The adoption of ICD-10 code sets for reporting diagnosis and procedures to payers is set to occur on October 14, 2014.  Undoubtedly, if you haven’t heard much about these changes yet, you will soon.

The new code sets, which more than quadruples the number of reporting codes to over 69,000, represents an amazing increase in the level of reporting and detail.  The benefits of this transition include:

• More accurate coding for diagnosis and procedures
• Better billing accuracy
• Better ability to track disease
• Pervasive use of codes throughout systems

The ICD-10 conversion may require a wide variety of application changes for healthcare provider organizations – something akin to a Y2K event.  The changes will impact everything from billing systems, to practice management and EHR.

Many in the healthcare community believe that there is at least a chance for the implementation date to change, but virtually everyone agrees that the transition will take place, as the US is one of the last developed countries in the world to make this change.  Identifying a project sponsor and strategic steering board as champions for this massive transition are starting points for the adoption of ICD-10 code sets.

Sheila Rogers, Founder and CEO

Whether we like it or not, personal selling is important in any profession.  In HIT, we need to sell ideas and concepts, strategies and solutions.  Our “buyers” include bosses and co-workers.  Here are some personal selling tips that may help you today, or sometime in the near future:

1) Be sincere with people. People are smart and see right through insincerity. If you are not sincere and honest with everyone you meet then you should not be selling anything.

2) Sell what you believe in. If you do not have a passion what you are selling you will not be happy–or very successful.

3) It is vitally important to constantly hone your sales and communications skills. Continuous growth and training in formal professional selling techniques is also very important. Take training classes, listen to professional development audio podcasts and seminars, read all the professional development material you can get your hands on, and start a program of self-study and development in sales today if you haven’t already.

4) First listen to your “customer”, understand his or her wants and needs, and only then try to determine whether or not you can deliver the product or services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a prospect with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to be wrong about the solution.

5) The best sales people ask a lot of questions and genuinely listen to the answers before speaking again.  (This is probably the reason we have two ears and one mouth!)

6) Your “customers” are all different so you should treat them differently.

Remember, personal selling is a lot like a first impression…you only get one shot before an opinion is made.  So, put your best foot forward in selling yourself, the ideas you have and the solutions you can offer in HIT.  Good Luck!

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of HIT Consulting Jobs.  She can be reached at 214-929-8959, or sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released a fact sheet detailing the progress of healthcare IT in relation to the HITECH Act. This fact sheet provides current statistics and highlights the CMS and the ONCs’ accomplishments in implementing health IT.

According to CMS.gov, here are some key points of the progress to date:

Robust Participation in the EHR Incentive Programs:

• Hospital Participation: More than 85 percent of eligible hospitals are participating in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, and more than 75 percent have received incentive payments for meaningfully using EHR technology as of March 2013.
• Physicians and other Health Care Provider Participation: More than 388,000 of the nation’s eligible professionals have registered to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, representing 73 percent of all providers eligible to participate. More than 230,000, or 44 percent of all eligible professionals, have received an EHR incentive payment for meaningfully using EHR technology as of March 2013.
• Assistance from Regional Extension Centers: HITECH funds established 62 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs) to offer technical assistance and guidance that is critical to accelerating the provider adoption and meaningful use of EHRs, particularly in rural areas and other underserved settings.
  • RECs are providing assistance and support to more than 44 percent (130,000) of primary care providers and 48 percent (20,000) of Nurse Practitioners nationwide.
  • More than 80 percent of all Federally Qualified Health Centers are enrolled with a REC.
• Effect on the Health IT Marketplace: Federal investment and standard setting have helped to create a robust market for eHealth IT products. As of March 2013, there are 941 vendors providing more than 1,700 unique certified EHR products.

