Will installing (out-of-box) and configuring OpenEMR on a HIPPA compliant hosted server satisfy the initial requirements for reimbursements? If NOT, what HAS to be installed and configured to meet the criteria for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and beyond?
If anyone can provide a link, it would greatly appreciated. I have been told that the criteria for reimbursement is billing (ability) and eprescribing in an EMR.
My potential clients want to start using a comprehensive EMR system for demographics, scheduling and ramp-up to eprescribe and billing later.
Thanks again. Is it possible to meet “meaningful use” w/o having to customize OpenEMR? I’m fine recommending 3rd party products (I know, not free) until OpenEMR fulfills functionality natively.
Meeting meaningful use is the whole point of certification. So, yes, it is possible, OpenEMR is certifiied, we could not be certified unless we could be used to meet meaningful use critieria.
Tony www.mi-squared.com / @tonymi2 oemr.org / @OEMR_org
I apologize for my simplistic questions. I understand that OpenEMR is ONC Complete Ambulatory EHR certified. If OpenEMR is populated with patient data, and meets milestones outlined in the above link (checklist); while employing help from 3rd party vendors (e-prescribe); doctors can start the process for medicare/medicaid reimbursements to meet meaningful use….right?
We would have to get some of the doctors on the board to answer for sure. I have a doctor that getting ready to “atest” to the use of OpenEMR to meet the meaningful use criteria. I did hear the office manager tell the doctor that they have to have been using the program for at least a quarter before they can apply for incentive monies.
I will ask a couple of the billing people that I know about this question and post what I find out.
Sherwin,
I’m curious what that doctor is using for ePrescribing/drug-drug interaction checking. I also wonder which five of the optional items they found easiest to accomplish.
I can put in my two cents as a provider. The health care reform law created funds for state agencies (CFMC here ) to help small primary care offices achieve meaningful use objectives. If that is available to you, contact them and use it. They have been actually quite helpful for me. I performed various core requirements through them such as security analysis and information exchange, and they have kept independent confirmation of my achieving the requirements. It appears I will make it to attest to stage one for Oct-Dec of this year using openemr 4.1 with allscripts free version. I will attest using 1,3,6,7,and 8 on the optional list. I also qualify for #9 because I am on a waiting list for the state, and I could get an exemption for #10 because it is not yet available here in Colorado. As I have written, the AMC calculation for #6 doesn’t work for me, but it can be counted by other means such as the sql query I noted. So that will be 2011. For 2012 , or 2013 if you don’t get started until 2012, you just have to make the same criteria, but for the whole year instead of just 3 months. I think for years after that, the stage 2 requirements aren’t even finalized yet, so who knows. I imagine you will need to work on the other currently optional areas. #2 lab results requires currently a paid service as outlined. I contacted the big labs here (quest and labcorp) and pretty much got blown off as not being involved in a big enough project with enough money involved to be of any real interest to them. Discouraging, but that seems to be reality. #4 patient reminders has a slow query problem for larger databases and seems to be best handled if you set up your own e-mail server to the web, which gets me to #5 the patient portal which puts you directly exposed to the internet and all its security considerations. So for now, I am documenting that you can make stage 1 meaningful use requirements with openemr and allscripts on an office based server behind firewalls without the exposure of web servers,portals,lab interfaces etc. This will likely not make stage 2 requirements, so work on security, cloud servers, portal arrangements etc are areas I have previously brought up for discussion. The IT people at the state level here were actually pretty impressed with openemr, and felt it was a much better system that many of the very expensive commercial systems that they had helped other providers work with. Pretty clearly, the first set of attestations for openemr will be the end of this year, so it would be interesting to hear from any other offices that make it successfully.
As followup to this, I performed and passed Medicare 2011 meaningful use attestation today with openemr 4.1 and allscripts free addition using Yehster’s greasemonkey script with no outside paid services or support. I did however have help from the local state agency as part of health care reform supporting primary care offices, which is paid for by the federal government as part of the healthcare finance reform legislation. I have also successfully converted to 5010 billing and had successful free electronic claims through OfficeAlly to all my major payers without incident. I hope I have done my small part in helping others as well, and I hope to be proof that this project is now on par with any of the commercial options available out there.
Obviously, there is still a lot of things to work on, ICD-10, somewhat glitchy billing module, portal security issues, slow database scripts for AMC etc., but I just wanted to point out what an incredible job has been done by all of the people who have worked on this.
I transferred practice management/billing to openemr September 2010 after database conversion from an old dos version of medisoft that I had used since 1992. In January 2011 I started dictating chart notes into openemr using dragon voice dictation. In May 2011 I started electronic prescribing with allscripts mostly for complex patient refills to mail order programs. On Oct 1 , 2011 I made the full jump to all of the meaningful use criteria except lab and portals. I am now importing all outside information using fax to e-mail and scanning into paperport. I have made an electronic signature to add to pdf’s in paperport. I have added no paper to charts since October, and after several years of scanning all inactive charts to PDF, we are now ready to start scanning active patient charts.
Cverk,
Very well done, Congratulations! Could you outline your steps in greater detail please and post it here, so people could follow in your footsteps? It may be a little time consuming, but please do it for this forum community as detailed as possible. I am sure everyone would like to know how you mastered it. Could you also give your reasoning as to why you have used allscripts over newcrop and OfficeAlly over Availity?
Big Thanks in Advance!