Are You Using NPI?

It is imperative that providers immediately look at their NPPES records to ensure that they did not inadvertently report their, or someone else’s, SSN in a FOIA-disclosable field; if they did, they need to delete that SSN immediately and, if appropriate, replace it with the correct information (e.g., an EIN). Providers must look in their NPPES records (https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/)

EMR Failures Fairly Common

A new article in Modern Healthcare stats that it’s not that that rare for EMRs to be deployed and then uninstalled-and that nearly 10 percent of installations fail outright. Slightly more than 8% of those surveyed indicated they’d ripped out their EMRs and gone back to paper, with 6% indicating the uprooting occurred in the past, while another 2% responded that they were now experiencing the reversion to paper. According to C. Peter Wagemann of the Medical Records Institute, said “when it comes to switching systems, the trend more often has been to downgrade to less-expensive, less-complicated EMRs than to more-expensive, complicated ones.”

MGMA 07 Slideshow

Survey Says EMRs Lessen Malpractice Risk

According to a survey published on Insurancenewsnet.com, Nearly 20% of respondents stated their malpractice insurer offers a discount for having an EMR system, and close to half (45%) believe EMRs will make them less vulnerable to malpractice cases. The survey asked respondents from 115 practices in 27 specialties.