Stage 2 Guide for the EHR Incentive Programs Now Available

CMS has released a new resource, An Eligible Professional’s Guide to Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive Programs, which provides a comprehensive overview of Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive Programs to eligible professionals. The guide outlines criteria for Stage 2 meaningful use, 2014 clinical quality measure reporting, and 2014 EHR certification.

The guide’s table of contents makes it easy for you to navigate through Stage 2 topics. Interactive tabs included at the bottom of each page allow you to transition between different chapters.

Chapters include:

·        What is Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive Programs?

·        What are the requirements under Stage 2 of Meaningful Use?

·        How will clinical quality measures (CQMs) change?

·        Resources

The guide can be found on the Educational Resources page of the EHR website.

Hospital prices fall 0.1% in August

Overall hospital prices declined 0.1% in August, and were 1.5% higher than a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Prices for the subgroup of general medical and surgical hospitals were unchanged for the month, and 1.5% higher than in August 2012, according to the BLS' Producer Price Indices, which measure average changes in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. For hospitals, this translates into actual or expected reimbursement for a sample of treatments or services. The PPI for hospitals measure changes in actual or expected reimbursement received for services across the full range of payer types. This includes the negotiated contract rate from the payer plus any portion expected to be paid by the patient.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

On June 19th, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will be holding a meeting looking at Building a Healthier America and how to support health in communities – specifically, during early childhood.

The meeting will be held from 9:00am – 12:30pm at the Columbus Club in Washington, D.C. or interested participants can register to participate by webcast.


The agenda for the event can be found at:

http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/features-and-articles/Commission/commission-meeting/agenda.html

RSVP for in-person at: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e79lhc0kf439332a&oseq=&c=&ch=


RSVP for the webcast at:
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e7eoypax10d972de&oseq=&c=&ch=

RAC Launches Rural Obesity Prevention Toolkit

In an effort to help rural communities better address the current obesity epidemic, the Rural Assistance Center as launched a Rural Obesity Prevention Toolkit. This toolkit contains resources that help communities develop obesity prevention programs, building on best practices of successful obesity prevention programs.

Rural areas in the United States not only have a higher rate of obesity than urban areas, but they also face a different set of challenges when it comes to implementing a successful obesity prevention program. The Rural Obesity Prevention toolkit has the tools to help adapt obesity prevention programs to make them work for your rural community.

Content for the Rural Obesity Prevention toolkit was developed by the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis as part of the Community Health Gateway. The Gateway is designed to help rural communities learn about proven methods of providing rural residents with better access to health and human services. Development of these resources is part of an ongoing effort by NORC and RAC to provide innovative health and human services information to rural America.

Funding for this project is provided by the federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). To learn more about the Community Health Gateway and its current toolkits, visit www.raconline.org/communityhealth/.

Public Health Law News

The Network for Public Health Law is hosting the

2012 Public Health Law Conference
Practical Approaches to Critical Challenges

October 10–12, 2012
Loews Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia

Early registration at a discounted rate is open through September 12, 2012.

The conference will include several concurrent sessions focusing on different public health law topics, such as prevention and promotion at the community level, changes and challenges to public health legal infrastructure, challenges to public health authority, and others.

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Affordable Care Act Gives Millions of Women Control Over Their Health Care

As of August 1, 2012, forty-seven million women are gaining greater control over their health care by access to eight new prevention-related health care services without paying more out of their own pocket. Previously some insurance companies did not cover these preventive services for women at all under their health plans, while some women had to pay deductibles or co-pays. The guaranteed access to these preventive zero-copay services is especially good news for minority women who are less likely to get the preventive care they need to stay healthy. Read Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius's blog about the new provisions

More Resources:

• Families USA: New fact sheet on Women's health and the Affordable Care Act. Being a Woman Just Got a Little Easier: How the Affordable Care Act Benefits Women. Learn More [PDF