Commonwealth Conversations: Health and Human Services

MassVetsAdvisor.org launches Memorial Day weekend: Services and support for veterans just a click away with new web portal

By U.S. Army Reservist Kyle Toto

I joined the U.S. Army Reserves because I wanted to give back to my country and to carry on a tradition that had been in my family for three generations. After being in the reserves for three years, my civil affairs company was mobilized for a year-long deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan. It wasn’t easy to leave my family and friends, as well as my commitments to work and grad school, but I felt that it would be worth it. After a long year in Afghanistan and countless times outside the wire, I was thrilled to go home and reconnect with family. When I got back I was focused on catching up with friends and enjoying all the comforts of home. My benefits were the last thing on my mind.

That’s why I’m proud this Memorial Day to help the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Department of Veterans’ Services, Massachusetts Broadband Institute and the Home Base Program launch a new website to help veterans and their family members access over 200 state and federal benefits in one location.

MassVetsAdvisor.org is the perfect resource for veterans to easily access their benefits from the comfort of their own homes, on their own time.

As the new Community Manager for Broadband Adoption, I’ll be working with veterans and Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) across the Commonwealth to help them utilize the website and connect to all of the benefits and services they have earned.

MassVetsAdvisor.org is just one more way that the Patrick-Murray Administration has continued to make Massachusetts the the nation's leader in providing services and outreach for our state’s veterans.

If you are a veteran or a family member of a veteran please check out www.massvetsadvisor.org

If you are a service provider and would like training on the new veterans portal, feel free to contact me via email at toto@masstech.org, by telephone at (508) 870-0312 x 604, or through the mail at: Massachusetts Broadband Institute, ATTN: MassVetsAdvisor, 75 North Drive, Westborough, MA 01581.

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MassHealth begins paying incentives to providers who adopt and use Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

By MassHealth Health IT Project Manager Deborah Schiel

Recently, I was referred to a specialist by my primary care physician. Prior to the appointment, the new physician requested my medical records so he could review my health history. It seemed easy enough. Since my physician had an electronic health record (EHR) system I thought I could simply sign the paperwork that would allow him to share my medical information with the new provider and it would be transferred electronically in a timely way.

Although Massachusetts has more providers using EHRs than most other states, many providers still use paper medical records or if they do have electronic medical records, these systems are not set up to “talk to each other.” In my particular case, the two electronic medical record systems did not “communicate” with each other, transfer of my medical information meant that my primary care provider had to print out a copy of my medical record; I had to stop by his practice to pick it up and then drop it off at the specialist’s office a couple of days prior to my appointment. Can you imagine having to take these same steps to transfer money from one bank account to another bank account? Shouldn’t the transfer of health care information be handled electronically much like the banking industry?

Last October, Massachusetts reached a health care milestone with the launch of the Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program, working toward the Commonwealth’s goal of ensuring that every provider in the state has access to a federally certified EHR system that communicates with other certified EHR systems by 2015. During the first four months of the program, more than $76 million in Medicaid EHR incentives have been disbursed to over 40 short-term acute care hospitals and nearly 1,700 eligible health care professionals.  Both the Medicaid program and the Medicare EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program were established through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provide 100% of the incentives paid to providers and 90% of the state’s costs to operate the program. In August 2011, CMS announced that MassHealth would receive more than $12 Million in federal reimbursement to support operations and provider outreach activities for the first two years of the Medicaid incentive program. MassHealth estimates that more than 6,000 eligible professionals and most of the acute care hospitals in Massachusetts will be eligible for the program, which means potentially more than $500 million in federal EHR incentives being paid to Massachusetts providers during the 10-year program. 

MassHealth is partnering with its colleagues at the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI), a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which will support key operational and provider outreach components of the incentive program.  MeHI is the state agency dedicated to  health care innovation, technology and competitiveness.  Another crucial participant is the Provider Compliance Unit of The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Health Care Financing. They will be reviewing providers to make sure they meet all necessary requirements for receiving the incentive payments, and they will also audit the providers after the incentive payments are made.

