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NEW! Products & Services Resource Guide

The CHUG Board is very excited to announce the eagerly anticipated launch of the new Products & Services resource guide!

WHAT IS IT? A searchable database of reputable healthcare products, services and solutions, all conveniently located on the CHUG website.

WHY? We wanted to facilitate a more efficient search process for users seeking solutions.

How it works:
Vendors participating in the new program will each receive a spot in the resource database. The more vendors who participate, the more robust the database becomes.

We are encouraging vendors to provide educational materials about their products, white papers, videos, demonstrations, and an interactive calendar of their upcoming events.

To use the database, simply navigate to the new “Products & Services” tab and click on the categories you would like to search. The results will be filtered based on the companies currently assigned to that category.

Click on each company logo to explore their offerings and learn more about their product or service.

It’s as simple as that!

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions.

Best regards, The CHUG Team

Senate passes legislation to repeal SGR!

Notice from AAOE:
April 14, 2015

The United States Senate passed legislation to repeal the flawed Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) today. The legislation will now go to President Barack Obama for his signature, having been passed by the House of Representatives on March 26, 2015. The President has indicated that he will sign the legislation.

With passage of HR 2 – Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, providers will avoid a 21 percent cut that was set to be implemented at midnight on Wednesday, April 15, 2015.

Votes on six amendments to the legislation began at 7:10 pm ET. All six amendments failed. Voting on the House passed legislation began at 9:35 pm ET following a challenge from Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to the legislation not being fully paid for.

The Senate voted 92-8 to repeal the SGR.

Bradley Coffey, MA
Government Affairs Specialist

American Association of Orthopaedic Executives
3925 River Crossing Parkway, Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46240

SGR Repeal – Contact your Senator – ACT NOW!

Earlier today the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation that would permanetly repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula before the March 31 deadline.

Now it is the US Senate’s turn to act, and TIME IS RUNNING OUT before they adjourn later tonight for a two-week recess. That’s why we need you NOW, more than ever, to contact your senators to remind them that they have unfinished business here in Washington, DC.

The president has stated publically that he would sign this bipartisan legislation IF it got to his desk, leaving the Senate as the last hurdle to passing Medicare reform and repealing the SGR once and for all.

We’ve NEVER been this close – let’s make sure SGR reform finally gets across the finish line by contacting your senators through every means available and asking them to pass H.R. 2 (formerly H.R. 1470/S. 810).

1. Call your senators using the AMA’s toll-frr grassroots hotline: 800-833-6354.
2. Send an urgent email to your senators reinforcing the need for SGR repeal now.
3. Contact key senators still undecided on this most critical issue directly through their social media channels and share with your own Facebook friends and Twitter followers as well.

This is urgent. These is still time for Congress to pass meaningul SGR reform before the deadline, BUT IT HAS TO ACT NOW!

For more information on the legislation please read the bill summary and be sure to check out fixmedicarenow.org for all the latest.

Notice from: Washington State Medical Association 2001 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2700 Seattle, Washington 98121

Merit-based Incentive Payment System: Summary & Analysis

Notice from AAOE:
HR 1470, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015 creates the Merit-based incentive Payment System (MIPS) which will combine the three quality incentive payment programs (PQRS, VBM, and EHR MU) into one quality incentive payment program. This sheet summarizes the planned MIPS program as it appears in the proposed legislation. Changes to the program are likely as the legislation makes its way through Congress. This should not be viewed as a final summary of the program.

Click HERE to read the rest of the summary and analysis.

HR 1470 – SGR Repeal & Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015

Notice from AAOE:
On Thursday, March 19, 2015 legislation was introduced in Congress to permanently repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate. AAOE understands that this is an exciting development for our members who are eager to avoid a 21% cut in physician payments on April 1, 2015. Below, readers will find AAOE’s section-by-section analysis of the legislation and what is means for their practices.

This legislation is likely to change as it makes its way through the legislative process. AAOE will continue to update its members on changes to the legislation as they occur.

Click HERE to read the full article by AAOE.

Message from the CHUG Board

Good Day CHUG Community,

This past weekend the CHUG Board of Directors met with members of the GE Healthcare IT Senior Leadership team at our quarterly board meeting. We worked collectively and collaboratively with the GE team to advocate on your behalf by voicing your concerns regarding Centricity Practice Solution and Centricity EMR.

