In February of 2009, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) allocated $19 billion in funding for hospitals and clinics that make “meaningful use” of certified Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. The conventional approach to certification for eligible hospitals and health systems is to purchase a certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, implement it and then use it in a production setting to satisfy the meaningful Use (MU) criteria.
But what about those organizations that are not ready to take on the substantial costs associated with upgrading to a newly certified EHR? The ONC has addressed this problem as follows:
Self-developed Complete EHRs and EHR Modules could include brand new Complete EHRs or EHR modules developed by a health care provider or their contractor. It could also include a previously purchased complete EHR or EHR Module which is subsequently modified by the health care provider or their contractor and where such modifications are made to capabilities addressed by certification criteria adopted by the Secretary.
To read more about this more cost effective and less disruptive option and see how DHIT can help your organization achieve certification requirements, read our White Paper on the subject at http://www.dynamichealthit.com/Docs/Self_Cert%20White%20Paper.pdf.
Please contact us with any questions at (504) 309-9103 or info@dynamichealthit.com.