Launching the Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program is just one of many exciting health information technology (HIT) initiatives that MassHealth,  Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), other state agencies and key stakeholders (including MeHI) are collaborating on to promote the widespread adoption and meaningful use of certified EHRs by providers across the Commonwealth. Widespread use of EHRs by Massachusetts health care providers is essential to transforming health care in the Commonwealth, and the move away from a fee-for-service model towards a system that offers fully integrated, coordinated, and patient-focused health care services. 

For more information on the Program, providers can contact the Massachusetts Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program staff at 1-855-massEHR or submit questions to massEHR@masstech.org.  In addition, providers can receive information on the Program at www.mass.gov/masshealth/ehrincentives.

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Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission goes global

By MRC Commissioner Charles Carr

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with a dozen advocates and people with disabilities from Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait and Jordan. The delegation – sponsored by the U.S. State Department and hosted by WorldBoston, a non- profit agency dedicated to increasing public awareness about issues of global concern – convened to find out more about a variety of disability policy-related issues, including the formation of the Disability Rights and Independent Living movements, assistive technology, community organizing, sports and recreation for individuals with disabilities and many other issues.

I wove the fabric of my own story of growing up with a disability into a discussion of how I and others in Massachusetts changed our lives as well as the lives of others, sometimes by resorting to civil disobedience to get the job done.  I talked about living in an institution throughout my adolescence and early 20s and the struggle to fight for funding for the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) and community-based services, such as personal care assistance and opportunities to live in affordable, accessible housing.  Detailing how we organized people with disabilities in the state, and eventually nationally, to advance the cause of the independent living movement helped illustrate how even small groups with a common cause and passion can make a difference.  Changes in federal and state laws are the result of great sacrifice and struggle over 30 years to accomplish great strides for individuals with disabilities and arrive where we are today as a nation.

Despite a whirlwind two weeks in the U.S. and a packed agenda that started in Washington, DC, and brought the group from St. Louis to Boston, the group was remarkably attentive and engaged as they listened through their Arabic translator.  Questions came readily, such as “tell me more about the ADA” and “how did assistive technology change your life” and “what organized sports do Americans have access to?” The questions were as varied as the people and countries represented in the room. They understood the logical progression of assisting individuals with disabilities transition into community living, with the next step of entering the workforce independently.  MRC’s mission to assist people with disabilities so that they may live in the community and become employed was a natural fit with the group’s interests. We ended the forum with the realization that all of our countries, including the United States, have a lot of work to do before we ever see full community integration and acceptance. This small event was truly a global effort to develop an agenda for monumental change.

As part of the day’s agenda, the group visited the MRC-funded Assistive Technology Regional Center at Easter Seals in Boston.  Karen Langley, director of Assistive Technology and Community Support Programs within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and technology center staff gave the group a tour of the Center and demonstrated some of the many innovations that assist people with disabilities and elders so that they may function more independently.  Karen noted that the group was really taken by the Dragon Dictate software that enables speech recognition.  They wanted to know how much it cost and where they could buy it before they left. Although originally designed for people with limitations in their hands to use a computer, they immediately saw the value to the general public and the universal design principle of “design for all.” They were also interested in books and videos written by people with disabilities telling their own stories. Peer support and peer role modeling clearly in evidence and something the group fully understood and appreciated.

Access to the internet will allow for this robust exchange to continue well beyond the few hours we spent together.  An exchange of email addresses, helpful websites and YouTube videos of people with disabilities engaged the group and wrapped up the afternoon. The group was confident that by sharing these resources and bringing back their experiences in the U.S., they will change the beliefs and attitudes of many people in their own countries to open the doors for their independence as people with disabilities.

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Assistive technology is changing the accessibility landscape and daily life for us all

By Assistant Secretary for Disability Policies and Programs Christine Griffin

Over the past 25 years, we have witnessed the advent of innovative assistive technology–everything from “kneeling buses” to software for computers that speak to blind or visually-impaired individuals to video phones that allow individuals who are Deaf to sign to each other.  These and other devices have made significant strides in simplifying life for elders and people with disabilities. Simply put, “assistive technology” (AT) includes products and systems that expand the capabilities for those with functional limitations.  Each and every day, AT changes people’s lives.