Rapid Adoption of Advanced Technology: Survey data shows that the HITECH Act has dramatically accelerated providers’ use of key health IT capabilities nationwide:

• E-Prescribing: Office-based physicians’ use of e-prescribing has increased from 0.8 percent in December 2006 to 53 percent through January 2013, and more than 94 percent of all pharmacies are now actively e-prescribing.
• Hospitals:  between 2008 and 2012, the number of hospitals using EHR systems with certain advanced functionalities that go even beyond the requirements of Meaningful Use Stage 1 (including physician clinical notes and electronic imaging results) more than quadrupled from 9.4 percent to 44 percent.  
• Doctors: Physician adoption of EHR systems with the same advanced functionalities more than doubled between 2008 and 2012, from 17 percent to 40 percent.

Economic Impact:

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 50,000 health IT-related jobs have been created since HITECH was enacted.
• As of January 2013, community colleges have trained 17,049 professionals in health IT, and as of September 2012, universities had graduated over 820 post-graduate and masters-level health IT professionals. This is the result of four ONC-supported workforce development programs that are helping to train the new health IT workforce to meet the increased demand for these workers.
• As of February 2013, the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs have paid $12.6 billion in incentives to hospitals, doctors, and other health care professionals.

You can read more details of the fact sheet here.

<Cherie Lester with EngageMeHIT (www.engagemehit.blogspot.com) wrote this great blog — Thanks Cherie - Sheila>

Over the past 5 years I have spoken to hundreds of EMR Professionals that want to enter the world of the traveling consultant.  Most consultants in our industry will travel weekly on a Mon-Thurs or Sun-Thurs schedule with exceptions for longer stays on a client site or variable remote work. 

When discussing the nature of weekly travel to a “newbie” I have learned to play devil’s advocate.  The first person I ever interviewed when I entered into the HCIT Industry had never traveled before.  He assured me that he “LOVED” to travel and was totally “psyched” about the opportunity.  Six months into his engagement he called me to resign, said he couldn’t take the weekly travel any longer.

 Recently I discussed the riggers of weekly travel with some seasoned road warriors.  Below are results of the Q & A from those discussions:

What made you decide to start traveling for work? Most Frequent Responses:  Higher Income.  New Surroundings and co-workers with each new engagement. Enjoy travel & seeing new locations.

What was the hardest adjustment you had to make when you transitioned into traveling weekly for work? Most Frequent Responses: Being away from family(pets). Missing out on family or other functions (weekly bowling or child’s plays etc) and having to leave spouse to do all the work. Navigating the airports, luggage, flight delays, airport security etc.

What do you wish all consulting/staffing firms offered that would make your travel life easier for you?

This question received the most diverse answers, some of the most frequent responses were:  Corporate Credit Card for travel, better discounts on hotel, car, flights etc.  Occasionally paying for spouse to travel, like over the holiday work weeks etc., better assistance for new travelers, even something simple like a handbook with traveling suggestions.

What did you have to give up when you started traveling weekly?  The number one answer was time with family and friends, some other responses were: freedom to join sports leagues or meet friends for dinner once a week during the week, and for single folks: having a pet, being home during bad weather (someone had a water-main break in sub zero temps and didn’t realize until they got home days later) and being in one place so it’s easier to start a romantic relationship.

What did you gain from becoming a traveling consultant?  Some of the top answers for this question were:  better income, seeing out of town family & relatives more, greater independence, being able to travel to new places, less stress, meeting new people, and quiet time at the hotel in the evenings.

Here are a list of tips from the road warriors:

1.  Pack Light!  Learn to pack everything you need for the week into a carry-on bag.

2.  When traveling coast to coast, find extended stay hotels and if you travel home, leave most of your belongings at the hotel during your absence.

3.  You can bring your pet, just check for local pet friendly hotels.

4.  Always have an extra charger (computer, phone, iPod etc) handy.

5.  Make sure your ID, discount cards, credit cards etc are kept in the same place, are always handy and are in a front pocket for safe keeping.

