CAQH announced that a Transition Committee has been launched to make recommendations regarding multi-stakeholder governance of the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange® (CORE®). The Committee is charged to develop a three-year governance plan that outlines structure and revenue models for CORE.  The CORE Transition Committee members represent various stakeholder groups and includes senior-level executives top healthcare organizations.

Change to Drive Expanded Participation and Support Shift to Mandated Environment for Operating Rules Development

Washington, DC (April 26, 2011) − CAQH^® today announced that a Transition Committee has been launched to make recommendations regarding multi-stakeholder governance of the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange^® (CORE^®).  The Transition Committee was formed as part of a 2010 commitment made by the CAQH board to increase industry participation in operating rules development and adoption.  The Committee is charged to develop a three-year governance plan that outlines structure and revenue models for CORE.  It is anticipated that the Committee will complete its work and implement its recommendations by the fourth quarter of 2011.

Since 2005, the goal of CAQH CORE has been to improve provider access to administrative information before or at the time of service, using the electronic system of the provider’s choice for any patient or health plan. CORE participants have finalized two sets of operating rules that are streamlining administrative exchanges.  These rules have been voluntarily adopted by a wide range of leading industry organizations.  An independent study shows that becoming certified for adopting the CORE rules results in documented return on investment.

“The current CORE governance model and multi-stakeholder collaboration is guiding the voluntary operating rule-writing process today.  However, to support the changing environment in which operating rules are mandatory, the Committee will make recommendations to broaden multi-stakeholder governance and engagement,” said Linda Fishman, Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the American Hospital Association and a member of the Transition Committee. “This change is critical to the CORE goal of aligning clinical and administrative simplification objectives.  Most important though, is that broadening the perspectives at the table will help ensure that the operating rules reduce administrative costs for all and improve the workability of administrative processes for everyone. And the greater the standardization of processing, the easier it will be to achieve interoperability, especially as we move into an era of ever-increasing accountability.”

While outlining governance and revenue models, the Committee will preserve the CORE integrated approach to rule-writing, certification, outreach and education.  Additionally, the Committee will reinforce the CORE commitment to support the operating rules mandate of the Administrative Simplification requirements outlined in Section 1104 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  In doing so, the Committee will propose ideas for enhancing the current CORE multi-stakeholder approach to increase participation by states, physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers.

The CORE Transition Committee members represent various stakeholder groups and include senior-level executives from the following organizations:

-       Allscripts

-       America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)

-       American Hospital Association (AHA)

-       American Medical Association (AMA)

-       Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

-       GE Healthcare

-       J.P. Morgan

-       Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)

-       Minnesota Department of Health

-       Montefiore Medical Center

-       National Governors Association (NGA)

-       UnitedHealthcare

-       WellPoint, Inc.

More details about representatives and the Committee, which is being facilitated by the CORE Chair, are available online at http://www.caqh.org/CORE_Transition_Committee.php.

About CORE

An initiative of CAQH, the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) is a multi-stakeholder industry collaboration developing operating rules that streamline administrative transactions.  Over the past six years, CORE participation has grown to more than 120 participating organizations that represent approximately 75% of the commercially insured lives plus Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. CORE has a proven track record of rules adoption through certification and stakeholder return on investment.  The CORE rules are improving provider access to patient benefits coverage and financial information at the point-of-care. Neither the CAQH Board nor CAQH staff has any veto or voting power related to the CORE rules.  To learn more about CORE, visit www.caqh.org/benefits.php.

About CAQH

CAQH serves as a catalyst for industry collaboration on initiatives that simplify healthcare administration for health plans and providers, resulting in a better care experience for patients and caregivers. CAQH solutions help promote quality interactions between plans, providers and other stakeholders; reduce costs and frustrations associated with healthcare administration; facilitate administrative healthcare information exchange; and encourage administrative and clinical data integration. Visit www.caqh.org for more information.

The report finds that lack of interoperability among products, devices and services from various vendors is limiting the number of viable healthcare solutions available on the market. One of its key points is that the buyers of personal health solutions need to demand that vendors create devices that work easily and seamlessly with other eHealth applications. Continua is working to lead this change, by developing design guidelines to help device and system manufacturers ensure that their products work together smoothly so consumers can purchase personal connected health products with confidence.

SmartPersonalHealth project publishes final report and recommendations

Brussels 26 April 2011.  Failure to address interoperability has been identified as a major challenge for the growing personal health solutions market, states the conclusions of the SmartPersonalHealth project report published today. The report, “Enabling smart integrated care: Recommendations for fostering greater interoperability of personal health systems” contains recommendations for the advancement towards an interoperable personal health ecosystem.

One of the key recommendations is that the buyers of personal health solutions need to understand and value interoperability, and demand it from vendors.

“The project partners share the belief that if Europe wants to reap the full benefit of personal health systems, health stakeholders must understand the benefits of interoperability, and be empowered to demand those systems from vendors”, says Veli Stroetmann, researcher at Empirica. “Only if there are buyers who demand interoperable systems, vendors will bring them to market.”

“Personal health systems” are a summary term to connote devices and applications, some converging from the consumer electronics world, which have enormous potential to empower patients, improve quality of life, and realise cost benefits for Europe’s beleaguered health systems.  Examples include pedometers to monitor personal activity, Wi-Fi enabled weight scales and sensors for the homecare of patients with chronic diseases, and smart phone apps that allow individuals control over their fitness and diet regime.  Personal health systems are slowly coming onto the market and are being recommended by doctors and health insurers to help us all monitor our health and wellness.  They are a key element of the growth of eHealth in Europe.