The conversation centered on the following themes:

• System Integrity – Outages of CQR, etc
• Regulatory Compliance – PQRS, MU, moving targets
• Urgency to Fix Long Standing Items
• Improving Communication Content & Frequency
• Engaging Users in the Product Development Process

The following items were important to note:

• GE Senior Leadership continues to be devoted to hearing and understanding challenges surrounding CPS and CEMR.
• GE has recently restructured its Engineering Teams. System integrity and producing quality releases are vitally important to this new team.
• Regulatory compliance has become a moving target, and GE is working with key regulatory entities to ensure their customers have the most up-to-date information as quickly as possible.

As a result, the following action items have been created:

• On February 11th, 2015 the CHUG Board sent a letter to Mr. Jan De Witte, President and CEO of GE Healthcare IT, requesting a meeting to discuss and advocate for the needs of the users (request and response attached). We look forward to meeting with Mr. De Witte and members of his leadership team at CHUG @ Centricity Live.
• Based upon your feedback, the CHUG Board has developed a list of 15 items that have been long standing issues. In March, we hope to communicate the full list to you, including resolution dates promised by GEHCIT.
• The CHUG Board will continue to work closely with GEHCIT to deliver needed information in a timely way
• As a community, CHUG will start to become increasingly active in lobbying the US government for regulatory relief. Please keep an eye out for further communications.

These are all steps in the right direction as we continue to advocate on the behalf of users. Please continue to reach out to the CHUG Board to have your voice heard. Get involved in one of our many committees, there is so much good we can do together.

On a personal note, as the new President of the CHUG Board of Directors, I hope we are able to continue this initial momentum into concrete improvements for all GE Centricity users. With open, honest, transparent, and collaborative communication from all stakeholders, I believe we will be able to realize amazing improvements and innovations.

Thank you for your time and attention, I look forward to seeing all of you in Orlando, FL at CHUG at Centricity Live and in New York City on October 1st-3rd, 2015 for the Fall CHUG.

Respectfully,
Etan M. Walls, CISSP
President, Centricity Healthcare User Group Board of Directors

Change to PQRS Insurance Filter

Notice from GE Healthcare:

Dear Quality Submission Service Participant:

We would like to make you aware of an issue that some customers have experienced with the filters for PQRS measure selection. We have defined the root cause and deployed a solution in the cloud Clinical Quality Reporting (CQR) system. Below we’ve provided important updates on the issue, what we have done to resolve it, the actions that certain customers will need to take if they are experiencing the issue, and other useful tips to prepare for authorization….read the rest of the communication here.

Upcoming Change to PQRS Insurance Filter

Notice from GE Healthcare:

Dear Quality Submission Service Participant:

We want to share important information about the PQRS program.

Within the last few days, GE Healthcare learned that some customers experienced issues with the insurance filters for PQRS measure selection.  We’ve addressed the issue and will deploy a solution to this issue tonight (Thursday, February 12) in the cloud Clinical Quality Reporting (CQR) system.

As a result, we are extending the authorization deadline to February 18th….Read the rest of the communication here.

Webinar Etiquette

How many webinars, on-line meetings, or calls have you been on in the past month? We have complied a list of the Top 4 things Not To Do:

1. Show up late and interrupt the conversation to let those know you have arrived.

2. Forget you are on mute. People are asking you questions and you aren’t responding? Why? Check your phone to make sure you haven’t forgotten to un-mute the call!

Read more

Is there Light at the end of this Healthcare Tunnel?

“Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response to what happens.  An response is something we can choose at any moment.” www.livelifehappy.com

Does anyone else feel like healthcare is consuming most of your life these days? I am reading blogs on Healthcare IT, Healthcare law, Healthcare updates, Healthcare mandates, Healthcare…you get the idea.

As a Practice Administrator, I feel as though I should have an IT, law, administration, accounting, and marketing degree. I am fortunate to work for a Physician that believes in investing in his employees and providing resources to get our jobs done, but I wonder about those that don’t? Even with endless resources, the burden to stay on top of the latest news in healthcare is cumbersome. On top of the things you HAVE to do, what about the things you want to do?

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MU 2: 2 Fast 2 Soon?

Those who have upgraded to EMR 9.8 or CPS 12 have done so most likely with the plans to attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2. Here we are, almost to the end of the year and many users are throwing their hands in the air. An article written in August by Healthcare IT News, has noted many meaningful users are falling short. They note “too few people really, truly grasp the magnitude of the changes compared to Stage 1.”

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