EHR CCHIT Keeps Pace with Evolving Electronic Health Records Expectations industry Profiles Sage AllscriptS Athenahealth Universal EHR Solutions CattailsMD Ingenix Advertorial Prepared by SourceMedia Custom Solutions 37
CCHIT Keeps Pace with Evolving Electronic Health Records Expectations The object of the game is clear The federal government wants healthcare providers to implement electronic health records. The rules regarding meaningful use, standards and certification are, however, much murkier. Consider the following: One, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has officially published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) establishing two certification programs one temporary and the other permanent to test and certify electronic health records. Two, an interim final rule (IFR) entitled Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifics, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology details an initial set of requirements for a complete EHR. Three, the meaningful use criteria set out under the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are still evolving. It is so confusing right now, with the three moving pieces the meaningful use, the IFR on the standards for certification and the NPRM on the certification criteria. Nothing is final, yet they are all interdependent. So, if something changes, it is going to result in a waterfall of changes, says Alicia Ray, Executive Director at the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago. CCHIT, however, is responding to these changes as the organization carries out its mission of accelerating the adoption of interoperable health information technology. To start, the organization is separating its CCHIT certification from a program designed specifically for ARRA. To qualify for the CCHIT Certified Comprehensive designation, EHRs must pass a rigorous inspection and demonstrate that the systems can support providers efforts to meet all meaningful use objectives. Products must significantly exceed minimum federal criteria and standards. This level or certification targets the needs of providers and hospitals who want maximal assurance of EHR capabilities and compliance. Preliminary ARRA is a certification program that tests complete EHRs or modules against the meaningful use Stage 1 certification criteria in the IFR. The preliminary option is designed to demonstrate that a vendor s product is well prepared to be certified once ONC-accredited testing and certification becomes available. Site certification is another alternative. This program will allow hospitals that develop or assemble EHR technologies themselves to qualify for ARRA incentives. In addition to creating these certification options, CCHIT is also making its voice heard as the government s push to adopt IT pans out. CCHIT recently submitted its public comments on the IFR. The comments state that the IFR inappropriately includes administrative and billing functions under the scope of a complete EHR. In addition, the comments point out that the IFR is taking a step backward in interoperability by dropping standards that were already federally recognized and the IFR is defining EHR functions too microscopically. Finally, CCHIT is preparing to become one of the certifying and testing bodies under the permanent program. Although CCHIT has not been grandfathered in, the fact that the organization has been providing EHR certification for several years should help in qualifying the organization as a certification body, according to Ray. 38
Betty Otter-Nickerson President, Sage Healthcare Division Sage provides physician practice management and electronic health records (EHR) solutions for practices of all sizes and specialties. The Sage Intergy suite combines business management tools with technology and information solutions that transform both the clinical and financial aspects of healthcare delivery. Visit www.sagehealth.com or 877-932-6301 to learn more. Please explain your EHR guarantee what are you willing to put in writing? Sage guarantees that our EHR Product Suite will meet the certification criteria for Meaningful Use set by the ONC, that we will modify the offering as necessary to maintain compliance, and that we will credit the customer up to 12 months of software support in the unlikely event that we do not meet this obligation. We are willing to include this language in our sales agreement, as we are confident in our products and people to deliver an extraordinary experience to Sage customers. There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? Sage s EHR Product Suite addresses meaningful use in a way that is meaningful to providers and to the patients they serve, not just to CMS and ONC. Our commitment and adherence to standards has positioned us very well for interoperability, and contributes to a positive experience for Sage customers and their patients. It s easy for providers to use our product meaningfully without sacrificing efficiency; to see how they perform against quality measures and other MU requirements; and to communicate with patients online, display the chart, share the CCD, and get codified data from pre-visit questionnaires back into the EHR. Meaningful use requirements are evolving as we speak how will your EHR evolve? What enhancements do you plan to add this year and next? Meaningful use requirements will no doubt put context around our development efforts. However, our primary focus is on the provider and patient experience. We re doing some exciting things with dashboards to assist providers in meeting meaningful use requirements while focusing on quality care; expanding our interoperability offering with hospitals, laboratories, medical devices; and expanding the consumer-focused extensions of our EHR products. We re also looking at moving speech and text from physicians and patients into codified data. Finally, we are making a substantial investment to ensure that the transition to ICD-10 and ANSI 5010 is a smooth one for our customers. 39
Glen Tullman Chief Executive Officer Allscripts uses innovation technology to bring health to healthcare. More than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and 8,000 post-acute and homecare organizations utilize Allscripts to improve the health of their patients and their bottom line. Each of our solutions is designed with you in mind and there has never been a better time to get started with an EHR. Allscripts 222 Merchandise Mart, Suite 2024, Chicago, IL 60654 800.334.8534 EHRNOW@allscripts.com www.allscripts.com Please explain your EHR guarantee what are you willing to put in writing? We guarantee that the Allscripts EHR physicians select will meet the EHR certification requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Allscripts will waive support fees for every month that a client s Allscripts EHR fails to meet the ARRA certification criteria, for up to 12 months. Our guarantee is the cornerstone of the Allscripts Stimulus Program (www.allscripts.com/stimulusprogram), which makes it safe and easy for physicians to purchase and rapidly deploy Electronic Health Records that will qualify for federal incentives. Our Stimulus Program also includes financing to help physicians get an EHR without an initial capital outlay, as well as new programs focused on faster implementations. There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? Allscripts is the safe choice for more leading medical groups, with a client base of over 160,000 physicians (1 in 3 practicing physicians) and the stability of a well managed publicly traded company. While other EHR vendors try to make one size fit all, we provide a proven solution for every practice size and specialty. And with $70 million spent on R&D last year, we continue to enhance our solutions with new innovations like patient kiosk to get rid of the clip board and iphone/blackberry/windows smart phone connectivity to give physicians anywhere, anytime access to their EHR. The bottom line is that in a market where meaningful utilization matters most, Allscripts has proven we have the most utilized solutions on the market today. Go to www.allscirpts. com/go to see hundreds of examples. Many physicians desperately want to install certified EHRs, but right now don t have the dollars to do so. What can they do? How can you help? The ARRA incentives provide significant return on investment for physicians who adopt an EHR by 2011. Physicians who want to qualify for the incentives without an initial capital outlay can benefit from our new financing program. They can elect to make no payments on software for up to six months, at zero interest, followed by monthly payments over the time period that works best for them. At the end of the term, unlike monthly-payment plans from other vendors, they own the software outright. Our financing program is simple, straightforward and just what physician practices want and need. 40
Jonathan Bush Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman athenahealth offers integrated, web-based physician billing, practice management and electronic health record services that help your practice work more profitably and efficiently, so you can focus on delivering patient care. With easy to use web-based CCHIT-certified software, and robust back-office services, you get paid faster and more fully without costly setup or upgrades. athenahealth, Inc. 311 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472 888.805.0081 www.athenahealth.com/hdm1 Please explain your EHR guarantee what are you willing to put in writing? Unlike other companies that only guarantee that their EHRs will evolve to meet requirements for meaningful use, we actually guarantee that with athenaclinicals SM our eligible clients will not only *meet* requirements but will *receive* their HITECH Act stimulus dollars in year one and we re putting our own money on the line to back it up. As a servicebased EHR, our monthly fee is the only payment we receive from our clients for our EHR. If a physician using athenaclinicals by Jan. 11, 2011 doesn t receive their stimulus dollars in that year, we ll credit them 100% of their service fees for up to six months until they do. There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? athenaclinicals is the only solution that delivers services as part of a web-based EHR application. Unlike software-based EHRs that are expensive to install and maintain, slow doctors down, and often don t return sufficient benefits, athenaclinicals focuses on the entire patient workflow to drive revenue, decrease costs, and optimize the drivers of real economic value. We do this through a unique model that combines robust back-office services, web-based software, and a real-time rules engine that drives P4P benefits. For example, being web-based means our providers all run on a single instance of our five-stage encounter so practice workflows are measured and benchmarked resulting in better efficiencies and on average 3% more patient throughput across our base. Meaningful use requirements are evolving as we speak how will your EHR evolve? What enhancements do you plan to add this year and next? The question assumes a software model where there s a fixed product that will need to be enhanced and updated to meet changing requirements. As a web-based application, athenaclinicals is always evolving and constantly updated, responding in realtime to changing government, payer, and quality management rules. And our Quality Management functionality is accompanied by client services that help practices enroll in programs, understand program guidelines, and submit results where applicable. Our unique ability to combine the agility of a web-based application and rules engine with robust services puts us in an excellent position to meet 2011 standards for meaningful use. 41
