Electronic Health Record Functionality Standard Or Certification Essay Sample

The advancement in technology has triggered various health facilities to adopt electronic health records for purposes of securing data and maintaining confidentiality of patient’s information. However, along with this adoption is the need for health professionals and health facilities to obtain a license in the use of electronic health records.
Through the requirements imposed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services carried out incentive payments to qualified professionals and healthcare facilities, as well as critical access hospitals, actively involved in Medicaid and Medicare programs that are significant consumers of certified Electronic Health Record technology (Www2.illinois.gov, 2015). Such form of incentive payments are not a form of compensation. Rather, they are designed to encourage eligible professionals and healthcare facilities to adopt, apply, or advance certified electronic health record technology and utilize it in an expressive manner (Www2.illinois.gov, 2015). The need to be confident with the health IT systems and products used is critical to both the patients and the providers. This will ensure security and confidentiality of data, function with other type of systems for purposes of sharing information, and conduct a group of well-defined operations (healthit.gov, 2014). In 2010, the HHS secretary issued the first set of standards, specifications, certification criteria, and implementation for the adoption of the Health Information Technology Certification Programs (healthit.gov, 2014). Such standard enhances the functionality, utility, interoperability, and safety of health information technology and to facilitate its significant use.
The certification criteria implemented set the needed specifications that electronic health record technology needs to have in order to facilitate the accomplishment of the significant use of Stage 1 by professionals and health facilities under the Medicaid and Medicare incentive programs for electronic health records. On July 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declared a policy that delineated the minimum requirements that health providers should comply through their utilization of certified electronic health records so as to qualify for reimbursements under the incentive programs of the Medicaid and Medicare (healthit.gov, 2014). Both electronic health records incentive programs of the Medicaid and Medicare include a certain sets of requirements in relation to certified electronic health records technology. Health care professionals who are eligible for the Medicare electronic health record incentive program may obtain incentive payments if the implement and accomplish the meaningful utilization of certified electronic health record technology. A certified electronic health record technology is one that has complete electronic health record or electronic health record modules that obtained a certification from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology-Authorized Testing and Certification Body through the Health Information Technology Certification Programs (healthit.gov, 2015).
On the other hand, qualified health care professionals of the Medicare electronic health record incentive program may first accept, apply, or advance to a certified form of electronic health record technology during the onset of the program, and acquire an incentive payment prior to having obtained the significant utilization of certified electronic health record technology (healthit.gov, 2015). The criterion and standards criteria final policy stipulates the required technological competences electronic health record technology will have to obtain, for the electronic health record technology to be licensed by an ONC-ATCB (healthit.gov, 2015). In addition, it stipulates how qualified health care providers will have to utilize the certified electronic health record technology to comply the appropriate significant usage requirements (healthit.gov, 2015).
In selecting EHR, the main focus of the decision making is to determine the type of EHR that would best render improvement in the safety of patients, assist delivery of patient care, assist in the treatment of chronic ailments, enhanced efficiency, and practicality of implementation. All these requirements can be found by choosing a certified or licensed EHR. Without such certification, it simply means that the EHR failed to meet the standards stipulated in the certification criteria.

References

Healthit.gov,. (2015). Health Information Technology Certification Programs | Policy Researchers & Implementers | HealthIT.gov. Retrieved 6 April 2015, from http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/standards-certifications-criteria-final-rule
Healthit.gov,. (2015). Health IT Certification and EHR Incentives | Policy Researchers & Implementers | HealthIT.gov. Retrieved 6 April 2015, from http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/certification-and-ehr-incentives
Www2.illinois.gov,. (2015). Electronic Health Record Medicaid Incentive Program (eMIPP) : Electronic Health Record Medicaid Incentive Payment Program (eMIPP). Retrieved 6 April 2015, from http://www2.illinois.gov/hfs/MedicalProvider/eMIPP/Pages/default.aspx