Health Care Compliance Watch : New York Health Care Compliance Lawyer & Attorney : Ilana Sable : NY Physician Representation Law

Primary care practices (including family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine and OB/GYN) located in under-served NYC communities may be eligible to receive a $4,000.00 grant toward an eClinicalWorks EHR software package.  The grant is administered by the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in support of its Primary Care Information Project ("PCIP").

PCIP is a New York City grant program that was developed to promote "prevention-oriented EHR's" among providers who care for NYC's under-served and vulnerable populations.  Primary care practices that are eligible for, and receive, the EHR grant will be required to participate in certain quality improvement efforts, including quality reporting and linkage to public health information systems.

While the $4,000.00 grant money will not cover the entire cost of running an EHR based practice, it is enough to cover the initial conversion costs ( including eClinicalWorks EHR licensing, staff training and 2 years of maintenance and support).  In addition, by converting to EHR, primary care practices may become eligible for the financial incentives available under other government programs, including the ARRA.

eClinicalWorks EHR has recieved 2008 CCHIT certification (the most current certification offered by CCHIT) and, as with all other EHR software, it remains to be seen whether it will receive the upcoming CCHIT ARRA certification.

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The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology ("CCHIT"), a non-profit organization that independently certifies health information technology, has put together a preliminary ARRA certification criteria for EHR (pdf) that it believes will meet the requirements for receiving EHR financial incentives available under the ARRA.

Currently, CCHIT is the only Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") recognized certifying body.  As such, it will likely determine which EHR software will enable providers to make  "meaningful use" of their EHR when HHS publishes the final definition of  "meaningful use." When the definition is published, certification will be necessary for providers to receive the financial incentives available under the ARRA. 

The preliminary guide focuses on Ambulatory and In Patient EHR, and promises ongoing updates as more information becomes available. 

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As noted in a previous post, only providers using nationally certified EHR systems will be eligible for the financial incentives available under the ARRA.  Currently, there are no nationally certified EHR systems, and no certification criteria has been named.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (“CCHIT”), a recognized certification body for electronic health records (“EHR”), has submitted its proposed EHR certification criteria(pdf), which maps the requirements of an ARRA qualified EHR, to the HIT Standards Committee for review and approval.  CCHIT anticipates feedback on the proposed certification criteria by August 26, 2009, and will begin accepting applications from EHR vendors shortly after receiving the anticipated “green light.”

CCHIT has already named many EHR vendors as “CCHIT Certified 08,” but this certification does not have any connection to the national certification required under the ARRA, and does not guarantee eligibility for the financial incentives.
 

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