News 3/22/11

The once anti-certification SRSsoft earns ONC-ATCB modular certification for its EHR technology. Not long after the interim Meaningful Use and certification requirements were announced, SRS CEO Evan Steele told HIStalk Practice that “SRS will not seek to become a certified product because it would be such a disservice to our clients and future clients.” His concern was that Meaningful Use requirements (at least as originally proposed) would hinder provider productivity. Steele now says that “SRS has cracked the code on productivity-focused meaningful use” and that providers using SRS will be able to satisfy Meaningful Use measures while simultaneously increasing productivity. In a recent Readers’ Write piece on HIStalk, Steele shared additional insights on how Meaningful Use can be achieved without negatively impacting physician productivity (it’s a great read).

MD-IT adds e-prescribing to its medical documentation platform, based on Surescripts technology.

The owner of a  medical clinic agrees to provide free medical services to the owner of storage units in exchange for free storage for old paper medical records and computer hard drives. The agreement was never put in writing, the new storage company owner is demanding back rent, and the clinic can’t get to its records since it hasn’t paid. The only winners in this mess, of course, are the attorneys fighting things out.

meridianEMR introduces a Meaningful User Tracking Board, designed to give practices insight into whether or not providers are meeting Meaning Use requirements in their EHR use.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii says more and more patients are embracing online tools to schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and communicate with doctors. Patients and physicians exchanged 21% more emails last year than the year before and online prescriptions jumped over 11%. Patients viewed 433,000 lab test results online, an 8.4% increase.

North Bridge Imaging Group (MA) signs a long-term agreement with Affiliated Professional Services for medical billing and PM services.

CMS has an FAQ section for the EHR incentive program, which I try to read every week or so. A couple of recent inquiries worth noting:

Can eligible professionals participate in the 2011 PQRS, 2011 eRx Incentive Program, and the EHR Incentive Program at the same time and earn incentives for each? To summarize the CMS answer:

• PQRS incentives can be received regardless of an EP’s participation in other programs.
• If participating in the Medicaid EHR incentive program, EPs are eligible for the eRx incentive.
• If participating in the Medicare EHR incentive program, EPs must report the eRx measure to avoid penalty, but are eligible to receive only one incentive payment. If the EP is participating in the Medicare EHR incentive program, the EP will receive the Medicare incentive payment and not the eRX Incentive.

For large practices, will there be a method to register all of the Eligible Professionals (EPs) at one time for the Medicare or Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs? Can EPs allow another person to register or attest for them? Again to summarize, CMS says that currently there is no method for a third party to register multiple EPs, so each EP must register him/herself. EPs are not permitted to allow a practice manager or anyone else to register in their place. However, CMS plans to implement functionality in May that will allow an EP to designate a third party to register and attest on his/her behalf.

E-mail Inga.