On December 6, 2011, we will be holding a TORCH Coding Workshop at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin! This event is intended for rural hospital coders and staff interested in gaining valuable information, updates and education on both ICD-9 and ICD-10 Coding, as well as ICD-10 Compliance.

Taught by certified codrs, you will receive a day of expert instruction! In addition to the outstanding educatioen you will receive, we have worked with the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) to offer AHIMA continuing education units (CEUs) for this workshop! See the Program Brochure/Agenda for more information. Register today!

Reserve your hotel room before November 25th to receive the special conference rate of $89 per night for a single/double. You can reserve your room online or call the hotel directly at 800-866-3126. Hotel garage parking is complimentary for workshop participants. The Doubletree Hotel is located at 6505 N. IH-35, Austin, TX 78752.

Hospitals & Students:

• Program Brochure
• Register Online
• To Pay By Check, Send Payment with the Hospital Registration Form

The start of the new year marks the start of registration for health care professionals and providers wanting to take advantage of electronic health record incentives. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now registering Texas health care providers who are integrating certified electronic health record technology into their practices.

“Registration with CMS is step one in the process,” said Kathleen Costello, who is helping coordinate the Texas electronic health record incentive program. “Once the provider takes that first step, CMS will pass that provider’s information to us and from that point, HHSC will be responsible for enrolling the provider, verifying eligibility and clearing the way for the incentive payments.”

HHSC plans to begin enrolling health care providers registered with CMS starting in February, with the first incentive payments scheduled for May 2011.

Individual health care professionals eligible for the incentives can be:

• Doctors (MD or DO)
• Dentists
• Nurse practitioners
• Certified nurse midwives
• Some physician’s assistants

These health professionals have to show they have adopted certified electronic health record technology and successfully demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records in ways that improve quality, safety and effectiveness of patient care. Eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 over a five-year period through the Medicare incentive program and up to $63,750 over a six-year period through the Medicaid incentive program. HHSC has made available an online tool health professionals can use to help determine which incentive program — Medicare or Medicaid — they might be eligible for.

“One of the criteria for determining which incentive program the professional is eligible for is patient volume,” Costello said. “To be eligible for the Medicaid incentive program, they have to show a certain percentage of their encounters are with Medicaid patients.”

HHSC will be sharing more information about health professional eligibility and the enrollment process during two free webinars scheduled for Feb. 3. [Download PDF]

A separate webinar with information about hospital eligibility is in the planning stages.

To prepare for registration with CMS, the agency recommends providers — health professionals and hospital representatives — familiarize themselves with each incentive program’s requirements by visiting CMS’ website for the programs. Additional resources also are available at the HHSC’s Health Information Technology website.