As a big fan of FOSS, I plan to adopt OpenEMR for use in my office. My Office Manager wants assurance that it will qualify for a $18,000 check from the federal government. After reading through many threads on the topic, I’m not sure that I can say, “Yes, it will”. It seems to be a very complex question with no clear answer.
So, if I install and use OpenEMR 4.0 in my office, can I call Washington and ask for my money? Is certification by the ICSA Labs as a “Modular EHR” sufficient? Is there something else I would have to do/buy/use?
Currently it is modular certified and alone it will not get you a check from Washington, but go ahead and install and then upgrade to the next release which we hope will be fully certified (soon, real soon) .
By installing now you can start getting data into the system, getting familiar with it, and it will be alot easier for you when you upgrade. Take a peek at the wiki www.openmedsoftware.org and you will see how close OEMR is close to full cert.
OpenEMR is currently 50% compliant with ONC certification. In order to obtain incentive payments the EMR application that you adopt has to be 100% compliant. Alternatively, you can have a combination of modular EMR systems that collectively comply 100% with ONC certification requirements. In other words, you can combine OpenEMR which is 50% compliant with another app that provides the remaining 50% of the requirements to reach the 100% compliance and apply for the incentives.
My understanding is that in a few weeks OpenEMR will be 100% compliant, but you have to keep checking back on this forum for the latest certification status.
OpenEMR is currently 50% compliant with ONC certification. In order to obtain incentive payments the EMR application that you adopt has to be 100% compliant. Alternatively, you can have a combination of modular EMR systems that collectively comply 100% with ONC certification requirements. In other words, you can combine OpenEMR which is 50% compliant with another app that provides the remaining 50% of the requirements to reach the 100% compliance and apply for the incentives.
My understanding is that in a few weeks OpenEMR will be 100% compliant, but you have to keep checking back on this forum for the latest certification status.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve seen posts that indicate that it is up to 85% compliant. Where would I find the list that specifies what additional modules I would have to acquire to reach 100%? I think that the e-prescribing is an issue, but I already use a web-based e-prescription program from Allscripts. What else is lacking, and how hard is it to complete?
I have every confidence that OEMR will soon reach 100%, given the talent and dedication of the people working on it. However, my Office Manager lives by the rule, if a piece of software doesn’t have capability X right NOW, it doesn’t have it, period. We are all familiar with the term, “vaporware”, and the relative lack of vaporware is an advantage to FOSS, in my opinion.
We are being solicited by vendors with systems that have reached 100% certification, and she keeps asking me about them, instead. She does understand the value of an open-source system for long-term maintenance, but she also understands the value of an $18,000 incentive check.