Friday, February 25
Tuesday, February 22
Tuesday, February 15
Obama's 2012 Budget Proposal Would Increase Funds for ONC
On Monday, President Obama released his fiscal year 2012 budget calling for $79.5 billion in federal IT spending, a 1.3% increase over the estimated $78.5 billion being spent on IT this year, InformationWeek reports (Hoover, InformationWeek, 2/14).
According to HHS, ONC would receive additional funding from other sources, and its total budget would be $78.4 million in 2012, up from $60.5 million in 2010.
Meanwhile, the budget proposal anticipates that CMS will dole out $2.8 billion in Medicare meaningful use incentive payments in 2012, compared with $640 million this year. CMS also is expected to provide $854 million to states next year to administer Medicaid incentive payments, compared with $1.6 billion in 2011.
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 2/15).
For example, the IT budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs is 4.5% -- or $146 million -- below the $3.3 billion allocated in 2010 (Brewin, NextGov, 2/14).
ONC, Meaningful Use Incentive Payments
Under the proposal, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's administrative budget would increase to $57 million from $42 million in 2010 (Daly/Zigmond, Modern Healthcare, 2/14).According to HHS, ONC would receive additional funding from other sources, and its total budget would be $78.4 million in 2012, up from $60.5 million in 2010.
Meanwhile, the budget proposal anticipates that CMS will dole out $2.8 billion in Medicare meaningful use incentive payments in 2012, compared with $640 million this year. CMS also is expected to provide $854 million to states next year to administer Medicaid incentive payments, compared with $1.6 billion in 2011.
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 2/15).
Other Health Care-Related Increases
Under Obama's budget proposal:- Spending to help curb health care fraud and abuse would increase to $581 million from $311 million, and the administration would require state Medicaid agencies to track and monitor indicators of fraud (Modern Healthcare, 2/14);
- Spending for USDA's IT programs would increase to about $406 million, compared with $404 million expected this year (Khan, Federal Computer Week, 2/14);
- HHS would receive nearly $80 billion to administer its discretionary programs and implement the federal health reform law, though the figure is $1.3 billion lower than the agency's current funding levels ("It's All Politics," NPR, 2/14);
- NIH would receive $32.3 billion, up from $31.3 billion in FY 2011 (Millman, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 2/14);
- CDC would receive $11.2 billion, up from its fiscal year 2010 budget of $10.8 billion, though the agency's discretionary spending budget would be reduced from $6.5 billion to $5.9 billion (Brown, "44", Washington Post, 2/14); and
- FDA would receive $2.7 billion, an increase of about $1 billion from the agency's current fiscal year budget ("It's All Politics," NPR, 2/14).
Spending Decreases
Even though Obama's budget would increase overall IT spending, some agencies would see decreases in their IT budgets (InformationWeek, 2/14).For example, the IT budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs is 4.5% -- or $146 million -- below the $3.3 billion allocated in 2010 (Brewin, NextGov, 2/14).
Friday, February 11
Southeast Sales Jobs Roundup: Mid-February
Physician PM/EMR Sales
Small practices (1-10 providers): openings in NC and ATL
Enterprise (10+ providers): FL
Revenue Cycle Management Software Sales
Mid-Market practices (10-25+ providers): openings in NC and ATL
Billing Services Sales
Enterprise (large practices/medical centers): opening for the SE territory (any major city)
*If you have an interest in learning more, friend who could be a fit, or just a fantastic network of Healthcare IT Sales professionals, call Kate!
434-817-5300 x 220 or kharlow@mr-monticello.com
434-817-5300 x 220 or kharlow@mr-monticello.com
Thursday, February 10
Wednesday, February 9
ONC Awards $12M in New Funds for Regional Extension Centers
On Tuesday, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal announced new grants totaling $12 million for 48 regional extension centers to help critical access and rural hospitals adopt health IT, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 2/8).
The 62 RECs across the country are designed to provide a variety of services to help health care providers become meaningful users of health IT. Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 2/8).
Funding Details
The grants range in value from $18,000 to $1,068,000 (Modern Healthcare, 2/8). The funding will be put toward helping RECs offer more technical support to critical access and smaller, rural facilities in implementing EHR systems.
The grants are part of the economic stimulus package's HITECH Act (Healthcare IT News, 2/8).
