The Importance of a Meaningful Use Program Office in attaining Stage 1 Compliance and Positioning for Stage 2

At the end of 2011, the federal government reported that some 604 hospitals and more than 15,000 eligible professionals had successfully attested to the Stage 1 requirements of Meaningful Use.  The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) deemed these numbers to be significant and proof that the program was working.  In our opinion, at best, this was an “OK” start for the first year but certainly less providers in total than originally hoped for.  A far greater number of hospitals and eligible providers have deemed 2012 as their target for Stage 1 compliance.

From a hospital standpoint, 2012 is not the drop-dead year for Stage 1 attainment, although Critical Access Hospitals need to meet this timeframe in order to optimize the number of years that they can earn Medicare incentives dollars.  The other primary reason to attest in 2012 is that it will give the hospital an extra year to prepare for Stage 2 (2014) which by all current indications will be exponentially more complex than Stage 1.

Most hospitals and health systems don’t have the staff and/or skill sets available to provide the focus, time and effort required to ensure successful compliance in this abbreviated timeframe.  Bringing in a third party that has a successful track record in developing and managing a Meaningful Use Program Office (MUPO) and making it part of your internal leadership team can be an excellent approach.  Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, the MUPO can be anywhere from quarter time to fulltime for one to two FTEs over a 6 – 18 month timeframe.  Typically, each program is developed based on the specific requirements of the hospital and is designed to provide Meaningful Use subject matter expertise and the level of guidance required to attain the objectives.

The benefits of an MUPO for your organization can be many, here are just a few:

Provides subject matter expertise on health IT, meaningful use, health reform, ICD-10 and the challenges your organization will encounter in achieving meaningful use and successfully positioning for the ongoing transformation of the healthcare industry

The MUPO has the knowledge and experience to perform a detailed assessment and assist your team in creating  a complete project workplan designed to close the gaps between current state and future state which is the first step in any Meaningful Use attainment plan

Develops the appropriate  governance structure and the executive support required for success

Understands the proposed Stage 2 requirements and incorporates that knowledge into the Stage 1 attainment plan to ensure that the hospital focus is on the “Big” picture

Provides experience in successful physician alignment and adoption strategies

Develops staffing assessments, retention planning and provides recommendations on workforce requirements during and after EHR implementation and adoption

Understands and will recommend an appropriate balance of priorities to optimize efficiency and minimize new capital and operating cost increases

Can provide techniques and guidance to manage your vendors

Has the expertise to assist with identifying, negotiating and securing funding for the project

For most hospitals and health systems Meaning Use Program Office is a smart investment.  Obviously, you must perform a thorough due diligence of the consulting firms providing this service. This is a relatively new area for many firms, so the more experience and references you can attain the better.  In addition, since the project duration is typically long and the consultant needs to be a member of your executive team it is also important to take some time to get to know the firm and employees providing the services to ensure a “good fit”.  The guidance provided through the experience and compatibility of the appropriate consulting firm will pay off in spades by significantly increasing your probability of meeting Stage 1 Meaningful Use and just as importantly positioning your organization for success in Stage 2 and beyond.

Contact the Author:

Dan.Stewart@AveryPartners.com

    By: R. Jeffrey Moore  

Business Process Automation, What exactly is it? How does it work? Can it be applied to my business? These are some of the questions you might be asking yourself. The truth is, automating processes is fairly simple in most cases and can be done quickly for little cost compared to the cost savings and benefits. The ROI (Return on Investment) gains are almost instant. Most business processes and functions can be automated using software. This streamlines the flow of the business, reduces workloads, lowers expenses, improves information, improves management of supplies or services and adds to the bottom line profits of companies. All the executives we have spoken with who have deployed automation software in their businesses wondered why they waited so long and wish they had done it sooner. This special report examines some of the real business benefits that can be realized through process automation.

The Business Case for Automated Processes. Today’s economic reality is that of increased competition, better informed and demanding customers, more government compliance and relentless pressure to cut costs. Companies are being asked to do more with less. Improving processes has become a top priority for all types of businesses. A recent survey of over a 1,000 COO’s by Gartner Executive Programs revealed that the top business priority of their companies was business process improvement. Of course, there are many ways to improve process, but implementing process automation technology offers significant opportunities for gains in efficiency, compliance, and numerous other benefits. With pressure to keep costs down, improve performance and service delivery, companies are looking for solutions that automate processes, standardize best practices, and improve efficiency. Businesses over the past decade have devoted increasing attention to business processes, their improvement, and their automation. This interest grows out of the need to streamline operations, consolidate organizations, and reduce costs. The design and automation of business processes has created its own field of study, known as business process management (BPM) or (BPA) Business Process Automation. BPM/BPA has emerged as a critical cross-discipline control and process enabler, and is responsible for ensuring consistency in planning and performance while reducing costs across the entire organization.

Why Automate Processes? Better processes produce lower costs, motivated employees, and create happier customers. This starts with examining how work is accomplished, documenting current processes, and then improving those processes. However, simply documenting your processes and relying on manual process implementation does not give your business managers real control over the process. Gartner indicates that automating processes without process redesign, but by simply “making the current-state handoffs, timing, and responsibilities explicit, productivity improvements of more than 12 % are normally realized.” Of course, this is just the beginning, as a basic tenant of process automation is its ability to facilitate process improvement. Continuous improvement is at the heart of process automation. The ability to have the information with which to continuously improve processes and gain incremental Return on Investment (ROI) on a consistent basis is a major benefit of automation. The real benefit of process automation to management is the visibility and control of the business processes that are achieved. Process automation can activate the process; orchestrate the people, data, and documents involved in the process; and give managers visibility into how the process is operating, where the bottlenecks might be, and highlight possible improvements. Process automation systems can capture and collect critical key performance indicators and make that data available to facilitate optimization of the process. The captured data allows business managers to optimize the process and feed improvements back into the system automation, thus driving maximum performance and efficiency across the organization.

