At the Forefront of Healthcare Transformation 
 
 
ILHITREC
Interchange
Newsletter
June 2020
 
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Illinois practice  
making a difference
during the  
COVID-19 pandemic
McCarthy Eye Center in Oak Park, Illinois has been unable to see their normal amount of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike primary care and other medical specialties, ophthalmology requires the use of equipment and up-close examination for most of their patient visits. This makes it more difficult to convert their office visits to telehealth or virtual visits. The practice owners knew they would need to decrease their patient load during the time of the pandemic. The owner, Dr. Tim McCarthy and his wife Maureen were brainstorming about ways they could keep their staff busy and productive during this time with less patients to see. Like others during this time they saw the need in the medical community for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).  READ MORE. 
 
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CMS
Final Interoperability Rule
sets deadline
to update digital contact information in NPPES
 
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. Making the list of providers who do not provide this digital contact information public will encourage providers to make this valuable, secure contact information necessary to facilitate care coordination and data exchange easily accessible.  READ MORE. 
 
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Health IT Analytics: Leveraging internal data,  
analytics for quality improvement
 
Shifting away from consultants and leveraging internal solutions have allowed Southern Illinois Healthcare and Care New England to succeed in quality improvement efforts. READ MORE.  
 
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Patients steadily return
to in-person
primary care as
telehealth plateaus
 
 
In response to the pandemic, CMS waived some telehealth regulations and increased payments to providers using the technology. But after two months, some doctors are starting to bring patients back in for services they can't provide online.  READ MORE.  
 
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3-week webinar series - Strengthening Your Immune System by Managing Stress
 
Stress is a perfectly natural and expected response to this ongoing, world-wide pandemic. During this time of increased stress and isolation from others, we have the opportunity to develop new routines to support our health. Visit ILHITREC's Webinar page for a replay of this and PowerPoint in PDF format.
   
 
Aligning Medicaid PI Objectives with your Telehealth Strategies
This webinar focused on how emerging telehealth technologies align with the Medicaid PI program objectives and how you can utilize technology to best serve your patients during this time of crisis.     
Visit  ILHITREC's Webinar page  for the replay and PowerPoint in PDF format.   For a succinct summary of telehealth and remote visit changes listed by Technology, Regulations and Billing, CLICK HERE.
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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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].