CCHIT

I'm really not this lazy, it's just that what Erica has put together is really good.

If you're a pediatrcian and thinking about ARRA (as many of you appear to be), PedSource is assembling what I think are among the best pediatric-focused ARRA resources you will find anywhere.

As you may have heard - even the AAP has announced the news - the Final Draft of the Meaningful Use Final Rule has been issued by CMS.  There are already dozens of analyses of the results posted on-line (how some of these folks read 860+ pages in a matter of hours is beyond me), but remarkably little as it relates to pediatricians.  As you know, MU and the ARRA money are really aimed at the 95% market share, namely physicians who take Medicare.

As many of you know, I am on the CCHIT Child Health Workgroup, which has been both a delight and an exercise in futility.  The focus and capability of the folks on that committee is intimidating, to say the least...but, sadly, we have not met since last September, if I have my dates right.  Everyone - especially CCHIT - expected them to be named the one-and-only certification body for all things EHR, but that never materialized and now many of us are wondering what to do.

After today's post, I am going to return with some really cool benchmark data (the sort of topic I prefer), but the news about EHRs is coming fast and furiously. My apologies for the length of the post.

First, from the AAP:

This is the blog that was never meant to be.  Two times, now, I have lost the entire thing just before posting due to a quick trigger finger.  Ay yi yi.  I will fight the WWW Gods, though, and make it happen.

I might be the first person to actually blog during his CCHIT Workgroup meeting, but it really isn't taking much double-tasking to do it, as it's a cut-and-paste.  From CCHIT itself:

I've had a lot of surprisingly hopeful emails hit me referring to all the "free money" docs expect to get as a result of the Obama stimulus package.  Put your cynical hats on, folks, because if you think that the HIT-driven stimulus money as it's designed right now is going to benefit you or your patients, you are mistaken.

These things always happen when I can least afford to spend time working on them.   When I leave town, for example, and can't get my mail...PedTalk usually explodes.  This time, it's school break and we received the following at PCC:

As you may know, I am on the CCHIT Child Health Workgroup.  My participation is related, I believe, to my criticism of the certification and it’s misuse.  But if you’re not part of the solution, y