FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACMSS Announces Nationwide Campaign Toward Patient Safety and Patient Centric Care
CONTACT: Kristin Hagen, CMSS; Clinical Informatics/Wellness
Executive Director, American College of Medical Scribe Specialists
(657) 888-2158
ORANGE, Calif., August 25, 2016. The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) has joined a nationwide campaign to highlight patient safety and patient-centric care. The campaign includes national promotions, online articles and a new patient safety resource page. ACMSS additionally provides a succinct letter answering key industry questions: “What is Meaningful Use?”
MediaPlanet featured two industry panel of experts, ACMSS Executive Director Kristin Hagen and Institute for Healthcare Improvement Vice President Frank Federico, in which both shared their views on how the American healthcare system can improve patient well-being and safety. Their comments may be found in a panel interview article conducted by MediaPlanet’s Future of Healthcare News titled, "How We Elevate the Quality and Safety of Patient Care."
“Patient safety innovation is often thought of in terms of hardware, software and big data, but it must also include the breakthroughs in how care providers, patients and certified medical scribes use the technology,” said Hagen. “We see the patient-centric care inherent in the concept of precision medicine as the best way to ensure patient safety. When providers and patients are working toward prevention and wellness as a team, with complete information on both sides, one of the results will be greater patient safety.”
The campaign also included an ad and an eight-page insert published in USA Today on Friday, Aug. 19. Partners with ACMSS in the campaign include American Health Information Management Association, College of Healthcare Information Executives, The Leapfrog Group, Electronic Health Record Association, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Clean Hands Coalition, and Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.
“The healthcare industry can prioritize patient safety by ensuring that all healthcare team members (and that includes the patient) have a complete picture of the health and history of each patient,” Hagen said. “The electronic health record acts as a conduit and mechanism to improve patient safety and a platform for advanced care and long-term research into what works best for patients. Certified scribes are a key element. Having fully credentialed Certified Medical Scribe Specialists on staff is not only a requirement for meaningful use of CPOE to meet federal requirements, it also reduces risks in the healthcare system and increases patient safety.”
ACMSS works independently and in compliance with CMS to meet national goals and initiatives of MACRA and MIPS. Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) also meet the “qualified people” standard in Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) of CMS Meaningful Use, into proposed and streamlined MACRA. The ACMSS certification program meets current and proposed CMS certification requirements toward meaningful utilization of electronic health records.
ACMSS has created a resource page for the patient safety campaign at theACMSS.org/patientsafety that will include links to the campaign and other valuable patient safety resources.
“Through USA Today, targeted distribution and vast online/social media outlets, this publication, both in print and online, will reach an estimated 2 million readers,” Hagen said. “To help raise awareness of the cause of patient-centric care and patient safety, we would be thrilled if you would join our cause and share the campaign with your followers and audience posting a link to the campaign on your company blog, website, or newsletter, as well as across your social media platforms.”
Please contact ACMSS directly at khagen@theacmss.org, or 657-888-2158, if you have any questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials, or visit theacmss.org.
About ACMSS
The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 17,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,800 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions, non-profit partners, and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, secure innovative systems design, individualized and customized consulting, tailored webinars, and continuing scribe education for improved care coordination and patient-centric care toward wellness. ACMSS is available for public speaking engagements serving healthcare.
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