The total amount of federal funding for RECs specifically for critical access and rural hospitals is now $32 million, according to ONC (Modern Healthcare, 2/8).
A complete list of grant recipients is available on an HHS website.
Tuesday, February 8
Can Recruiters Find YOU? 5 Online Methods to Borrow
Veteran recruiter Joe Turner describes online routes to the short list when professional talent scouts are looking for candidates.
by Joe Turner of www.theladders.com
I was a recruiter for more than 15 years, so job seekers often ask me for advice on how to meet recruiters and how to make working with recruiters a beneficial experience. My reply is not always what they want to hear: Top recruiters don't want to meet you. They don't want you to call them, and they don't want you to send your resume to them.
They are already wired into their own network of potential candidates in the fields they cover. If they're doing their jobs correctly, they already know all the top candidates in their fields or know where to find them. In other words, if they want to meet you, they'll find you.
But these are the people you want to meet! These are the executive search firms that will introduce you to a company or corporate recruiters who want to fill open positions.
There are ways you can increase the odds that they will find you. By making sure you are visible in the places recruiters look for new talent and by optimizing your profile to appear high in their search for candidates, you can increase the odds you'll become one of those candidates recruiters in your field seek out.
1. Build and update a LinkedIn profile
"If you're not online, you don't exist." That‘s the motto of many recruiters today. And for many of them, "online" means one place: LinkedIn. According to a recent survey of U.S. hiring managers, 66 percent used LinkedIn to find job candidates for openings, 23 percent used Facebook, and 16 percent used Twitter.
If you haven't done so already, visit both LinkedIn and Facebook to establish a profile page that describes who you are. Keep it professional, but make it an expression of your professional personality. Whet the appetites of visitors to your page. Update it regularly.
2. Advertise yourself with a Unique Selling Proposition
Describe yourself with a brief sentence - a Unique Selling Proposition. A USP is a one-sentence description that says who you are, what your biggest strength is and the greatest benefit you bring.
For example:
"Hands-on Operations Manager with strong people and team-building skills who has helped produce revenues of $2.8 million with a 22 percent margin for my previous employer."
Place this sentence in your profile header as a starter to explain what distinguishes you from others in your field. Include your previous employers as well as the briefest descriptors about you.
3. Add your LinkedIn profile URL to your resume
Once you've built your profile, make sure you make it easy for recruiters and hiring managers to find you on the Web. Add this link directly to your resume right under your contact information.
4. Ask for LinkedIn recommendations
Amassing recommendations is like stockpiling referrals before you need them. Once again, you want to make it easy for recruiters and hiring managers. A great way to provide them with good feedback about your work is with LinkedIn recommendations. A recommendation is merely someone saying something good about you. Make a list of your past (and present) bosses, supervisors, colleagues and clients. If they're on LinkedIn as well, they can provide you with a recommendation. Don't be afraid to ask, since most will be more than glad to do this for you. When they're done, you'll have a number of professional recommendations easily seen by anyone who visits your profile page.
5. Make yourself an expert
You can also employ tools like LinkedIn and Facebook to extend your network. You'll find hundreds of groups on LinkedIn beyond the obvious ones dedicated to alumni and job search. With a little searching you'll also find groups of people dedicated to the advancement or discussion of their particular profession or industry as well as people seeking solutions to specific problems.
Recruiters will often monitor groups relevant to the industries in which they specialize and keep an eye on outstanding members. Once you're a member, you can initiate new discussion threads for others to join. You can ask and answer questions; if members of the group deem your answer the most relevant or helpful, you gain visibility within the group. Recruiters definitely notice these people, since they prove to be the movers and shakers within their profession. They make the short list for a check on your profile and a potential e-mail or LinkedIn direct message to your inbox.
Start with LinkedIn as a tool to gain the attention that will merit a call. Then you can move to incorporate both Facebook and Twitter into your job-search marketing.
Friday, February 4
Thursday, February 3
Great New LinkedIn Feature for Job Seekers!
Check out LinkedIn's new feature that allows you to tap into your network more effectively than before!
Wednesday, February 2
Is Stimulus Funding at Risk?
borrowed from: Healthcare IT News
GOP-sponsored bill threatens MU funding
[See: Obama gives HIT the nod in State of the Union speech.]
