As an independent medical practice provider who receives Medicare and Medicaid payments, adopting an EHR program and meeting the meaningful use requirements of EHR is likely important to your practice. Implementing EHR, on the other hand, is not a simple process.
As we enter the last quarter of 2012, we were curious to see how adoption, implementation, and showing meaningful use of EHR is moving along for practices in Minnesota and across the country. In order to get the maximum incentive payment, Medicare eligible professionals must begin participation by 2012.
What we found is that Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin are leading the pack in meeting the requirements of implementation and also meaningful use. From a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, Mathematic Policy Research, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and published in the paper “Health Information Technology in the United States: Driving Toward Delivery System Change, 2012”, the top five states are:
- Minnesota 60.9%
- Wisconsin59.9%
- North Dakota 57.9%
- Washington 54.6%
- Oregon 54.5%
How is your practice’s journey to a paperless environment and EHR? Continuing to move your practice to a paperless environment where you are displaying meaningful use of EHR is important for your continued payments from Medicare and Medicaid.
Some resources independent medical practices may find helpful are:
EMR Incentive Programs
https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/downloads/FAQsRemediatedandRevised.pdf
Outsource Receivables Inc. (ORI) works with mid-sized independent medical practices to integrate technology that creates results. While the decision of which EHR to implement is up to providers, how this system integrates with the workflow and practice management systems is an area of expertise that ORI brings. ORI has worked with clinics across the Midwest, in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states to successfully implement technology while increasing productivity and cash flow. Reach out to see how we can partner in your EHR implementation efforts.