American College of Cardiology

Obama Advocates for Health IT Adoption, Reform

President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan will include funding for health information technology (health IT), Healthcare IT News reports. In a Dec. 6 radio address, Obama said that the stimulus plan will be rolled out in coming weeks. He said, "We will make sure that every doctor's office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year." Meanwhile, in a news conference last Thursday, Obama said that the country’s current financial situation makes it crucial that health care reform take place, the New York Times reports. He said, “It’s not something that we can sort of put off because we’re in an emergency. This is part of the emergency.”

In related news, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said last week that Congress should authorize the $50 billion in funds that Obama is seeking for health IT as part of a stimulus package. Doing so would make it easier to pass a large-scale health reform bill later on because it would decrease the total cost of the reform bill, Baucus said. More coverage is available from The Hill.

Medicare Enrollment Available Online in 24 States, D.C.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Dec. 10 expanded its Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) to an additional nine states, bringing the total number of states with availability to 24, plus the District of Columbia. PECOS will allow physicians and non-physician practitioners to enroll, make a change in their Medicare enrollment, view their Medicare enrollment information on file with Medicare and check on the status of a Medicare enrollment application via the Internet. CMS hopes to have the system available nationally by late 2009. A list of the eligible states is available online. To access the system, visit the PECOS Web site. The ACC continues to work with CMS to reduce the administrative burden and cost of the Medicare enrollment process.

New Study Finds Savings from e-Prescribing

E-prescribing systems that allow physicians to select lower cost or generic prescription medications can save $845,000 per 100,000 patients per year, according to findings from a new study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study, conducted by researchers of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, compared the change in prescriptions written before and after an e-prescribing system with formulary decision support was launched. Researchers estimated that complete use of e-prescribing systems with formulary decision support could reduce prescription drug spending by up to $3.9 million per 100,000 patients per year. The study is part of an AHRQ initiative to encourage the adoption of health information technology.

Under new federal law, beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, physicians who successfully e-prescribe will be eligible to participant in a new incentive program. Physicians who successfully participate will receive incentive payments of 2 percent in 2009. The size of the payment will decrease to 1 percent in 2011 – 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2013. Those who have not adopted e-prescribing by 2012 will be penalized by 1 percent of Medicare-allowed charges, with the penalties size growing in 2013 and beyond. More information and tools to assist physicians participating in this program are available on the ACC Web site at: http://www.acc.org/HealthIT.

ACC Partners on Healthy Lifestyle Reward Program

The ACC and the National Lieutenant Governors Association are partnering on the “Lieutenant Governors’ Challenge,” a 12-week reward program that encourages participants to improve their heart health through fitness, healthy food choices or both. The campaign aims to assist participants in understanding that improving their health is within their reach. Participants earn a certain number of points based how many servings of fruits and vegetables eaten during the program and on the amount and rigorousness of the exercise they undertake. At the end of the 12-week period, participants earn different medals – gold, silver, bronze – depending on the number of points he or she earned. Learn more about the program by visiting the Lieutenant Governors’ Challenge Web site.

States Pass More Than 130 Bills with Health IT, Report Finds

More than 130 bills in 44 states and the District of Columbia were enacted over the past 18 months with at least one health information technology (health IT) provision, according to a new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). This is triple of the number of bills enacted with health IT provisions during the same period in 2005 - 2006. Nearly one-third of the laws related to financing and e-prescribing accounted for 14 bills in 12 states. Other bills addressed the formation of health information exchanges, the use of electronic health records and protecting patient privacy. More coverage is available from Government Health IT.