The Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) approved the Chicago-based Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Drummond Group, Inc. (DGI) of Austin, TX, as the first official certifiers of EHR technology in late summer 2010. In late September, ONC also approved InfoGard Laboratories, Inc., in San Luis Obispo, CA. Now that ONC has named at least three authorized testing and certification bodies (ATCB), healthcare vendors can seek certification for their EHR systems and technologies, and providers can begin to look for certified products in the marketplace. Providers must use certified EHR technology to qualify for meaningful use incentive payments.
Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults Through Safe Transitions) is gaining popularity among providers nationwide as a method to reduce preventable hospital readmissions. Since the program began in September 2008, more than 1,400 facilities have downloaded the free toolkit from the Society of Hospital Medicine’s (SHM) website, and 65 sites have enrolled in the mentorship program. (See the “All about BOOST” sidebar below for more information on Project BOOST.)
CMM asked hospital case management professionals what tasks their facilities expect them to perform and how those responsibilities affect their productivity in the CMM Job Responsibilities Survey. Nearly 500 case managers, discharge planners, social workers, clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists, and appeals specialists responded to the survey. Responses broke down as follows:
