The U.S. Government is Stringent on its EHR Policy
Affordable Care Act (ACA), the healthcare reform to renovate the U.S. healthcare industry kicks into effect on January 1, 2014 – so that many changes including the implementation of electronic health records (EHR) system will be made mandatory and any breach of the law calls for penalties to the healthcare providers.
Medicare’s Penalties – the Price Tag for EHR Ignorance
Medicare, the U.S government’s federal insurance program warns the providers for meaningful use of EHR in their facility. Infringements in the meaningful use policy would culminate in penalization’s to the physicians:
- Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) – CPOE or e-prescribing system (for communicating the orders during the EHR reporting period) is made obligatory by Medicare and it charges 0.5% in 2014 for the providers who do not generate at least 10 e-Prescriptions in 2013. Furthermore, the penalty rises up to 3% over the subsequent years, if the providers fail to implement CPOE system.
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) – According to Medicare, the eligible professionals (EPs) must install and implement an authenticated EHR system by 2015 or else they will be penalized from 1% onwards with up to 5% annual rise in penalty as per the “Medicare physician fee adjustment schedule”.
- Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) – This PQRS assessment reporting tool does not exactly necessitate an EHR system but in reality it will be nigh on unfeasible. Physicians, doctors’ groups and other EPs can still completely take part in PQRS for 2013 and receive incentive payments, and evade the penalty, by reporting the requisite measures via claims, registry, or certified EHR. Even smaller practices have time until 2015 to begin PQRS reporting and then after they will be penalized beginning in 2017, by 2% – if they fail to adopt PQRS.
The Changing Velocity in EHR Espousal
According to the report of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there is a substantial improvement in the no. of physicians who have implemented EHR systems and the percent goes beyond 50 as compared to 17 percent in 2008. Mostly, this variation is driven by two factors: the trepidation for healthcare acts’ penalties and the want for incentives.
Choosing an Ideal EHR
Selecting a perfect, authenticated EHR for your practice is the crucial step in EHR implementation and the journey towards meaningful use accomplishment. Here are the recommendations for selecting a perfect EHR that fits well with your practice:
Vital Features:
- ONC‐ATCB Certification
- HIPAA 5010 privacy and security compliant
- Interoperable and integrated
- HL7 standard compatibility
- Specialty-specific modules
- Customizable system
- Encryption Support with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
- Meaningful use reporting
Additional Features:
- 24×7 go-live support
- Free Monthly Subscription
- No hidden costs
- Robust market reputation
- Upgrading with Periodical Policy Updates.
BillingParadise is always glad to prop up your practice business against the impediments in Healthcare IT technology.
