Netgain

As many of you may have heard, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers introduced the Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2014 to the U.S. House of Representatives on September 16, 2014. This act would over-ride the CMS final rule requiring a full (365 day) year of EHR meaningful use reporting and has prompted a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm amongst administrators and providers across all of America. The problem is that there is no clear picture as to when this legislation will be voted on or if it will pass.

Executive Summary:

1.What is the difference?

To start this discussion, I feel it is important to draw the distinction between these two often interchanged words.

• Disaster Recovery is what happens after a disaster occurs to restore functionality.

An SSAE 16 (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements, no. 16) audit is a standard created by the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).  This standard deals with engagements taken on by a service auditor for reporting on controls at organizations that supply services to users.  These controls may be relevant to a user's internal control over financial reporting (ICFR).

Healthcare Information Technology is a Very Dynamic Entity

While only an intriguing concept just a decade ago, cloud computing is now growing at a rate exceeding any early predictions.  In fact, according to a study quoted in a recent article in Forbes, the worldwide growth in cloud computing will reach a size of $19.5 billion by 2016.

You may have heard about flash storage, also known as Solid State Drive (SSD).  Flash storage is known for being incredibly fast and offers increased performance, consistency, and reliability.  These features make flash drives perfect for critical clinical applications like EHR and PM.  There isn’t a lot of discussion about Flash being used in Healthcare IT, but we believe that it can be a game changer for healthcare practices.

This past week many Netgainers accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from our friends at GeoComm!  The water was cold, but all in all we had a great time participating to help raise awareness for ALS.  We have challenged our friends over at Xigent Solutions now!  Watch the video below to see our reactions:

Late on Friday August 29th the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the final rule that allows healthcare providers more flexibility in how they use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology (CEHRT) to meet meaningful use for the EHR Incentive Program reporting period for 2014.  This final rule is basically unchanged from the proposed rule that was first announced in May and is scheduled to be published with the Federal Register on September 4, 2014.

This question has been brought to light in the wake of the celebrity photo scandal this week.