6.  Keep a folder or file or zippered pouch for all your travel receipts so they’re easy to locate at the end of the week for the purpose of scanning and emailing or mailing to your employer. (if you’re 1099, for tax purposes)

7.  Set up a calendar alert to remind you to log your time & file your expense receipts each week.

8.  Know the name and number to your employers IT Helpdesk in case you have problems with your company issued lap top.

9. Whenever possible do not wear a belt, difficult to remove shoes, hair pins, excessive jewelry, etc so that you can move through airport security quickly.  Make sure your laptop is housed in a safe but easy to manipulate bag, keep your pockets empty etc.

10. If you are single and live alone, make sure you have a neighbor or relative that can check on your place of residence in your absence.

11.  Provide neighbors and relatives the name and number of your hotel, along with your cell phone so they can easily contact you in case of an emergency.

12.  Have the number of your direct boss, a company co-worker and your direct report at the client hospital programmed into your cell phone, that way if your flight is delayed you will be able to alert people of your delay.

Sheila Rogers, Founder and CEO

We all know that social and business media is exploding online.  The HIT industry is no exception.

I was at a seminar the other day, and the speaker used this simple example to explain social media:

• Twitter – I am eating a hamburger
• Facebook – I like hamburgers
• FourSquare – This is where I eat hamburgers
• Instagram – Here is a vintage picture of my hamburger
• YouTube – Here is a video of me eating my hamburger
• LinkedIn – My skills include eating hamburgers
• Pinterest – Here is a hamburger recipe
• LastFM – Now listening to hamburgers

A couple years ago, I knew very little about these tools.  Today, I am considered an “expert” by some.

I encourage you to get on the train!  Healthcare IT will continue to grow the use social media to inform, educate, motivate and recruit.

-Sheila Rogers

Sheila Rogers is Founder and CEO of HIT Consulting Jobs, and can be reached at 214-929-8959, or via email at sheila@hitconsultingjobs.com.

Healthcare IT News published an interesting article as they analyzed the number of women in senior health IT roles. I hadn’t given this statistic much thought in the past, but working for a primarily woman-owned business currently that caters to the health IT industry, I found the information a bit surprising.

The organization analyzed over 3,000 senior health IT roles nationwide and found that only 25% were occupied by women. The numbers were slightly higher when looking at the HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 and Stage 7 hospitals, where women held leadership roles at 45% and 48%, respectively. 

The research also detailed the number of women in executive health IT leadership roles by state. Rhode Island produced the highest number, while Nevada had the fewest.

Top 5 best states

1. Rhode Island – 56%
2. Vermont – 44%
3. District of Columbia – 39%
4. Connecticut – 39%
5. Wisconsin – 36%

Top 5 worst states

1. Nevada – 4%
2. Alaska – 8%
3. New Mexico – 9%
4. Utah  10%
5. New Hampshire – 12%

You can read more from the article here.

The Affordable Care Act is making prescription drug costs more affordable for those individuals with Medicare. A recent news release from HHS.gov reported that, within three years, more than 6.3 million people with Medicare saved over $6.1 billion on prescription drugs due to the new health care law.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “By making prescription drugs more affordable, the Affordable Care Act is improving and promoting the best care for people with Medicare.”

The Affordable Care Act makes prescription drug costs more affordable by providing individuals with discounts at pharmacies and when ordering by mail. In 2010, the new law granted a $250 check to those who reached their point in coverage where they were required to pay out-of-pocket. The law will continue to provide savings until 2020 when the gap, referred to as the “donut hole,” will be closed.

This year, the discounts and savings increased to 52.5 percent of brand name prescriptions and 21 percent of generic drugs. As a result of the new law, seniors have saved over $6 billion on prescriptions drugs thus far.

Read more on HHS.gov.

The HHS (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has announced its 2013 agenda to accelerate Health Information Exchange. The goal is to build a seamless and secure transfer of information necessary for the success and implementation of health information technology.

