Posts tagged Final Rule
ONC’s Final Rule for Permanent Certification Program
Jan 14th
The final rule for the establishment of a permanent certification program for health information technology is has been released by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. It will be used to permit organizations to declare Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology. The details of the permanent certification program are as follows:
- Organizations are required to be recognized by an ONC-Approved Accreditor (ONC-AA) so they can become Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs) in order to test and verify health information technology.
- The status of ONC-AA will be given to a single accreditation body at a time and the selection will be made on a competitive merit basis.
- The ONC-AA is required to be updated every three years, during which time the ONC will be accepting renewal applications as well.
- There will be six ONC-ACBs that will to renew the three year status for ONC-AAs.
- ONC-ACBs have to carry out post-certification surveillance.
- ONC-ACBs are allowed to carry out “gap certification,” giving the option for and conducting gap certification of already certified EHRs.
- ONC-ACBs are permitted to certify other forms of HIT when applicable certification standards are already met.
- ONC-ACBs must allow requests for newer editions of a previously certified EHR so the newer version can also be certified.
The ONC will apply to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) to come up with a laboratory accreditation program for organizations that wish to be accredited to test health information technology. Testing will be enhanced by the use of NVLAP since NIST has credible technical expertise and has cordial relations with the ONC. The ONC’s main objective is to achieve a smooth transition to the permanent certification program.
DEA Establishes Final Rule on E-Prescribing of Controlled Drugs
Aug 6th
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced its interim final rule for electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The rule became effective on June 1, 2010, and it may be amended in the future depending on public comment.
Pharmacy organizations have been working with the DEA for more than a decade to draft rules for electronic prescriptions of controlled substances. According to the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), e-prescribing for controlled substances will likely not happen for at least another year. Nonetheless, the proposed rules are practical for pharmacists, prescribers and the DEA.
The DEA’s new rule manages electronic prescribing for both controlled and non-controlled pharmaceutical products, whereas before pharmacies were required to keep a paper-and-fax workflow for prescribing controlled substances. The rule also reduces the electronic record-keeping requirement from 5 years to 2 years and eases verification procedures.
Prior to the release of the DEA’s final rule, federal regulations prohibited the use of e-prescribing for controlled substances due to abuse and security concerns. The rule takes the first step in alleviating what many saw as a substantial impediment to the adoption of e-prescribing. Accordingly, the rule is expected to increase the number of providers adopting healthcare IT systems.
Some obstacles that will have to be overcome in e-prescribing for controlled substances are verifying digital signatures, standardizing procedures to change the strength (or any element) of a prescription and standardizing procedures to transfer prescriptions. The DEA will also need to establish whether it will standardize identifiers that prescribers use to write prescriptions for controlled substances.
For more detailed information on the DEA’s new rule, please click here.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Releases the Final Rule on “Meaningful Use” of Electronic Health Records
Jul 2nd
On July 13, 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the long-awaited final rule on what constitutes “meaningful use” of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. With the release of the final rule, healthcare providers now have a clearer picture of the requirements they must satisfy in order to earn substantial incentives under the HITECH Act.
The Act, which was implemented as part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides incentive bonuses in excess of $44,000 for physicians that are able to show “meaningful use” of certified EHR technology. Providers that fail to successfully implement EHRs in their offices will eventually become subject to penalties under the Act.
The final rule differs from the proposed rule issued last January in that it allows providers more flexibility in choosing which measures to utilize in order to meet “meaningful use” requirements. Under the final rule, physicians are required to comply with a set of 15 core objectives during the first year (or Stage 1) of adoption. Hospitals are required to comply with 14 core objectives during Stage 1. During Stage 2 of adoption, both physicians and hospitals will have to choose 5 more objectives from a selection of 10 in order to achieve “meaningful use.” The final rule also reduced the number of electronic prescriptions a physician is required to make from 75% to 40%.
MTBC will continue to work closely with our clients to ensure that they are using MTBC EMR 4.0 in a manner that will qualify them for the bonuses available under the HITECH Act. We will also offer clients a free webinar that will provide a comprehensive overview of the “meaningful use” requirements as they are defined under the final rule. The webinar will be presented by Muhammad Chebli, Vice President of Information Technology, on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. If you are interested in attending, please register by clicking here.
The webinar will be offered as a continuation of MTBC’s free, EHR-focused webinar series. Full reproductions of previous webinars can be accessed at http://www.mtbc.com/hitech.aspx.
The final rule on “meaningful use” can be accessed online at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-17207_PI.pdf.
A helpful explanation of the final rule is available here.