to all of Insight’s 100 facilities. By the end of the year, Clearwave plans to install and to deploy 60 more kiosks for Insight across the country.

Adding Insight Imaging as a client means more than just adding 100 offices to our customer list. It expands our operations into new states and across different demographics. Our staff has been able to seamlessly adjust to any differences based on these new locations, breaking down any geographical barriers that may exist.

For example, we are in the process of adding a Mandarin and Cantonese language option to our kiosk because of the large population of Chinese using our product in California.

Through this installment, we also have enhanced our integration platform to normalize the process for each of Insight’s locations. This way, we know that each office will have the same functionality, service and quality of data.