The Benefits of Process Automation. There are many benefits to process automation. Some processes span systems, departments, or even external business partners. Manual effort, poor hand-offs between departments or partners, and the general inability to monitor overall progress results is a significant waste for most processes. Process automation eliminates or significantly reduces these problems along with a reduction in labor hours, time span, and increased throughput and Increased Productivity. By automating processes that are currently being implemented manually, individuals can work more efficiently and can take on new or additional workloads. Process automation allows us to do more with less. You also create Shorter Cycle Times. Time is money. By automating processes, they are kept moving, hand-offs are seamless, consistency is assured, and cycle times to complete the process are shortened. Getting the product or service to the end user or to market quicker with less cost will result in significant financial benefits. In addition Consistent Process Implementation is assured. Consistency comes from having a documented process that is understood and followed every time. Process automation makes the process easy to understand and enforces adherence to the process steps and time lines. This eliminates missed steps and mistakes often found in manual processes, resulting in consistent, reliable measures that assist in making decisions and implementing process improvements.

One of the main benefits of automation is Corporate Governance and Compliance. Process compliance, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance are ever increasing in importance. Organizations must demonstrate consistency and show that effective controls and business monitors are in place to ensure processes are sound and will provide financial accountability, visibility, and reduce risk and fraud. Process automation can help your company with compliance issues
surrounding regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Combined Code for Corporate Governance, Bilanz Reform, HIPAA, ISO and more. Noncompliance or lack of adequate controls can cost your company big-time. Process automation ensures your processes are followed as they are laid out. Also having the Ability to Quickly Implement Change is a another benefit of automated process that the reliable, consistent information provided can enable management to recognize the need for change or improvement quickly and implement changes into effect in a faster and more controlled manner than you could with a manual process. The ability to change quickly provides an important business advantage and Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction. Customers are much more satisfied when they receive timely, top quality products and services. Process automation enables you to build consistency into your products and services, facilitate continuous improvement, and get the product or service to your market faster and for less cost creating Happy Clients who are Repeat Clients.

Summary Conclusion. In today’s competitive business environment where we are asked to cut costs and do more with less, process improvement and automation is essential to staying alive and meeting our strategic objectives. Process automation can facilitate process implementation and improvement, provide consistency in execution, ensure compliance, and allow us to change in response to rapidly changing conditions and demands. A good automation system will provide an easy way to automate processes, coordinate tasks, and move data between process-players. It will also provide the flexibility and agility to support an ever changing environment. Are you ready to get and stay ahead of the competition, move your company to the next level of performance, you owe it to yourself to “investigate process automation “.

To contact the author:   R.
Jeffrey Moore
Executive Partner
Avery Partners, LLC
Jeff.moore@averypartners.com

Lower costs, motivate employees, and create happier customers with Business Process Automation

Here at Avery we have been asking our clients and vendors to participate in this program by hiring a few warriors and helping us reach our goal of 200+ jobs filled by the end of 2012. We have administrative, customer service, technical support, healthcare etc.. available and just about any other skill you might need. 

If you have ever hired veterans before you probably already know they make great employees, they are smart, punctual and dedicated and they outperform most of our staff. Please visit the web site: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ and join. 

How it works:

 We handle everything you just supply the job opportunity.

Contact Jeff or Kent with your need and we supply you with top notch candidates to interview.

Avery handles all recruiting, payroll, insurance benefits etc…

You get one monthly bill (rates vary depending on job and pay)

ATLANTA, GA –November 9, 2011 – Avery Partners, an Atlanta based company, announces the recent acquisition of Jackson Health Tech Advisors, a healthcare information technology firm providing the full life cycle of consulting services solutions to assist health providers in navigating through the current industry transformation.  Karen Moore, Managing Partner of Avery Partners, believes that bringing Dan Stewart, the former CEO of Jackson Health Tech Advisors, onto the Avery Partner’s executive team will provide the leadership and experience necessary to accelerate the growth of Avery Partners healthcare consulting services business.  Mr. Stewart has more than 30 years in the healthcare information technology industry and has held senior management positions at several market leading technology vendors and consulting firms including HBOC (now McKesson), Siemens, First Consulting Group and CSC.

“Dan’s extensive experience in professional services delivery, development and management will serve us well as we look to augment our top-line growth and become an industry leader in the healthcare information technology services sector” said Ms. Moore. “This partnership will also provide synergy and contribute to the continuing growth and expansion of our leadership positions in our professional talent acquisition and outsourcing services businesses.”

“I am very excited about the merger”, stated Mr. Stewart.  “I see this as an exceptional opportunity to build the Avery Partners HIT consulting practice into an industry leader focusing on providing professional services solutions that enable our clients to not only achieve “meaningful use” but be positioned to thrive under health reform. The leverage for this growth will come from the highly successful Avery Partners recruiting and talent acquisition organization that has placed more than 1,000 HIT professionals since 2008 and currently has an active network of more than 10,000 resources.   This will be especially helpful as we expand our HIT consulting services practice to meet the ever increasing and diverse needs of the healthcare provider.”

About Avery Partners – Established in 2004, Avery Partners is a certified woman-owned business and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is made up of high level executives and professionals who are subject matter experts in their respective fields creating a unique business model that solves the business challenges of our clients faster and at a lower cost than our competition.  Avery Partners provides Consulting, Staff Augmentation, Executive Search and Outsourcing services in the healthcare, IT, federal government and energy markets.  The company has national and international capabilities and currently operates in 40 states.