Their full benefit can only be realised if they are interoperable – that is, if a device from one vendor works easily and seamlessly with other eHealth applications.  To advance their interoperability and market adoption, SmartPersonalHealth recommends

• equal standing for those guidelines and standards developed by private consortia and fora with those from official standard making bodies;
• public/private partnerships for education and training to promote better understanding and implementation of personal health systems;
• meaningful financial incentives that reward the procurement of interoperable solutions; and
• legal empowerment for procurers to insert interoperability requirements in their tenders.

“We appreciate the good work from the consortium and will take their recommendations into consideration as we look at fostering  interoperability of personal health systems in line with the Digital Agenda for Europe,” says Benoit Abeloos, Project Officer in the ICT for Health unit of DG Information Society.

“Enabling smart integrated care: Recommendations for fostering greater interoperability of personal health systems” is available, along with more information about the project and individual reports from all stakeholder workshops, at the project website at http://sph.continuaalliance.org.

SmartPersonalHealth was a project developed by Continua Alliance, the European Telecommunication Standards Institute, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, Empirica, coordinated by Edelman | The Centre.

About the partners in SmartPersonalHealth Project

The SmartPersonalHealth project is a Support Action project partially funded by the Directorate-General Information Society of the European Commission under the 7^th Framework Programme.

Continua Alliance is the global industry consortium to promote the interoperability of PHS devices and systems counting more than 200 technology, medical device and health care members worldwide.

ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, produces globally applicable standards for Information & Communications Technologies. ETSI is recognised as an official European Standards Organisation by the European Union, enabling valuable access to European markets.

IHE, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, is a global initiative involving more than 300 stakeholders (healthcare professional associations, industry, health authorities, etc.), the worldwide reference organisation for the interoperability of healthcare information systems and devices.

Empirica is a Bonn based European research institute with a broad understanding of political, business and socio-economic issues surrounding eServices and telematics applications.

Edelman | The Centre, coordinating the project, is a European consultancy, with expertise in public affairs, communication and events organisation.

Practice Fusion, the fastest growing EHR community in the country onboarding 350 new users each day, announced today passing 10 million patients served through it’s web-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. The announcement follows news of the $23 million Series B round of financing led by Founders Fund earlier this month.

San Francisco, CA – April 26, 2010 – Practice Fusion, the fastest growing EHR community in the US, announced that it now serves more than 10 million patients and 80,000 medical professionals through its web-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform. Focused on delivering free technology to small medical practices, the company is adding 350 new users each day and supports over a quarter million patient visits a week. The announcement follows news of the $23 million Series B round of financing led by Founders Fund earlier this month.

Now onboarding one million patients each month, Practice Fusion has outpaced other innovative, web-based EHR communities including Kaiser (8.7 million patients), the Veteran’s Administration (7.9 million) and Denmark’s national EHR system (5.5 million).

“With the largest EHR community in the country, we’re creating a revolution for small medical practices,” said Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion. “Widespread EHR adoption has been slowed down by the failed model of legacy vendors. Technology that was previously only available to doctors at large health organizations such as Kaiser and the VA is now available to every doctor in the US for free.”

In addition to the 10 million patient milestone in 2011, the company:

• Closed a $23 million Series B round of financing for the Electronic Health Record system, led by Founders Fund earlier this month.
• Continues to provide a complete EHR solution with charting, scheduling, e-prescribing, billing, lab integrations, referral letters, unlimited support for medical professionals such as Dr. Michael West, an endocrinologist in Washington D.C., and house-call nurse practitioner Raymond Zakhari in New York
• Brings the iPad EHR solution to doctors nationwide including Dr. Todd Falls, a podiatrist  in Birmingham, Alabama
• Provides an ad-supported business model offering physicians the best technology available at zero cost to them. Ads from Practice Fusion never interrupt the practitioner’s workflow
• Celebrates nearly triple digit growth over past 12 months. See the infographic about Practice Fusion’s growth
• Connects a doctor-patient community larger than the population of Sweden, Austria and Italy

Actionable health information exchange between patients, providers and hospitals is the critical next step towards solving the problem of rising healthcare costs in the US by reducing duplication of services and preventing medical errors. Health systems such as the Veteran’s Administration and Kaiser have demonstrated how a web-based EHR system can connect doctors and patients. Now, Practice Fusion provides a free, unifying platform so every physician in the country can more easily track vital health  information for chronic conditions, collaborate with colleagues, and increase their focus on preventative medicine.

About Practice Fusion

Practice Fusion provides a free, web-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to physicians. With charting, scheduling, e-prescribing, billing, lab integrations, referral letters, unlimited support and a Personal Health Record for patients, Practice Fusion’s EHR addresses the complex needs of today’s healthcare providers and disrupts the health IT status quo. Practice Fusion is the fastest growing EHR community in the country with more than 80,000 users serving 10 million patients. The company closed a $23 million Series B round of financing led by Founders Fund in April 2011. For more information about Practice Fusion, please visit practicefusion.com.

Portland, Oregon, April 26, 2011: Scribes STAT, Inc. announced the completion of an equity financing and the formation of the Board of Directors, which will be the subject of a separate announcement. Use of the proceeds will enable expansion into key markets nationwide.

Scribes STAT has already established operations in the Pacific Northwest and East Coast. “This financing will significantly accelerate our growth in delivering our unique medical scribe solution for the implementation of EMR’s into key markets,” stated Dr. Kathleen Myers, founder and CEO. “We’re excited about accelerating our growth and being part of the solution in enhancing America’s healthcare efficiency. We’re proud to offer certified medical scribes who allow physicians to practice medicine and focus on what they do best, patient care.”

About Scribes STAT, Inc.

Scribes STAT is the premier provider of certified medical scribes who deliver accurate, real-time electronic medical records for emergency physicians and targeted specialty physicians resulting in improved physician efficiency, increased patient satisfaction, and timely and complete insurance billing. Please visit us at www.scribesstat.com for more information.