On June 21, 2006, Dr. Mark Leavitt, Chairman of CCHIT, testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness. His speech is available at the link below and provides a succinct summation of the progress of the EHR movement and the work of CCHIT in certifying the products with which data capture and entry will be performed by health documentation professionals as the industry evolves. On behalf of AAMT, the EHR Initiatives Team has contributed to this body of work. Click here: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/Leavitt062106.pdf

The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee has approved H.R. 4157, the Health Information Technology (IT) Promotion Act of 2006.

The bill will now go to a conference committee where differences between it and a Senate HIT bill introduced last year will be worked out. Following that, each chamber will vote on the reconciled bill.

H.R. 4157 would do the following:

• ONCHIT — codifies the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT) and delineates its responsibilities to coordinate federal HIT efforts.
• Stark/Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors — Allows entities, including hospitals and group practices, to provide physicians with hardware, software, or related services used for the electronic exchange of clinical health information.

by Liesa Jo Jenkins, Executive Director, CareSpark and Elisa Comer, CPHIT, CPEHR, CQA, CEO, Eagle's Landing Transcription Service

Medical transcriptionists, like other health care professionals, invest lots of time and money for training and technology to stay abreast of the advancements in the field, even as a growing percentage of transcriptionists choose to work from home-based settings for personal reasons. While no one contests the importance of accurate transcription that meets quality standards, pressure to reduce costs within healthcare organizations has resulted in competition from outsourcing of transcription services to overseas companies and a rise in use of alternative documentation methods. Add to these considerations the recent movement to encourage physician adoption of electronic medical records, and you may be asking yourself what the future of medical transcription might be, or even if such a future exists. 

The U.S. Pharmacopoeia's 5th annual study of medical errors reports that errors in electronic order submission have actually exceeded errors made by handwriting.

U.S. Report: The number of errors in electronic order submission have actually exceeded errors made by handwriting. "With powerful and capable software, we have yet to achieve the quality and safety improvements that are at our fingertips..."
U.S. Pharmacopoeia, 5th Annual study/James Feldbaum, M.D.

Surprising results from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia show that the number of errors made with e-prescribing have actually exceeded the number of errors from handwritten prescriptions. In the July edition of Healthcare Informatics, James Feldbaum, M.D., takes a pointed look at the use of Computerized Physician Order Entry, or CPOE, and its effect on the quality of patient care. "With powerful and capable software, we have yet to achieve the quality and safety improvements that are at our fingertips..." he states. In this well-written commentary he examines cutting edge technology and demonstrates that the implementation of software, in and of itself, will not be enough to get us to effective and safe electronic medical records.