A Recap of the Modernization of Healthcare in 2014

Political Climate

ICD-10 implementation is delayed another year as Congress passes Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (HR 4302) in October. The ICD-10 was included in the bil that was intended to patch current legislature on the sustainable growth rate.

Accenture secured a $563 million contract with CMS to continue managing Healthcare.gov for 5 years. Accenture was signed to repair the botched first enrollment period that was overseen by CGI Group.

There were changes in meaningful use as providers and physicians begin to move to stage 2. The Flexibility Rule was signed in September, granting more slack in meeting requirements. The meaningful use hardship exception application was reopened to EHs and EPs at a later date. Additionally, the meaningful use attestation period was extended through the end of the year for applicable hospitals.

Continued Changes in EHR Market share

Cerner acquired Siemens Health Siemens for $1.3 billion. Cerner now has the largest market share of acute care hospitals, 1,132 after the merger. Epic Systems was bumped to second, just a year after passing MEDITECH in the same statistic.

Lessons Learned

The cost of EHR remains the number one barrier to implementation reported by physicians.

Some of the top Healthcare IT companies saw issues in EHR.

University of Arizona Health Network’s reported $28.5 million in operating loss after purchasing an EHR software system from Epic Systems.

Whidbey General Hospital found itself in a cash-shortage after a billing glitch in EHR systems developed by MEDITECH.

Athens Regional Medical Center CEO James Thaw was forced to step down after a Cerner EHR implementation plan went wrong.

A Gallup poll shows more than 1/3 of Americans are putting off medical care due to high costs in 2014.