Meaningful Use

EHR incentives: We’ll help you collect the incentives you deserve

Under the Health Information Technology and Economic Clinical Health Act (HITECH) Act, eligible providers and hospitals can earn Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt a certified EHR system and meet specific requirements. Providers who began in 2013 can receive up to $39,000 as an incentive

The goal of meaningful use is to establish a framework to support healthcare reform, promoting effective health information exchange, better patient care and the use of electronic health records.

TCC Captures Cancer Data

During the HIMSS’ Interoperability Showcase, UMC Chief Technology Officer Matt Wurth demonstrates how cancer data is automatically captured in Team Chart Concept at the time of the patient encounter.

UMC: A Pioneer in Creating Real-Time, EHR-based reporting model for the Cancer Registry

UMC played a huge role in creating the nation’s first “real-time” EHR-based model that successfully reports cancer cases to the Kentucky Cancer Registry (KCR). Our EHR software, TCC, was featured in the Interoperability Showcase at Healthcare Information and Management Systems (HIMSS) Conference.

The exhibit, “Physician EHR Reporting to a Central Cancer Registry,” showed step by step how the clinical data is transmitted from the documentation of the initial patient encounter in TCC to submitting the cancer data to the KCR.

The model was officially put to use in October 2012. Reports for five cancer cases newly diagnosed by Dr. Halden Ford were transmitted from Paducah Dermatology using TCC. Paducah Dermatology continues to use TCC on a regular basis to automate submission of cancer data to the KCR.

“Physicians using TCC can expect to achieve certification under Meaningful Use Sate 2 with the ability to report to their state cancer registry,” said Eric Durbin, director of Cancer Informatics at the KCR. “For providers treating cancer patients, this will reduce their burden to remain in compliance with state laws that require such reporting.”

This breakthrough represents the result of an important collaboration from UMC, Paducah Dermatology, Kentucky Regional Extension Center, KHIE, the KCR, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide the complete, timely and accurate data needed to combat cancer.