Where Convenience Drives Acceptance Mitchell C. Shapiro President Aaron Wachspress Chief Technology Officer Universal EHR Solutions (also known as UNIEHR and Universal EHR ) is a healthcare information technology company organized in May, 2005 to provide information technology solutions for a safer, more efficient, consumer-driven healthcare system. UNIVERSAL EHR SOLUTIONS LLC 15 Cutter Mill Road #156, Great Neck, New York 11021 516.869.4535 516.706.5075 www.uniehr.com Electronic Health Records When You Need Them, Where You Want Them Please explain your EHR guarantee what are you willing to put in writing? Universal EHR GUARANTEES that our EHR system, Physician Solution, will qualify our clients to RECEIVE THE MAXIMUM REIMBURSEMENTS available to them under the HITECH Economic Stimulus Package/ARRA incentives. UNIEHR ALSO GUARANTEES that we will provide all of the information and guidance necessary to maximize their reimbursements and will guide them through the process. Physician s Solution has been CCHIT-certified since 2007 and has already begun the CCHIT 2011 ARRA Certification process. Despite the continuing uncertainty of these standards, UNIEHR GUARANTEES that, if a client has its reimbursement reduced or denied because Physician s Solution was not timely re-certified or didn t meet the criteria, UNIEHR WILL REFUND ALL LICENSING AND MAINTENCANCE FEES previously paid to it and will convert any practice/patient data to a replacement vendor s system at no charge to the client. Our guarantee provides REAL ACCOUNTABILITY on which you can safely base your practice. There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? Physician s Solution uses a unique DATA PIPING feature that automatically compiles all pertinent clinical patient information and puts it at the doctors finger tips in MULTIPLE LOCATIONS within the EMR system. Physician s Solution is not an off-theshelf, one-size-fits-all product. We CUSTOMIZE THE EHR SYSTEM to mimic your practice s work flow, charts & forms and we do it quickly and efficiently BEFORE your scheduled launch date, not months or years afterward. We get design input from your doctors and staff, leading to quicker understanding and acceptance by the staff. Not only does this give you an advanced, fully customized product for less than competitors modular systems, but it enables us to TRAIN AND DEPLOY IN FAR LESS TIME; TYPICALLY DAYS OR WEEKS, not months or years. While we provide FREE UNLIMITED TRAINING, no practice has taken more than 6 hours to train. Best of all, UNIEHR deploys an advanced system for you with NO PRACTICE DOWN TIME and no reduction in patient scheduling during training and deployment, THE HIGHEST REAL COST OF OUR COMPETITORS EHR SYSTEMS. Our website provides video TESTIMONIALS FROM REAL DOCTOR CLIENTS, NOT ACTORS located at www.uniehr.com/testimonials.php that document our proven track record and help explain why we ve achieved an unprecedented 100% CLIENT RETENTION RATE since 2002. Meaningful use requirements are evolving as we speak how will your EHR evolve? What enhancements do you plan to add this year and next? As a system truly Designed FOR Doctors BY Doctors, UNIEHR s Physician s Solution has ALREADY EVOLVED AHEAD of most competitors products by incorporating hundreds of features developed by our Advisory Board of Physicians and clients. By Summer 2010, ALL OF THE NEW FEATURES AND MODIFICATIONS required by the government and certifying agencies will be fully integrated. UNIEHR will continue to improve its system with open, yet secure, standards that enable seamless communication across the healthcare community, including FULL INTEROPERABILITY with hospitals, labs, referring physicians and patient vaults. UNIEHR will modify clients systems to incorporate these advanced features at no charge and without any service interruption. UNIEHR pledges to continually improve and evolve our products and service and to stay far AHEAD OF THE BEST PRACTICES TECHNOLOGY CURVE enabling us to continue to anticipate and quickly react to the needs of all our clients by REINVESTING 25-35% OF UNIEHR REVENUES BACK INTO R&D AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT. 42
Paul Olinski general manager information systems commercial operations Over two decades ago, Marshfield Clinic had a vision: to effectively apply information technology to improve the quality and safety of patient care. This vision has been realized through the development of an integrated suite of powerful clinical and data management applications. The Cattails Software applications have been tested, proven and awarded for excellence in a large-scale, widely distributed, health care environment. Cattails Software, A Service of Marshfield Clinic 1000 N. Oak Avenue, F1A, Marshfield, WI 54449 866-456-0366 www.cattailssoftware.com There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? Built by physicians for physicians, CattailsMD TM was designed, built and tested at a major medical facility, Marshfield Clinic, prior to being released to the commercial market. The fundamental reason for developing and offering CattialsMD TM is to improve the practice of medicine through better patient outcomes and decreased cost of care. Examples of performance and financial benefits that our clients have achieved through the use of CattailsMD TM include: Enhanced chronic disease management Increased reimbursement for services rendered Proactive scheduling of preventative services Elimination of paper chart storage and handling costs Productivity gains associated with improved work flows Meaningful use requirements are evolving as we speak how will your EHR evolve? What enhancements do you plan to add this year and next? Cattails Software has already developed a road map for compliance with meaningful use (MU). Existing and prospective customers can be confident that Cattails will continue to adapt to the changes in the MU criteria as the financial incentive for our parent company, Marshfield Clinic, is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. We view our customers as partners and remain committed to the ultimate goal of improving patient care. We firmly believe that this approach will result in the use of technology that meets or surpasses all government requirements. A list of our planned enhancements includes: 1. CPOE interface enhancements to our order entry module 2. HIE interface enhancements for information exchange 3. Enhanced problem