In a new report from Scientia Advisors, health IT is named as the one area of the global healthcare products market that is growing the fastest. Although established electronic medical record (EMR) vendors who offer pre-packaged systems that are guaranteed to comply with “meaningful use” criteria (set by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) are still expected to gain a large percentage of this market share, the research firm also states that free and open source software could grow significantly in popularity and drive down the cost for healthcare facilities.
This new report comes after the Health IT Advisory Committee – a group that advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – approved the certification of open source medical software. Open source software utilizes code that is already written and is therefore readily available for anyone to use (non-proprietary). Subsequently, it also often happens to cost much less than other software systems that do contain proprietary code. Perhaps the best-known example of open source medical software can be found in the VA’s Vista EHR, which has been made accessible to software developers for some time.
For many medical practitioners, the issue of cost and questions about certification lie at the center of this discussion. If less expensive, open source software systems are indeed eligible for government aid, it is much more likely that the overall price of medical software systems will be brought down. In addition, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has agreed to certify EMR software using the exact guidelines that are set forth by HHS, and the Health IT Advisory Committee has claimed that perhaps the guidelines previously set forth by CCHIT for medical software certification have been too specific. Some experts are predicting this shift will also help to pave the way for increased open source utilization.
All of this information bodes well for open source software users, especially for the doctors and healthcare facilities that stand to save substantially as a result of its allowance. In order to continue to make strides and convince physicians everywhere to adopt EMRs, it is essential that such innovative, effective options continue to be recognized as viable avenues to creating digital recordkeeping systems for medical providers.
Certified medical software can help doctors increase profit and improve patient care. But how do you know if software is “certified”, and why does it matter?? For one thing, if medical records are going to go digital, it’s essential for state and federal governments to develop sensible, well-defined regulations.
The idea is ostensibly to encourage the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) software systems that provide highly reliable, efficient recordkeeping, and which also protect patient safety and privacy – all the while eliminating sub-standard systems that could compromise the integrity of healthcare facilities by violating a patient’s right to privacy.
Certified EMR adoption is encouraged in part by provisions in the stimulus law that call for Medicaid penalties – that is, cuts in reimbursements for healthcare facilities that choose not to adopt a certified EMR software system. A recent report from the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute predicts that these Medicaid penalties could ultimately do more to encourage physicians to adopt certified EMRs than other incentives, including cash for purchasing and implementation.
Medicare and Medicaid are also offering maximum bonuses of $44,000 and $63,750, respectively, to help individual healthcare facilities adopt certified EMRs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for choosing the criteria that will separate qualified EMR software systems from those that will not be eligible to receive incentives, and they have already announced that there will be multiple certification bodies, but each one will be required to certify EMRs using criteria specified by the HHS.
Although the development of the exact criteria is still part of an ongoing process, the Health IT Advisory Committee – a group responsible for advising the HHS – has announced that they will ‘grandfather in’ vendors that obtained certification for software systems in 2008 from the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT). Ultimately, it seems that physicians will be able to move ahead with confidence to implement new digital recordkeeping systems – as long as they take the time to ask the tough questions and understand all of the rules before jumping into the game.
Medicalsoftware.com, the nation’s premier Medical Billing outsourcing company has partnered with MedAppz to cross-promote their services and products. MedAppz is one of the best CCHIT certified EHR software companies out there.
“This partnership will help medical practitioners to make a stress free transition as medicalsoftware.com will integrate and customize MedAppz EMR Software into existing medical practices. Medicalsoftware.com provides the preloaded EMR software free with 60 hours of training.” says Marc Haberman, CEO, Medicalsoftware.com.
Electronic medical record software has revolutionized medical practices, rapidly becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. After intense research, Medicalsoftware.com has teamed up with MedAppz to provide medical practitioners with this unique offer that will translate into huge savings. MedAppz is a user-friendly and intuitive system created by physicians who understand the challenges and day-to-day operations. This software is easily available through any internet connection and browser.
The average doctor spends approximately $25,000 when switching to EMR Software. They could save all that money with this valuable offer and pocket the government stimulus money as well!!
This partnership will complement the U.S Government’s policy to add 2% to Medicare payments if the medical practitioner makes the transition to EMR and demonstrates meaningful use. As the electronic healthcare movement accelerates, this encourages hospitals and doctors to make the switch now, computerizing all medical records and billing when they can still take advantage of government stimulus benefits.
To learn more about the partnership and get free CCHIT certified EHR software, with implementation and customization, visit www.medicalsoftware.com or call 1-800-966-9270.