Breaking News & Announcements

Doctors and hospitals’ use of health IT more than doubles since 2012 05-22-2013
More than half of America’s doctors have adopted electronic health records HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that more than half of all...
ONC Interoperability Training Courses Available Online 05-02-2013
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has developed training modules around the Stage 2 Meaningful Use (MU) Rule to train Eligible Professional (EPs)...
CMS Stage 2 Toolkit Now Available 03-20-2013
The CMS Stage 2 Toolkit is now available for download from the CMS Web site. This Toolkit is an interactive document that provides users with resources...
New Blog by CMS CMO - eHealth: Aligning Quality Measurement at CMS 03-07-2013
On Thursday, March 7, 2013, CMS Chief Medical Officer Patrick Conway, M.D., posted a new blog titled  “eHealth: Aligning Quality Measurement at CMS.” Read...
CMS Has Added New and Updated EHR Incentive Program FAQs to the CMS FAQ Web site 02-07-2013
To keep you updated with information on the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, CMS has recently added two new and four...
HHS announces first HIPAA breach settlement involving less than 500 patients 02-07-2013
The Hospice of North Idaho (HONI) has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) $50,000 to settle potential violations of the...
HIPAA Omnibus Rule Released 01-28-2013
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the much-awaited Omnibus Rule with modifications to HIPAA as required by the HITECH Act of...
Take Advantage of Resources to Help Providers Enroll in the Medical Assistance EHR Incentive Program 12-28-2012
As part of the Medical Assistance EHR Incentive program, you will need to complete the enrollment application at CMS and then complete the Pennsylvania MAPIR...
2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Update from CMS 12-20-2012
The negative update of 27 percent under current law for the 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013.  Medicare...
2012 Consumer Health IT Summit: Expanding Access to Health Information 09-26-2012
In case you missed it, ONC opened National Health IT Week on Monday September 10, 2012 with a consumer summit to highlight recent progress and catalyze future...
Health IT Promotion Goes Direct-To-Consumer 09-14-2012
Most U.S. physicians are in the process of implementing electronic health records, motivated by the incentives provided through the HITECH Act.  As physicians...
ONC Launches a New Privacy & Security Game 09-12-2012
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC) Office of the Chief Privacy Officer (OCPO) has released its first web-based...
Stage 2 Meaningful Use - Learn About It 09-11-2012
The 2014 Edition S&CC final rule completes the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) second full rulemaking cycle to...
National Health IT Week - Educational Opportunities 09-10-2012
The Seventh Annual National Health IT Week is being held September 10-14, 2012. Health IT Week brings together the entire health IT community under one...
Sixty Two RECs Changing Health Care, One Provider at a Time 09-10-2012
America’s health care system is making progress in embracing health information technology (health IT). That’s according to a July 2012 study by the National...
PA REACH is a Proud Partner in National Health IT Week 2012 09-06-2012
The Pennsylvania Regional Extension & Assistance Center for HIT (PA REACH) — as a partner in the advancement of health information technology to help...
CMS Finalized One-Year Delay on ICD-10 to October 2014 08-24-2012
The federal government has finalized a one-year delay in the compliance deadline for the nationwide conversion to ICD-10 code sets. The delay, first proposed...
HHS Announces Next Steps to Promote Use of EHRs and Health Information Exchange 08-24-2012
On August 23, 2012, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the next steps in the Obama administration's work to help doctors and...
CMS Releases Stage 2 Meaningful Use Final Rule 08-23-2012
On August 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the final rule for Stage 2 of meaningful use in the EHR Incentive Payments Program....
DIRECT Grant Program Enrollment Deadline Extended to 10/31/12 08-13-2012
PA REACH received confirmation from the Pennsylvania eHealth Collaborative (PAeHC) that the deadline to enroll in Pennsylvania's DIRECT grant program, which...
Access to Personal Health Records Boosts Patient Loyalty 08-02-2012
Patients who engage regularly with a personal health record are significantly more likely to remain members of a health plan, a three-year study of Kaiser...
ONC Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology 07-24-2012
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is pleased to announce the selection by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the...
Health IT Certification Bodies and Test Labs Accredited 07-19-2012
The first accreditations of Health Information Technology Certification Bodies and Test Laboratories have been announced.In June 2011, the Office of the...
Steps to Assess How the ICD-10 Transition will Affect your Organization 07-13-2012
Although the final rule on the proposed ICD-10 deadline change has yet to be published, it is important to continue planning for the transition to ICD-10. The...
Hospital Health Exchange Goes Live 07-12-2012
Doctors regionwide begin sharing data July 10, 2012 11:53 pm By Bill Toland / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette...
PA REACH MUVers Participate in Health IT Events at the White House 06-22-2012
On June 18 and 19, 2012, the U.S. Department and Health and Human Services (DHHS) hosted two national Health IT events: the Health IT Vanguard Conference and...
More than 100,000 health care providers paid for using electronic health records 06-19-2012
CMS and ONC surpass 2012 goals for EHR adoption and use More than 100,000 health care providers are using electronic health records that meet federal...
Toolsets Available to Help Pharmacists and Physicians Implement E-Prescribing 06-19-2012
Two toolsets, one for physicians in small practices and one for independent pharmacies, for supporting e-prescribing implementation are now available from the...
PA REACH’s HIT Privacy and Security Officer Selected for National HIMSS Privacy and Security Committee 06-12-2012
PA REACH's HIT Privacy and Security Officer Nathan Gibson was recently selected by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) to be part...
