Update June 6, 2012 David Rossi

ScriptRx 4.2 earns Stage 1 Meaningful Use certification

ScriptRx®

ScriptRx 4.2 recently earned Complete Stage 1 Meaningful Use certification for both Electronic Health Record (EHR) Ambulatory and Inpatient use by Drummond Group Inc. Drummond Group is an Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). They are approved to test and certify EHR systems that providers can use to qualify for incentive funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 emphasizes the need for the U.S. to move toward the use of electronic health records. To encourage a more widespread adoption of interoperable health information technology, the legislation calls for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT, in consultation with NIST, to recognize a program for the voluntary certification of health information technology as being in compliance with applicable certification criteria to meet defined meaningful use requirements. In collaboration with ONC, NIST is developing the necessary functional and conformance testing requirements, test cases, and test tools in support of the health IT certification program.

The Approved test Procedures Version 1.1 were published September of 2010. In total, there were 45 procedures that covered both Ambulatory and Inpatient care. To be considered Complete EHR Ambulatory and Inpatient Certified, we had to complete and pass all 45 of the procedures documented. The list of test procedures included:

  • Drug-drug, drug-allergy interaction checks
  • Drug formulary checks
  • Maintain up-to-date problem list
  • Patient specific education resources
  • Encryption when exchanging electronic health information
  • Computerized provider order entry
  • Electronic copy of health information
  • Calculate and submit clinical quality measures

What does this mean for the providers? According to the official web site for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs (www.cms.gov):

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) as they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

The Medicare EHR Incentive Program:

  • The Medicare EHR Incentive Program will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
  • Participation can begin as early as 2011.
  • Eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 over five years under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. There’s an additional incentive for eligible professionals who provide services in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HSPA).
  • To get the maximum incentive payment, Medicare eligible professionals must begin participation by 2012.
  • Incentive payments for eligible hospitals and CAHs may begin as early as 2011 and are based on a number of factors, beginning with a $2 million base payment.
  • Important! For 2015 and later, Medicare eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use will have a payment adjustment in their Medicare reimbursement.

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