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At MEDHOST, we’re committed to empowering your healthcare facility or hospital with the knowledge and tools you need to deliver the highest quality care available. In keeping with our promise to you, we recently announced our decision to enable integration with CareSelect® Imaging.
CareSelect Imaging is a clinical decision support mechanism that delivers advanced imaging guidelines at the point-of-order to help health systems improve overall quality, drive out waste and improve ordering appropriateness. This extension will deliver Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC)1 to applicable customers directly into their MEDHOST EHR solution and enable workflows for compliance with the AUC consultation mandate of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA).
According to Consumer Reports, over-utilization of advanced imaging is a sizable problem in the U.S., with over one-third of 80 million annual CT scans linked to no improvement in patient care. As a result, more than $10 billion dollars is spent in excess, and even worse, there’s an increase in nearly 10,000 cancer diagnosis due to increased radiation exposure.
Not sure this update applies to you, or what all this means? Get the 411:
The Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a program to require the consultation of Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC)1 for the ordering of advanced diagnostic imaging services. Under this mandate, CareSelect® Imaging is a qualified Clinical Decision Support Mechanism (qCDSM). January 1, 2020 is the formal start of the program, meaning select healthcare providers will be required to consult a qCDSM when ordering advanced diagnostic imaging tests covered under Medicare Part B (CT, MR, NM, PET). Evidence of consultation must be included on provider claims.
The extension will promote more reliable standards, reduction in variations of care and provision of the data you need to improve performance overall. An improved performance will put your facility in a better position to improve population health, increase efficiency and raise the standard of patient care while lowering the cost. This extension will also help providers by helping reduce overuse of imaging orders, improve clinical decisionmaking, reduce patient misdiagnosis and improve the patient experience by eliminating the unnecessary cost of expensive tests.
The mandate applies to select private physician offices, hospital outpatient departments (including emergency departments), independent diagnostic facilities and ambulatory surgical centers, depending on the reimbursement model of the facility. The mandate does not apply to inpatient care, but facilities should evaluate their individual requirements for participation in this mandate.
Stay tuned with MEDHOST for any new developments. It is a good idea to get in touch with your your Account Manager for more information about AUC and CareSelect Imaging, and how and when to get started so you can be sure that your facility is covered when this mandate is activated.
Email us at inquiries@medhost.com or call 1.800.383.6278 to speak with one of our specialists or contact your Account Manager.
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1 MEDHOST Enterprise, and MEDHOST EDIS are ONC 2015 Edition-compliant and have been certified by an ONC-ACB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For a complete review of the EHR certification and accompanying "Cost and Limitations" statements, visit “https://www.medhost.com/who-we-are/regulatory-and-compliance/”.
