On November 16, 2012, US Representative Diane Black introduced a new bill termed the “Electronic Health Records Improvement Act”. This amendment act was created to specify those ASCs that would be exempt from application for inventives and distribution of penalties. It outlines a number of other factors such as size and physician specialty as noteworthy factors in this federal procedure. In 2009, with the passage of the HITECH Act, Medicare and Medicaid programs were instructed to distribute special incentives to ASC physicians so as to accelerate the adoption of electronic health records among providers, and thus work toward the creation of a national health care infrastructure. Many ASC physicians working in small, private centers have not been able to qualify as “meaningful users” due to a lack of resources in comparison to the multi faceted incentive programs of hospitals. The second section of the bill exempts ASC physicians nearing retirement from applying for Medicare incentives, and thus, demonstrating EHR meaningful use.  In further sections, the bill calls for a shortened EHR reporting period, an appeals process prior to application of penalties, semi-annual reports to proactively monitor progress, as well as a number of amendments to the original HITECH Act.

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Exception for certain eligible professionals from application of Medicare payment adjustment for not demonstrating EHR meaningful use.
Sec. 3. Shortening EHR reporting period for application of Medicare EHR payment adjustment to eligible professionals.
Sec. 4. Additional exceptions to application of Medicare payment adjustment for certain Medicaid and hospital-based eligible professionals not demonstrating EHR meaningful use.
Sec. 5. Certain specialty registry systems for purposes of eligible professionals satisfying meaningful use requirements under Medicare.
Sec. 6. Enhancing Medicare EHR meaningful use among eligible professionals who are rural health care providers.
Sec. 7. Improving EHR meaningful use under Medicare by ambulatory surgical centers.
Sec. 8. Exemption from certain EHR meaningful use requirements for certain eligible professionals for purposes of Medicare payment adjustment.
Sec. 9. Additional administrative provisions relating to Medicare eligible professionals’ EHR incentives.
Sec. 10. Non-application of provisions and amendments to eligible professional Medicare incentives for certain MA organizations and Medicaid incentives for adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

For a full, comprehensive description of each section, click here.

Electronic Health Records have become a major success within the National Football League (NFL). Used by all 32 teams in the NFL, EHRs are currently being utilized to quickly streamline data as well as coordinate care procedures for players suffering from either a sudden game day injury or in recovery habilitation. The EHR system was specially designed to include additional video replay abilities so as to enable coaches and team physicians to more quickly and accurately diagnose the injury. After a serious impact, team physicians can quickly access that player’s health records from a portable tablet, such as a cell phone, Ipad, or laptop. According to NFL President Tony Yates, “We are always looking for innovative ways to enhance healthcare within the organization. Electronic health records are the next logical step…”. It’s anytime, anywhere portability makes it a perfect solution for the fast-moving, high injury rate of the NFL. According to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, there has been a growing concern over the number of sport-related injuries, primarily concussions. The success of the EHR’s streamlining capabilities has sparked the production of many other developments, such as helmet accelerator monitors used to gauge the impact of a hit. Goodell reports that the NFL teams now use, and strongly rely on EHR and integrated video streamlining for every game. According to Yates, “Team medical staffs are raving about it”.

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