list to support clinical decision support requirements Many hospitals desperately want to install certified EHRs, but right now don t have the dollars to do so. What can they do? How can you help? Many vendors recommend and even require that a hospital abandon previously installed products and systems to replace them with their one-size-fits-all solution. This represents substantial waste, particularly if your hospital is still deriving value from these systems. Work with an EHR vendor that has a proven track record of integrating with multiple systems (LIS, RIS, HIS, etc.) and providing the best solution for your specific situation. Another cost savings approach is to work with a vendor that provides software as a service (SaaS). This eliminates the need to purchase, install and maintain expensive hardware. In addition, the licensing costs of such offerings are often based on a subscription approach, which greatly reduces the up-front capital requirement of purchasing a state of the art solution like CattailsMD TM. 43
Russell Keene Vice President, Ingenix Caretracker Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (nyse: unh), transforms organizations and improves health care through information and technology. Organizations rely on its innovative products, services, and consulting to improve the delivery and operations of their business. Ingenix 12125 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344 877.EHR.0845 www.ingenix.com/ehr ingenuity@ingenix.com Please explain your EHR guarantee what are you willing to put in writing? Ingenix has created a guarantee that is completely unique in the market. We guarantee physicians will use the Ingenix CareTracker EHR in a way that delivers meaningful use or they don t pay for it. Some vendors guarantee features but often these features require many hidden services and fees for physicians to learn, measure, and deliver in order to receive their stimulus money. For example, if a physician does not document medical reconciliation on 80 percent or more of their visits, they will not meet meaningful use requirement. However, if that physician is an Ingenix CareTracker client, they will no longer pay their subscription until they meet the requirement. Our contracts are also unique. Almost every Ingenix CareTracker client can leave anytime they want after the first year with 90 days notice. Physicians continue to use our EHR every month because we deliver far more value than what they pay in a modest monthly subscription. They often experience dramatic labor efficiency on the practice management side of business, first-pass claim rates over 95 percent, and the efficiency of new features and services that streamline workflow and boost productivity. We work as hard delivering that value to a one physician office as we do for a multi-specialty clinic or hospital. There are a number of CCHIT-certified EHRs to choose from. What makes your system stand out from that crowd? Ingenix CareTracker is an affordable, web-based single-database practice management and electronic health record solution that requires no expenditures for IT, hardware, or maintenance. Providers can access the system with a low and predictable monthly subscription. This pay-as-you-go model means no longterm commitment or major investments in systems or training. Ingenix CareTracker is easy to deploy and easy to use. Because our system lives on the web, there is no hardware to install; physicians can start with a pc and web access. Strong security protocols keep patient and practice information safe. The system is easy to learn and we provide hundreds of online tutorials and training as well as more than 50 instructor-led classes a month to help physicians learn on their own schedules. We refresh the content continually with clinical, insurance, and billing data so physicians have the critical patient information they need at their fingertips. Even better, updated regulatory information means more compliance and fewer denials for a faster, easier revenue stream with no interruption to their daily workflow. Many hospitals desperately want to install certified EHRs, but right now don t have the dollars to do so. What can they do? How can you help? We ve paired with OptumHealth Bank to offer physicians a unique package that combines interest-free financing, health information technology (HIT) services, and performance guarantees to help physicians integrate HIT into their practices. Qualifying U.S. physicians can receive an interest-free loan from Ingenix (underwritten by OptumHealth Bank, member FDIC) to license and implement Ingenix CareTracker EHR with no out-of-pocket costs and no payments until 2011*. When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) reimbursements for EHRs begin in 2011, physicians can repay the loans with annual reimbursement dollars they receive from the incentives authorized in the stimulus bill. Hospitals can win by creating a competitive environment that includes Ingenix CareTracker. One set of interfaces can be delivered to all clients with no client side fees. With high-touch remote setup and training, physician practices can get live quickly without the productivity hit that keeps them running away from even free options. *the financing covers implementation and monthly subscription costs until november 30, 2015. 44
Harness the information you need to power your productivity. It all starts with a well-connected electronic health records (EHR) system. Ingenix products are at work in nearly every U.S. health care organization. This breadth and depth of experience gives us an unparalleled ability to bring you an EHR system that converts information into insight. And, it s refreshed continually with the latest best-care practices and payer protocols. This allows your staff to be more proactive and accurate with claims, copays or scheduling before they become problems and frees them to focus on activities that drive productivity. Ingenix CareTracker helps you qualify for full federal stimulus funding. Call now to view a live CareTracker demo. 877.EHR.0845 Ingenix.com/ehr