Optum, Mayo Clinic Partner to Launch Optum Labs 

Optum, Mayo Clinic Partner to Launch Optum Labs: An Open, Collaborative Research and Innovation Facility Focused on Better Care for Patients

Other participants from health care, science and academia expected to share insights and pursue solutions that improve health outcomes for people
Optum and Mayo Clinic to combine extensive, de-identified clinical and claims data to help care providers create the most effective approaches to care
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and ROCHESTER, Minn., Jan. 15, 2013 — Optum and Mayo Clinic today jointly launched Optum Labs, an open, collaborative research and development facility with a singular goal: improving patient care. Based in Cambridge, Mass., Optum Labs provides an environment where the health care industry can come together to combine information and ideas that benefit patients today while also driving long-term improvements in the delivery and quality of care.
Optum and Mayo Clinic will make their information assets, technologies, knowledge tools and scientific expertise available to organizations interested in pursuing practical new solutions to patient care challenges. As the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world, Mayo Clinic will also contribute valuable insights directly from patient experiences. Mayo Clinic’s extensive clinical expertise will be instrumental in guiding Optum Labs’ research agenda and applying research results and insights directly to the patient care environment. Combining Mayo Clinic’s extensive clinical insights with Optum’s health care claims information will help doctors better understand all aspects of the patient care experience and refine approaches to care that consistently help patients achieve the best outcomes. Other Optum Labs participants will include academic institutions, life sciences companies, commercial and government payers, and other care providers.

OptumInsight

Patient Portal for New Yorkers Design Challenge

Let us know if you submitted a design.

Good Luck. SV

Calling all Developers and Designers:

NYeC and Health 2.0 Launch Patient Portal for New Yorkers Design Challenge Designs will be reviewed via public voting. Submissions due April 11, 2013. January 15, 2013 (New York, NY) - The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC), in partnership with leading health technology catalyst Health 2.0, invites designers and developers to participate in the Patient Portal for New Yorkers Design Challenge with $25,000 in prizes. Starting today, designers and developers can submit prototypes for a statewide Patient Portal for New Yorkers—a website for patients to access their medical records online. The top portal interface designs will be chosen and voted upon by New Yorkers after the April 11th deadline.   Developers will have 11 weeks to work on and then submit a design for the Patient Portal Challenge. To guarantee patient privacy during the design challenge, developers and designers will be given a test patient data set to build their applications. They will not have access to actual health records. Once all of the submissions are received on April 11th, the New York public will be invited to vote on their favorite designs from April 11-21. The designs with the strongest responses will be invited to present their project at two different demo days—one in New York City in April and another at a location upstate in early May. A winner will be announced shortly thereafter.   After the Challenge, NYeC will work with a vendor to build the portal and run it on behalf of the state on its health information exchange network.   “This is a chance for developers and designers to advance healthcare for all 20 million New Yorkers. A portal of this size and scope has never before existed,” said David Whitlinger, Executive Director of NYeC. “Through our Design Challenge, we hope to inspire applicants to develop truly creative and user-friendly applications. We look forward to seeing all submissions, and eventually building this portal so patients throughout the state have full access to their health records.”   The patient portal prototypes are required to include features that will allow patients to log on with a username and password to see their health records online safely and securely. Once logged in, patients will see a full layout of their health records, and also have access to a list of medical professionals, such as their family doctor, who have accessed their health records. The Patient Portal for New Yorkers will also provide an extensive overview of patient privacy rights, and address privacy concerns a patient might have about Electronic Medical Records and Health IT in general.   “Health 2.0 is excited to be partnering with NYeC on this innovative challenge to design the first statewide patient portal for New York,” said Jean-Luc Neptune, Senior Vice President of Health 2.0. “The winners will not only make a tremendous contribution to the development of a patient portal that reaches nearly 20 million people, but also gain significant exposure and recognition for their achievement through participation in the challenge.”   NYeC has proudly taken the “Blue Button Pledge,” a pledge through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that “empowers individuals to be partners in their health through health IT” and builds off of the Blue Button program’s success in improving care coordination for veterans by giving them easy access to their health data. For more information on the Patient Portal for New Yorkers Design Challenge, and to submit a prototype by April 11th, visit health2con.com/devchallenge/new-york-state-patient-portal-challenge

Deadline to request exemption from ePrescribing penalty is Jan. 31 2013

Physicians who were unable to file for a Medicare ePrescribing hardship exemption by the original deadline have until Jan. 31, 2013 to avoid the 1.5 percent payment penalty in 2013.

 

Acting upon AMA requests, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has re-opened the Communications Support Web page to allow physicians who missed the June 30, 2012 deadline to file for an exemption.

 

Physicians may request a waiver of the 2013 penalty under any of the following categories:

 

• The physician is unable to ePrescribe as a result of local, state or federal law or regulation.
• The physician wrote fewer than 100 prescriptions during the period of Jan. 1–June 30, 2012.
• The physician practices in a rural area that doesn't have sufficient high-speed Internet access.
• The physician practices in an area that doesn't have enough pharmacies that can do ePrescribing.

 

CMS also added two hardship categories for those participating in Medicare’s electronic health record meaningful use program. Physicians do not need to apply for an exemption related to these meaningful use hardship categories; CMS will automatically determine whether physicians meet those requirements.

 

Visit the CMS ePrescribing Web page to learn more. Physicians can contact CMS’s QualityNet Help Desk at (866) 288-8912 or via email with questions or for assistance submitting their hardship exemption requests. Support is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday.

 

Physicians who use Apple computers may experience technical problems; CMS encourages them to contact the Help Desk for assistance.

 

Hardship exemption requests for the 2014 payment penalty will be accepted during a separate period this year.

 

For more information on the Medicare ePrescribing Program, please visit the AMA’s website (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/health-information-technology/incentive-programs/cms-eprescribing-incentive-program.page).

 

Save the Date: April 26, 2013 Annual HIMSS NYS Conference: Health IT - When Disaster Strikes

The annual HIMSS New York State conference is one of the premier gatherings for those interested in health information technology in our state.

This year's focus will be the role of Health IT in disaster preparation.

New for this year are separate afternoon tracks for nurses, pharmacists, and physicians.

Stay tuned for the official call for speakers and sponsors.

HIMSSNYS

CMS Created a New Tipsheet to Help Specialists Meet Meaningful Use

CMS recognizes that not every meaningful use measure applies to every provider participating in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. To help specialty providers successfully meet meaningful use measure requirements and navigate the EHR Incentive Programs, CMS created the Meaningful Use for Specialists Tipsheet.  

Tipsheet topics include:

• Reporting measure exclusions;
• Using other providers' data;
• Determining office visits for applicable measures; and
• Applying for a hardship exemption.

The tipsheet also includes links to resources that can help specialists successfully participate in the EHR Incentive Programs. For helpful materials you can also visit the Educational Resources page on the EHR Incentive Programs website.

Want more information about the EHR Incentive Programs?
Make sure to visit the EHR Incentive Programs website for the latest news and updates on the EHR Incentive Programs.

Dual Identity (Not just for superheroes) Available for phones

One device that can be used at home and at work while keeping both sides secure.
Is there an advantage to having one less device hanging off your belt? Would it help your company's bottom line?
Please participate in our Reader Poll on the subject. SV

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