PA REACH Providers Invited to Health IT Town Hall Meeting at the White House 06-01-2012
PA REACH is thrilled to announce that four of our Meaningful Use Vanguard (MUVer) providers have been invited to attend a Health IT Town Hall Meeting at the...
Health IT Buzz Blog: What to do if you have a question about your certified EHR 05-31-2012
Health IT Buzz Blog: May 25, 2012 The ONC Certification Program staff receives comments and questions by phone and e-mail that are related to the adoption,...
Medicare Electronic Prescribing Payment Adjustment Hardship Exemption 05-22-2012
In 2009, CMS implemented the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program, which is a program that uses incentive payments and payment adjustments to...
Dr. Donald Wilson Receives Distinguished Service Award from PAeHI 04-24-2012
Dr. Donald Wilson, Medical Director for Quality Insights of Pennsylvania and PA REACH, was recently honored by the Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative (PAeHI) with...
New health care law provisions cut red tape, save up to $4.6 billion 04-17-2012
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a proposed rule that would establish a unique health plan identifier under...
PA REACH Privacy & Security Specialist Featured on National Panel 03-27-2012
ONC’s Mobile Device Roundtable: Safeguarding Health Information On March 16, 2012, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) hosted a Mobile Devices...
CMS Announces Extension of Enforcement Discretion Period for Updated HIPAA Transaction Standards Through June 30, 2012 03-15-2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) is announcing that it will not initiate enforcement action...
Pennsylvania Health Professionals and Hospitals Receive Over $177 Million for Using Electronic Health Records in a Meaningful Way 03-14-2012
PA REACH Helps Pennsylvania Providers Qualify for Meaningful Use and Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Payments   As part of a nationwide transformation to...
HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Next Stage for Providers Adopting EHRs 03-01-2012
On Friday, February 24, 2012, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the next steps for providers who are using electronic health...
Stage 2 Meaningful Use Announced 02-24-2012
The Department of Health and Human Services has sent to the Federal Register two notices of proposed rulemaking for Stage 2 of the electronic health records...
HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Major Progress in Doctors and Hospital Use of Health IT 02-21-2012
On Friday, February 17, 2012, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the number of hospitals using health...
HHS Announces Intent to Delay ICD-10 Compliance Date 02-16-2012
As part of President Obama’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen G. Sebelius announced that HHS will...
One Year Milestone for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs Marked on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 02-02-2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 was the one-year anniversary of the start of registration for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive...
CMS Has Updated the EHR Information Center with Enhanced Functionality 02-02-2012
CMS is proud to announce that after a review of collected feedback, enhancements and changes have recently been made to the EHR Information Center Interactive...
One Year Milestone for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs Marked on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 02-02-2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 was the one-year anniversary of the start of registration for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive...
GE to Discontinue Centricity Advance EHR System 01-31-2012
GE Healthcare is pulling the plug on its Web-based Centricity Advance electronic health-record system for office-based physicians, the company announced....
Dr. Farzad Mostashari Hits the NPR Airwaves: Moving Health Care Into the Information Age 01-30-2012
On January 10, 2012, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5 FM, the...
Meaningful Use Top 10 from iHT2 Special Report 01-18-2012
Recently the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (IHT2) conducted an analysis of the most current data sets provided by the Centers for Medicare and...
Understanding Meaningful Use Core Measure 14 for Eligible Professionals 11-23-2011
Meaningful Use Core Measure 14 for EPs evaluates whether a provider's electronic health record (EHR) system can exchange key clinical information...
Recent Data Breaches - Lessons Learned 11-03-2011
Adam Kehler, PA REACH, HIT Privacy & Security Specialist In the interest of staying current on trends in data breaches, I would like to call attention to...
PA REACH West MUVer Provider Spotlight - Dr. Norman K. Beals III 10-13-2011
Dr. Norman K. Beals III is a strong supporter of electronic health records, and has seen first hand the incredible benefits that this technology has brought...
Medicare Providers Must Begin to Revalidate Enrollment By March 2013 08-12-2011
All providers and suppliers who enrolled in the Medicare program prior to Friday, March 25, 2011, will be required to revalidate their enrollment under new...
RECs Help Small Practices Achieve MU 05-17-2011
Implementing an EHR and achieving meaningful use is a whole lot easier with a helping hand   The April 26, 2011 Physicians Practice online newsletter...
Health Care Organizations Release Updated Guide to E-Prescribing 04-29-2011
Five partner organizations issued an updated 2011 edition of A Clinician’s Guide to Electronic Prescribing. This “how-to” guide helps health care professionals...
MGMA Issues Findings on Doc EHR Use 04-08-2011
Ambulatory-care physicians who have implemented an electronic health record system are largely satisfied with their purchases, and their satisfaction increases...
CMS: Want ACO Savings? Start with Meaningful Use 04-05-2011
Health information technology and its meaningful use will glue together many of the key elements of accountable care as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...
Mapping workflow before EMR selection 04-05-2011
A lot of studies have recently come out looking at productivity declines that are typical following the implementation of EMRs. Everyone expects the decrease...
Direct Project Specifications Achieving Widespread Adoption: Could Positively Impact Care Coordination Soon for Millions of Americans 03-31-2011
The Direct Project announced that over 60 health care and health IT organizations, including many state-based and private-sector health information exchanges,...
ONC Announces Launch of "Direct Project" Pilots 03-01-2011
View the press conference announcing the launch of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC) Direct Project with...
New Study: 78% of Americans Favor Electronic Medical Records 02-11-2011
In one of the first studies to be focused on the attitudes of consumers toward health IT NORC at the University of Chicago has found that Americans favor...