“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are improving the way care is delivered while lowering costs,” said CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. “We are already seeing benefits, such as a reduction in hospital readmissions due to these reforms.  Health IT and the secure exchange of information across providers are crucial to reforming the system, and must be a routine part of care delivery.”

Here is the 2013 agenda according to HHS.gov.

• Set aggressive goals for 2013: HHS is setting the goal of 50 percent of physician offices using electronic health records (EHR) and 80 percent of eligible hospitals receiving meaningful use incentive payments by the end of 2013. 
• Increase the emphasis on interoperability: HHS will increase its emphasis on ensuring electronic exchange across providers.  It will start that effort by issuing today a request for information (RFI) seeking public input about a variety of policies that will strengthen the business case for electronic exchange across providers to ensure patients’ health information will follow them seamlessly and securely wherever they access care.
• Enhance the effective use of electronic health records through initiatives like the Blue Button initiative.  Medicare beneficiaries can access their full Medicare records online today. HHS is working with the Veterans Administration and more than 450 different organizations to make health care information available to patients and health plan members.  HHS is also encouraging Medicare Advantage plans to expand the use of Blue Button to provide beneficiaries with one-click secure access to their health information.
• Implement Meaningful Use Stage 2:  HHS is implementing rules that define what data must be able to be exchanged between Health IT systems, including how data will be structured and coded so that providers will have one uniform way to format and securely send data.
• Underscoring program integrity: HHS is taking new steps to ensure the integrity of the program is sound and technology is not being used to game the system.  For example, it is conducting extensive medical reviews and issuing Comparative Billing reports that identify providers.

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has released the results of its CIO compensation survey. According to the statistics, Healthcare CIOs earned an average base salary of $208,417 in 2012. Compensation did vary, however, based on size and type of organization, title held by the respondent and reporting relationships.

The survey revealed that most CIOs received minimal salary increases compared to 2011. 44 percent reported either no increase or less than a 3 percent raise. The numbers show that 74% of CIOs received less than a 5 percent increase in salary.

“While CIOs are taking on increasing responsibility to implement systems that are mission-critical, salary increases have been modest as healthcare organizations adjust to tighter reimbursement for care and rising costs in a number of areas,” said Gary Barnes, CIO at Medical Center Health System in Odessa, Texas.

According to the report, other key findings included:
• CIOs at smaller facilities earn significantly less than those at larger health organizations.
• CIOs (58 percent) with master’s degrees earn about 10 percent more than those with bachelor’s degrees (33 percent).
• Some 75 percent of CIOs receive some kind of bonus payment or benefit in addition to their base salary. 
• In general, respondents’ base salaries were not determined through negotiation. Some 86 percent said their salary was determined by someone else in their organization.

You can view the full report here.

Renee Brannan

If you’ve ever been to a HIMSS conference, you know that it’s an amazing opportunity gain to knowledge and insight into the Health IT Marketplace and network with other HIT professionals. Next week, HIMSS13 promises not to disappoint. The conference kicks off on Sunday, March 3, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Keynote speakers will cover topics, such as Meaningful Use, Clinical and Business Intelligence, Mobile Health, Health Reform and many others. Most notably, President Bill Clinton and Eric J. Topol will speak on March 6^th and 5^th.

New offerings this year include the Meaningful Use Experience, which is an area on the exhibit floor to view and compare EHR solutions side-by-side. HIMSS13 Online will broadcast live 12 e-sessions, 10 simulcast sessions, interviews with top speakers and President Bill Clinton live. Also, The Patient Experience through HIT Forum will provide three new sessions focused on enhancing the patient experience.

If you’re looking to network, don’t miss the Opening Reception, among others, which is free to all registered conference attendees. HIMSS13 is your opportunity to gain perceptive from your peers and share some valuable knowledge. Also, if you like to stay connected online, you can follow the conference on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.   

For the complete brochure on HIMSS13, click here