Industry Insight

Colorado HIE Launches FHIR

Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) recently announced the successful launch of a new technology innovation that will make health care data even more portable in Colorado. CORHIO CEO Morgan Honea made the announcement at the Prime Health Innovation Summit in Denver.

A proof of concept is underway that utilizes Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) to provide user-configurable access to retrieve and view the patient data contained in the CORHIO health information exchange (HIE).

With funding from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, CORHIO has developed the architecture to utilize FHIR to greatly enhance clinical data access in a secure environment and position the HIE for advanced future applications.

“Starting [in June], CORHIO will add FHIR-based API access to the CORHIO environment,” Honea says. “This enables access to one of the largest health care data environments in the United States. Our first use case is based on consumer-driven consent, which will begin to bridge the divide between the clinical data ecosystem and the consumer-facing application domain.”

FHIR is often explained as an infrastructure that enables a model similar to the apps that we have on our smartphones.

CORHIO’s use of this new technology is in sync with the organization’s dedication to an interoperable approach to improving health outcomes. Without access to all the information available on a patient, including medications, test results, and recent hospitalizations or emergency department visits, providers cannot make the best, most informed decisions for the patient.

It is CORHIO’s hope that this enhanced FHIR functionality will enable more advanced population health management to support value-based health care in Colorado.

CORHIO also plans to advance HIE beyond clinical data to include new types of patient information, such as social determinants of health (housing, transportation, finances). Gathering data from disparate sources beyond hospitals and labs opens up the use of CORHIO’s network in exciting new ways that are just starting to be explored.

— Source: Colorado Regional Health Information Organization

AHDPG Launches Certification Exam for Medical Scribes

A rigorous new national certification exam is helping to ensure the highest level of patient care and documentation in medical practices nationwide. The Medical Scribe Certification Exam (MSCE), recently launched from the American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPG), is a competency-based exam that awards the Certified Medical Scribe Apprentice (CMSA) and Certified Medical Scribe Professional (CMSP) credentials to qualified professionals who can pass the exam and provide documentation of hands-on experience.

Due to recent law changes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revised its policy on scribes to allow a physician to delegate EMR documentation requirements “to a person performing a scribe function who is not such physician if such physician has signed and verified the documentation” and the action is in accordance with applicable state law. This clarification was published in CMS FAQ 20477.

The medical scribe profession is rapidly developing in response to the added burden placed on health care practitioners to accurately document patient visits in EHR systems. Medical scribes are present everywhere throughout hospitals to large clinics and even small private practices.

Though medical scribes are paraprofessionals working on the front lines of health care, the profession is not regulated. Peter Reilly, AHDPG president and CEO, and his team developed the MSCE to set a higher standard of excellence in the medical scribe profession. Recognizing there are varying levels of experience among working scribes, AHDPG awards the CMSP credential to candidates who successfully pass the MSCE and can document 200 hours of on-the-job medical scribe experience; the CMSA is awarded to candidates who pass the MSCE but possess fewer than 200 hours of documented experience. AHDPG immediately awards CMSP status to CMSAs upon submission and approval of 200 documented hours of medical scribe experience.

“Health care employers value credentials. Becoming a CMSP places you, your coworkers, and your entire organization in another league, positioning you as a leader and role model for your organization,” Reilly explains. “In working with health care organizations across the country who are interested in developing their own teams of internally managed scribes, we have been at the forefront of this wave of change and critical need to reduce physician burnout.”

Anyone can sit for the MSCE. The 100-question online exam is designed to test the candidate’s knowledge, skill, and applied interpretive judgment in all areas of medical scribe practice. AHDPG offers exam preparation resources, including a low-cost practice exam; the MSCE is $165, and credentials are valid for two years. CMSA and CMSP candidates can learn more and sit for the exam at www.ahdpg.com/scribe-certification/.

— Source: American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group