The Spending Reduction Act of 2011 (H.R. 408), introduced on January 24 by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), seeks to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion over the coming decade. As it does so, it singles out many federal programs for elimination.
Section 302 of the bill, titled "REPEAL OF CERTAIN STIMULUS PROVISIONS," states that "effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, subtitles B and C of title II and titles III through VII of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) are repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such provisions of division B are restored or revived as if such provisions of division B had not been enacted."
Since the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs set up under the ARRA/HITECH Act of2009 fall under division B, it would appear that the $27 billion earmarked for disbursement to healthcare providers to spurring EHR adoption would fall on the chopping block were the bill to ever pass.
For good measure, Jordan's Republican Study Committee also decrees that the enacted legislation would "further prohibit any FY 2011 funding from being used to carry out any provision of the Democrat government takeover of health care, or to defend the health care law against any lawsuit challenging any provision of the act."
[That represents a swift about-face from one year ago. See: House votes healthcare overhaul into law, promotes health IT.]
Of course, the bill's passage is hardly assured. The GOP holds majorities in the House, but the Democrats control the Senate. Moreover, this bill or any one like it would surely fall victim to President Obama's veto.
Dave Roberts, vice president of government relations for HIMSS, is less worried about the bill being signed into law than he is about the climate it creates.
The draft has already been referred to 14 different committees in the House, he says, so it's going to be a while before it sees any floor action.
The problem is that it's already "creating confusion in the industry," says Roberts. "We've heard from some CIOs, asking us, 'What is this? We hear the House is going to rescind our money.' It adds to the confusion in the whole marketplace. And providers and hospitals who want to purchase this [technology] are wondering, 'Do I really want to start down this path?'
"We're trying to tell people," he says, "that this process is going on. This is only one body [of Congress]. Don't let this be a concern."
But, Roberts cautions: "We're leading up to the 2012 elections. The Senate's majority is very reduced right now. And if this is a new way of thinking, that could be concerning. So I think that while this particular bill may not pass, it's something that has to be watched closely."
GOP-sponsored bill threatens MU funding
January 28, 2011 | Mike Miliard, Managing Editor
[See: Obama gives HIT the nod in State of the Union speech.]
The Spending Reduction Act of 2011 (H.R. 408), introduced on January 24 by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), seeks to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion over the coming decade. As it does so, it singles out many federal programs for elimination.
Section 302 of the bill, titled "REPEAL OF CERTAIN STIMULUS PROVISIONS," states that "effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, subtitles B and C of title II and titles III through VII of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) are repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such provisions of division B are restored or revived as if such provisions of division B had not been enacted."
Since the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs set up under the ARRA/HITECH Act of2009 fall under division B, it would appear that the $27 billion earmarked for disbursement to healthcare providers to spurring EHR adoption would fall on the chopping block were the bill to ever pass.
For good measure, Jordan's Republican Study Committee also decrees that the enacted legislation would "further prohibit any FY 2011 funding from being used to carry out any provision of the Democrat government takeover of health care, or to defend the health care law against any lawsuit challenging any provision of the act."
[That represents a swift about-face from one year ago. See: House votes healthcare overhaul into law, promotes health IT.]
Of course, the bill's passage is hardly assured. The GOP holds majorities in the House, but the Democrats control the Senate. Moreover, this bill or any one like it would surely fall victim to President Obama's veto.
Dave Roberts, vice president of government relations for HIMSS, is less worried about the bill being signed into law than he is about the climate it creates.
The draft has already been referred to 14 different committees in the House, he says, so it's going to be a while before it sees any floor action.
The problem is that it's already "creating confusion in the industry," says Roberts. "We've heard from some CIOs, asking us, 'What is this? We hear the House is going to rescind our money.' It adds to the confusion in the whole marketplace. And providers and hospitals who want to purchase this [technology] are wondering, 'Do I really want to start down this path?'
"We're trying to tell people," he says, "that this process is going on. This is only one body [of Congress]. Don't let this be a concern."
But, Roberts cautions: "We're leading up to the 2012 elections. The Senate's majority is very reduced right now. And if this is a new way of thinking, that could be concerning. So I think that while this particular bill may not pass, it's something that has to be watched closely."
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