At the Forefront of Healthcare Transformation 
 
 
ILHITREC
Interchange
Newsletter
August 2020

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Turning Challenges into Opportunities

How one pediatric practice succeeded  
in the Medicaid PI program during the pandemic
 
ABC Pediatrics' hard work and determination has paid off for them in more than one way. After initially attesting to the Medicaid PI program in the first years of the program they had stopped participating due to many factors, even though they were still eligible. Fast forward to 2020 and they were in the middle of a pandemic and having to scramble to implement telehealth and get connected to their patients virtually.  Read More.
 
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HOW TO UPDATE YOUR DIRECT CONTACT INFORMATION IN NPPES 

View this webinar to learn how to comply with the new requirements of the CMS Interoperability Final Rule. CMS will begin publicly reporting in late 2020 those providers who do not list or update their digital contact information in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). This includes providing digital contact information such as secure digital endpoints like a Direct Address and/or a FHIR API endpoint.
 
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Reducing

Healthcare Worker

Risk
 
 
 
Covid-19 is unsurprisingly catalyzing the adoption of contactless biometrics. 
 
Big tech companies and others are now in the market selling AI-enabled thermal imaging cameras for fever detection. Voice tech startups are rolling out software for "cough and sneeze detection." Facial recognition software globally is getting an upgrade to detect masked faces.   
 
Today we'll look at the tech from a medical personnel's point of view: how contactless, passive biometrics can reduce healthcare workers' risk of exposure to the virus in hospitals and nursing homes.  Read More.  
 
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The 2021 CMS QRDA III Implementation Guide, Schematron, and Sample Files for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals Programs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) Category III Implementation Guide (IG), Schematron, and Sample Files for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals Programs. The 2021 CMS QRDA III IG outlines requirements for eligible clinicians and eligible professionals to report electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs), improvement activities (IA), and promoting interoperability (PI) measures for the calendar year 2021 performance period for these programs.  Read More. 
 
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Modern Retail:
Why retailers are racing
to build out
their own healthcare clinics
 
 
As retailers seek to make greater inroads into healthcare, many of them have unveiled aggressive plans to launch dozens - if not hundreds - of their own primary care clinics over the coming years.
 
Last week, Walgreens announced that it will invest $1 billion in debt and equity over the next three years into VillageMD, which operates a chain of primary care clinics. As part of the deal, VillageMD will open 500 to primary care clinics in Walgreens stores over the next five years.
 
Walgreens' announcement comes on the heels of Walmart opening several standalone primary care clinics over the past year, as well as CVS announcing plans to turn 1,500 of its more than 9,000 stores into "HealthHubs" which will have a larger clinic, offer access to a greater range of diagnostic tests, as well as wellness rooms for activities like yoga. Read More
 
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Rural Hospitals Hang on
as Pandemic  
Reaches Smaller Communities  
 
 
As the COVID-19 pandemic battered large, metropolitan areas this spring, rural hospitals prepared to be next on the frontlines.
 
But in order to ready their facilities for a potential surge in patients, those small hospitals had to forgo many of their most profitable operations. Months later, a few rural hospitals are fighting outbreaks. But others have empty beds, further threatening their viability in an era of shrinking health care options for people living in rural communities. Read More
 
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Please note that ILHITREC's Clinical Informatics Specialists  have expertise to assist you with any questions or concerns related to the EHR Incentive Programs. Contact us at info@ILHITREC.org or visit ILHITREC.org for complete details on the wide variety of services provided by ILHITREC.
 
About Support Provided by ILHITREC
The Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (ILHITREC), under contract with the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (HFS), is providing education, outreach, EHR, and Meaningful Use support to Medicaid providers for the Promoting Interoperability Program. Contact us at info@ILHITREC.org.