Christian named CHIME-HIMSS
2010 CIO of the Year
HIMSS11
CHIME and HIMSS will recognize Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, FHIMSS, as the recipient of the 2010 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award. Christian is chief information officer at Good Samaritan Hospital, a 102-year-old, free-standing, acute-care community hospital in Vincennes, Ind. He will receive the award at the 2011 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 22.
The honor recognizes healthcare IT executives who have made significant contributions to their organization and demonstrated innovative leadership through effective use of technology. The award is named in honor of the late John E. Gall Jr., who pioneered implementation of the first fully integrated medical information system in the world at California’s El Camino Hospital in the 1960s.
Christian is now in his 22nd year as CIO at Good Samaritan and his 40th year in healthcare. In his CIO role, he is responsible for all information technology activities throughout the enterprise.
Christian is a fellow of both CHIME and HIMSS, formerly served on the CHIME board of trustees and is a past-chair of the HIMSS board of directors.
Christian is currently serving on the Indiana Health Informatics Corporation board of directors by appointment of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
ONC issues final rule for permanent
HIT certification program
Meaningful Use
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued a final rule on Jan. 3, 2011 to establish the permanent certification program for health information technology (HIT). The program provides new features that will enhance the certification of HIT, including “increasing the comprehensiveness, transparency, reliability and efficiency of the current processes used for the certification of electronic health-record (EHR) technology.”
Meaningful use of “certified EHR technology” is a core requirement for eligible healthcare providers who seek to qualify to receive incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs as authorized by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
“This final rule completes the two-phased approach ONC began with the proposed rule issued in spring 2010 and includes several important improvements to our certification processes,” says David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., national coordinator for health information technology. “Our goal is to make the transition to the permanent certification program as seamless as possible.”
The temporary certification program, established through a final rule published on June 24, 2010, will continue to be in effect until it sunsets on Dec. 31, 2011, or at a later date when the processes necessary for the permanent certification program to operate are completed.
Features of the permanent certification program include: Organizations must first be accredited in order to test and/or certify health information technology; Certification bodies authorized by the National Coordinator (ONC-authorized certification bodies or ONC-ACBs) are required to conduct post-certification surveillance; and ONC-ACBs are permitted to perform “gap certification.”
ONC is requesting that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), develop a laboratory accreditation program for organizations to be accredited to test health information technology for purposes of the permanent certification program.
Learn more at healthit.hhs.gov/certification.
2011 Health Devices Achievement Award
Call For Entries
The Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) is accepting submissions to its sixth annual Health Devices Achievement Award program. The award honors healthcare facilities for achieving excellence in health technology management. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2011, and entries are accepted online at https://www.ecri.org/hdaward.
The winner will receive a plaque honoring the accomplishment and will be featured in ECRI Institute’s Health Devices journal and in other promotional outlets. Last year’s winner, Kaiser Permanente (Irvine, Calif.), submitted descriptions of its “Total Joint Replacement Registry” and “Cardiac Device Registry” initiatives.
Crosswalks at your fingertips
Claims and Coding
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made available the 2011 versions of the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS crosswalks, also known as general equivalence mappings (GEMs), on the ICD-10 portion of its Web site (www.cms.gov/ICD10/). A quick reference guide, a “What’s New” summary, compliance timelines, and a user- and reimbursement-procedures guide are also downloadable.
According to CMS, “ICD-10 codes must be used on all HIPAA transactions, including outpatient claims with dates of service, and inpatient claims with dates of discharge on and after Oct. 1, 2013. Otherwise, your claims and other transactions may be rejected, and you will need to resubmit them with the ICD-10 codes. This could result in delays and may impact your reimbursements, so it is important to start now to prepare for the changeover to ICD-10 codes. This change does not affect CPT coding for outpatient procedures.”
EVENTS
FEB.
The Society for Health Systems (SHS) Conference & Exhibition, Feb. 17-19, Orlando, brings together management engineers, clinicians, academia and other healthcare professionals to build the knowledge and skills required to manage and improve quality operations and complex health environments. New this year is a special clinical track, pre-conference workshops and extra opportunities to mingle and learn with others in the healthcare field.
HIMSS11 Annual Conference & Exhibition, Feb. 20-24, Orlando, brings together the latest in technologies, patient safety and quality, regulatory compliance, business best practices and personal growth all in one location. Check out more than 900 companies exhibiting thousands of health IT products and services, with more than 250 first-time exhibiting companies offering new technology.
MARCH
The AIIM International Conference & Expo @ info360, March 21-24, Washington, D.C., is an annual event for the business-content and information-management industry, encompassing the technologies and strategies used to capture, manage, share and store documents and digital content.
www.aiimexpo.com
The American College for Healthcare Executives (ACHE) 2011 Congress on Healthcare Leadership, March 21-24, Chicago, draws more than 4,000 top healthcare leaders from around the world to attend more than 140 seminars, general sessions and other events. Topics covered include quality and patient safety, innovative technologies, physician alignment, financial strategies and patient access.
APRIL
Eighth annual World Healthcare Congress (WHCC), April 4-6, Washington, D.C., is World Congress’ flagship event that gathers more than 1,800 healthcare, government and corporate leaders to formulate solutions to the challenges of healthcare cost, quality and delivery.
www.worldcongress.com
