Home Forums Discussions General Discussion What is the status of CCHIT, PMR and Electronic Rx

I'd just like an update on where AC is on these subjects.

It would help me in planning for 2010.

I really hope that these issues would be dealt with by the end of this year.

The current status of eprescribing in AC is pathetic.

Clumsy
time consuming
Very unforgiving
Mean people (not on the ac side)

Doesn't synchronize to the program well-changes in dosages do not appear is only one of the problems.

Not available over the web for patients going into or out of the hospital, or emergency refills by smart phone.

They don't use xml so they don't let you use signs like < > or $. I often write rx for diabetics and need those symbols. I also like to write the $ for Wally world and the other pharmacies that match their price.

While the AC staff is amazing, it's an entirely different story with New Crop. The blame AC for all the problems
and try to get us to switch to another ehr.

I do electronic prescribing for safety only and so I can print out a med list for the patients. I have a lot of geriatric patients who need a med list.

It makes things more time consuming.

I know you were looking for an answer for someone with authority, but I feel so much better now!

Vicki,

Thank you for the information.

Having trained in the "Show me" state years ago, I appreciate your answer.

I agree with your assessment and I hope AC will respond with an update.

I'd love to hear about where things are with the PM module as well. My office is eagerly awaiting that.

Beuller? Beuller? Beuller?

The silence is deafening.

My August, 2009 MDNG column will be titled "The End of CCHIT", based on the fact that the HHS on 7/16/2009 threw CCHIT "under the bus". CCHIT will continue to do certifications for a while, and have already demonstrated by email their intentions to do so, but the HITECH certification will be government managed and will NOT include CCHIT, so CCHIT is doomed.

I wonder how AC will respond to this after, say, 2010? Once the HITECH specs are posted, then it would seem like a big waste of time and effort to continue to certify with CCHIT.

Vicki- I'm sorry to hear your issues with AC's eRx module, but I wonder how much of it has to do with eRx in general?

Al

Here is the latest news on V5:

1. V5 CCHIT has passed CCHIT certification to their 2008 standards (the most up to date). Like it or not, and until there is a definite different certification standard from the government, CCHIT is the most likely candidate for the "certification" needed for our users to be eligible for stimulus money - and so we have been certified despite the high cost (43K) and the significant hit to our development cycle (i..e, PM has been pushed back to a later release). Thus, V5 has the CCHIT certification features (which you can read about at http://www.cchit.org/products/2008/ambulatory/906).

In addition to a bunch of other fixes, the main new features of V5 are:
1. A much improved e-Prescribing module that is integrated directly into our meds window so one doesn't need to go to New Crop's windows to use e-Prescribing.
2. A complete Health Maintenance module (using USPSTF guidelines) and that will notify user of what shots and other HMs are due.
3. An improved orders ability that ties HM and in-house testing to orders and allows users to track what they need to do.
4. A practice document filing cabinet that will hold all forms that are regularly used by the practice.
5. An ability to add Health Information Exchanges into the program so they can be accessed without having to open a separate browser window.
6. And literally dozens of other improvements, interfaces, etc.

Unfortunately, because of the CCHIT jump in priority and the strong feeling from clients that they need e-Rx to work better than it did, our Practice Management development has been delayed. Mostly this is to ensure we get it right, and not just incorporate a patchwork of complicated windows that is the hallmark of our competitors. The goal of our PM is nothing short of a totally easy and totally integrated module, and while we hope to have it done later this year - a lot depends on how the introduction of V5 goes. It is a major release, like V4 SQL, and may take some tweaking to sort out the myriad of issues that always arise.

Jon

Thank you Jon.

Thank you for the updated on the upcoming releases. Our clinic has a strong need for both the HM and the PM component, though the PM is becoming a more critical problem for our clinic. Do we have a rough timeline on when that will be released other than towards the end of the year?

I appreciate the hard work of the AC team for jumping through the hurdles at CCHIT. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)just set their own standard in July. The recommendations were sent over to CMS that will finalize the rules and regulations for physician offices to follow in order to get bolus and decrease future cut of reimbursement. You can find the ONC recommendations for both hospitals and physician offices at:
http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/serv...Meaningful%20Use%20Matrix%2007162009.pdf

These new standards are not easy to achieve. I think Jon and the AC have start looking into these already.

So, When are we expecting V5 ?

Ok, I'll jump on.

When can we expect V5 and the PMR?

are we there yet? are we there yet?