As someone who has had a disability for more than 30 years and has spent many of those years advocating for increased employment opportunities for all people with disabilities, it is access to affordable assistive technology that will allow more people with disabilities to obtain and retain competitive employment.

Many AT products are designed for people with functional limitations but offer benefits to the public at large, making their design benefits truly universal. Who with a stroller or bicycle hasn’t benefited from a curb cut that’s designed to accommodate people using wheelchairs? Or voice activation software that is designed for people who are not able to use their hands? This innovation is now commercially available to the busy executive, teacher, student or even grandma. By modeling and designing products, policies and environments that are simple and accessible to the broadest possible range of  users, the thought leaders in this arena are truly creating what has become known as universal design (UD).

More than 34% of the population over the age of 65 in Massachusetts is identified as having a disability; 5.9% of residents between the ages of 5 and 17 are identified with a disability, and 8.9% of individuals between 18 and 64 are identified as having a disability. These numbers illustrate the need to adopt universal design and assistive technology within local communities across the Commonwealth.

In this interest, Governor Deval Patrick and the Executive Offices of Health and Human Services, Education, and Housing & Economic Development are co-hosting  a conference and free expo on “Products & Technologies that Change People’s Lives: Universal Design and Assistive Technology in Massachusetts” this Friday, September 23at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The Institute for Human Centered Design is partnering with the Commonwealth to convene this event. For more information about the more than 75 assistive technology exhibitors who will participate, or to register: visit: www.changepeopleslives.org.

I hope you’ll join us for a day of thought-provoking discussion, an exchange of ideas and vision, and access to information about products that are improving the quality of all of our lives.

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Governor Patrick's second annual HIT conference highlights Massachusetts' leadership

By David Martin

Governor Patrick and his health information technology team just wrapped up the Governor's 2nd annual health IT conference at the DCU Center in Worcester. The conference, “Health Information Technology: Improving Health Care and the Economy,” featured a keynote address by the Governor, in which he highlighted Massachusetts’ strengths in technology and health care: we are home to some of the world’s best health technology companies and best hospitals, and the combination makes Massachusetts a leader in developing health IT solutions for the nation.

The conference also featured Dr. David Blumenthal, who just stepped down as the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONCHIT) and has returned to Harvard Medical School as a professor. He spoke about the accomplishments of ONCHIT during his tenure there and the challenges that remain. Dr. Blumenthal emphasized that we are well on our way to creating a national HIT system that will improve patient care and lower costs but there is much more work to do.

Dr. Sachin Jain, senior advisor to Don Berwick, the administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, concluded the first day of the conference by talking about how transforming the health care payment and delivery system will both require embracing health IT and fostering its adoption. Paying physicians for providing coordinated, integrated care requires both a robust system of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and a health information exchange (HIE) network so that providers can communicate and share information about patients to coordinate care.

The conference was attended by more than 300 people. Beyond the high-profile guest speakers, the two-day conference included breakout sessions throughout both days of the conference that focused on the challenges faced in the effort to implement health IT nationally.

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David Martin is director of health care policy and strategy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

A sometimes ‘tricky’ but important tool: The utility of social media

By Dr. JudyAnn Bigby

Last week the Boston Globe reported here on how social media can be a helpful, yet tricky tool for physicians and their ability to communicate with patients. Although I did not actively participate in using tools such as Facebook and Twitter when I was treating patients, I’m delighted that these important broadcast channels have become integral to my leadership in state government.

My office’s Twitter account recently surpassed 1,000 followers – and is growing every day. We recently launched a blog for all Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies as a platform for communications with all residents. Similarly, agencies that fall under HHS, the Departments of Veterans’ Services (DVS) and Public Health (DPH) for example, are actively using Facebook pages to engage with stakeholders.

These important communications vehicles help us cultivate dialogue and debate about issues that impact all residents of the Commonwealth. Beyond postings to the content-rich HHS websites that branch out from the state’s main portal, mass.gov, we’re also blogging, using Facebook and ‘tweeting’ about the work we do. Through these various channels, my office and the agencies it oversees are fostering open, online conversation and garnering stakeholder feedback that reflects a wide range of perspectives. This exchange is essential to successfully working on behalf of all Commonwealth residents.

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