Is My EMR Certified?
After the wave of promotion and incentives towards the adoption of certified EMR, by and large physicians across the nation are now familiar with the basic concept of EMRs. The idea of a certified EMR however, is somewhat vague to many owing to the lack of substantiate knowledge on the subject matter. This leaves only a handful of physicians who actually understand what the government is trying to accomplish and expects from providers in their choice of implemented EHR.
Clinicians who are unaware of what the federal government aims to achieve need to comprehend that only by implementing a certified EMR would they be eligible to obtain the financial gains being proffered. Such an electronic medical records would be complying with the requisites set by respective stages of meaningful use (right now we are gearing up to enter stage 2 applicable by 2014). Regulatory authorities determine whether or not the EMR is meeting the basic criterion to be considered certified. It's primary to understand that electronic medical records cannot claim to be certified without the seal of approval by the Commission of Health Information Technology (CCHIT which is part of ONC-ATCB).
"Regulatory bodies play a principal role in determining if a ‘certified EMR' is meeting with the required standards of various features. Providers need to carefully deliberate which software will deem them qualified for receiving incentives by the government", says a New York based health IT consultant.
Essentially it is a clinician's responsibility to implement the definitive solution for their practice and ensure that he/she finds the appropriate vendor. Nevertheless, deciding whether or not an EMR qualifies to be called certified is the responsibility of regulatory bodies. EMRs are inspected on grounds of several fundamental features such as interoperability, functionality and security to determine if an application is certifiable. ONC-ATCB (Office of National Coordinator- Authorized Testing and Certification bodies) consists of regulatory certification bodies which assist physicians to assess if their choice is a certified EMR.
As EMRs are designed to both aid physicians in better care delivery and receiving allocated incentives as well, it is important for providers to be very thorough in researching before implementing a particular EMR. Post 2008 there has been a huge boom in the health IT market and we've seen numerous vendors popping up left and right claiming to be certified EMRs. Physicians need to be very diligent in determining if the claim is in fact true before implementing it, the yardstick for that are seals of approval from the ONC-ATCB. At the end of the day, this may the benchmark which affects their bottom line.
Clinicians who are unaware of what the federal government aims to achieve need to comprehend that only by implementing a certified EMR would they be eligible to obtain the financial gains being proffered. Such an electronic medical records would be complying with the requisites set by respective stages of meaningful use (right now we are gearing up to enter stage 2 applicable by 2014). Regulatory authorities determine whether or not the EMR is meeting the basic criterion to be considered certified. It's primary to understand that electronic medical records cannot claim to be certified without the seal of approval by the Commission of Health Information Technology (CCHIT which is part of ONC-ATCB).
"Regulatory bodies play a principal role in determining if a ‘certified EMR' is meeting with the required standards of various features. Providers need to carefully deliberate which software will deem them qualified for receiving incentives by the government", says a New York based health IT consultant.
Essentially it is a clinician's responsibility to implement the definitive solution for their practice and ensure that he/she finds the appropriate vendor. Nevertheless, deciding whether or not an EMR qualifies to be called certified is the responsibility of regulatory bodies. EMRs are inspected on grounds of several fundamental features such as interoperability, functionality and security to determine if an application is certifiable. ONC-ATCB (Office of National Coordinator- Authorized Testing and Certification bodies) consists of regulatory certification bodies which assist physicians to assess if their choice is a certified EMR.
As EMRs are designed to both aid physicians in better care delivery and receiving allocated incentives as well, it is important for providers to be very thorough in researching before implementing a particular EMR. Post 2008 there has been a huge boom in the health IT market and we've seen numerous vendors popping up left and right claiming to be certified EMRs. Physicians need to be very diligent in determining if the claim is in fact true before implementing it, the yardstick for that are seals of approval from the ONC-ATCB. At the end of the day, this may the benchmark which affects their bottom line.
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