Electronic Medical Records

Navigating state and federal requirements on computerized patient records and other healthcare data. 
01.27.2020  | MHQP Survey: The Focus on Behavioral Health Paying Off
Seventy-four percent of primary care providers in the commonwealth ask their patients about behavioral health concerns.
01.20.2020  | A Chance to Comment on Duplicative Healthcare Measures
MHA is encouraging its membership to weigh in on recommendations for possible changes to the 2021 state Aligned Measure Set.
01.13.2020  | A New Tool to Address Sepsis in Hospitals
Collective Medical has announced that it is expanding its capabilities to help in the fight against sepsis in hospitals.
01.13.2020  | The 2019 Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program
The deadline to submit 2019 data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program is March 2, 2020.
11.18.2019  | Hospital EDs Get New Tool in Tracking Risk for Opioid Misuse
The fight against opioid use disorder (OUD) is about to get a new tool that will make it easier for physicians in hospitals to review risky controlled substances history of patients.
11.11.2019  | NQF Offers Broad Suggestions on Star Ratings
The National Quality Forum (NQF) weighed in, to a limited extent, on the five-star hospital rating system.
11.04.2019  | D.C. Bill Addresses Telemedicine in Medicare Program
The CONNECT for Health Act would expand access to telehealth for Medicare patients.
10.21.2019  | AG Says Cost Tools, Payment Models Have Limitations
AG Healey will present a report at this week’s HPC trends hearing showing that policymakers should curb their expectations about online price transparency tools .
10.07.2019  | Telemedicine Gets a Hearing at the State House
Caregivers and patients spoke at a hearing before the Joint Committee on Financial Services last Tuesday.
09.30.2019  | The Time is Right to Move Telemedicine Forward in Massachusetts
On Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing regarding telemedicine.
09.16.2019  | Flavored Smokes Just a Ruse to Hook Kids
The federal government signaled last week that is moving to ban flavored e-cigarettes from the market.
09.16.2019  | HPC Issues Preliminary (Incomplete) Coding Analysis
The HPC released preliminary data showing that there has been an increase in high-acuity discharges from Massachusetts hospitals driven by changing coding practices.
09.16.2019  | e-Prescribing Goes into Effect by Year’s End
Last Wednesday, the Public Health Council signed off on the final e-prescribing regulations, which go into effect on December 27, 2019.
09.02.2019  | SAMHSA Proposes Revisions to Patient Record Guidelines
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has released a proposed rule to revise the regulations which serve to protect patient records for the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) patients.
06.10.2019  | Betsy Lehman Center Releases New Report
The Betsy Lehman Center, a state agency that supports providers, patients and policymakers on patient safety issues, today published its latest report on opportunities for quality improvement in healthcare settings.
06.03.2019  | Say Goodbye to Prescription Pads?
DPH is proposing regulations that will require almost every prescription generated in Massachusetts to be issued in a federally compliant electronic format as opposed to being written on a paper pad.
04.29.2019  | MHA, MMS, & Reliant Publish EHR Steps to Combat Clinician Burnout
Changing the EHR from a Liability to an Asset to Reduce Physician Burnout includes more than a dozen practical EHR optimization techniques an organization can take to improve the usability of the EHR and its associated workflows to reduce the adminis
02.11.2019  | Mid-Winter Leadership Forum Explored AI, Politics
More than 300 people attended MHA’s 52nd Annual Mid-Winter Leadership Forum last Thursday in Framingham.
02.11.2019  | Letting Nurses Care for Their Patients – Wherever They Are
MHA, ONL and others are strongly supporting a bill that would authorize Massachusetts to join 31 other states that have adopted the national Nurse Licensure Compact.
01.28.2019  | What to Expect in the Federal Healthcare Arena
The American Hospital Association (AHA) last week laid out its 2019 public policy agenda.

Resources

Click on the links below for easy access to important information related to state healthcare issues and advocacy.


Visit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts websites below to find information on legislative hearings and other meetings of interest to the healthcare community.


To guide your navigation of the legislative process and assist your advocacy efforts, please visit the following state websites: