Earlier this month, Acumen reached an important milestone. The company received notice that its flagship product, Acumen EHR, had been granted 2014 Edition Ambulatory Complete EHR certification. Receiving the 2014 complete EHR certification represents the culmination of many months of work by a dedicated team of people.
Over the course of the company’s history, we have been down the certification path before. This, however, was by far the most arduous journey to date, and I am very proud of the work our team performed to bring us across the finish line in a timely fashion.
Path to certification
The path to certification is complex and I know most of you do not spend much time thinking about the mechanics of this process, so let me provide you with a brief overview. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ONC is tasked with supporting the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange.
In a nutshell, ONC establishes the criteria necessary to demonstrate meaningful use. Then the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), working closely with ONC, develops a series of very specific functional and conformance requirements. The conformance test methods developed by NIST help ensure an electronic health record is in compliance with the meaningful use standards and technical requirements.
Clear as mud, right? It gets better.
After the criteria and requirement development, the EHR must be vetted by an accredited testing and certification body. Enter the ONC Certification Program. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the ONC-Approved Accreditor (ONC-AA) for the permanent certification program. This means if you wish to become an organization that tests and/or certifies EHRs according to the 2014 edition certification criterion, you must demonstrate your competence to do so to ANSI.
Some say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, I will go with a graphic that’s worth a couple of hundred:
ONC HIT Certification Program Overview
From testing to complete certification
To date there are six entities that live in the blue boxes above. Each are ONC-authorized certification bodies. Acumen sits in the purple box (Developer/Vendor).
During much of 2013 we clarified the meaningful use requirements from the perspective of a practicing nephrologist and translated those requirements into a workable solution. We then spent countless hours testing and fine tuning the application. Then for two days in mid-December, we took the application through a grueling series of test scripts.
It is a credit to our very talented team that we received word at the conclusion of day two that our application successfully met every test criteria established to be recognized as a 2014 edition complete EHR. Later this week, Acumen will become the first nephrology-focused 2014 Edition Ambulatory Complete EHR on the CMS Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL), the comprehensive list of certified EHRs maintained by CMS.
Customer perspective
What does this mean for our customers? Fundamentally it means that you can start your next round of meaningful use this Wednesday, January 1, 2014, if you wish to do so. Regardless of whether you are pursuing Stage 1 or Stage 2 in 2014, Acumen is ready out of the gate. Notice I mention both Stage 1 and Stage 2. There has been some confusion swirling around this new round of certification which I will try to clarify.
The original meaningful use certification (2011 edition) was commonly referred to as “Stage 1” certification. In some ways that was correct as Stage 1 was the only stage available prior to 2014. Unfortunately, many have falsely considered the 2014 edition the “Stage 2” meaningful use certification. In fact, the 2014 edition ensures the provider has access not only to the Stage 2 criterion, but also the updated Stage 1 criterion. Stated another way, the 2011 edition certification has a shelf life. In fact the 2011 certification expires tomorrow (December 31, 2013) for every ambulatory EHR on the market today. You must use an EHR with the 2014 edition certification if you intend to demonstrate meaningful use in 2014, regardless of which Stage you are pursuing.
As our company is ringing in 2014 with complete EHR certification, each of us at the Acumen blog would like to wish you peace and prosperity as you celebrate the beginning of the new year. We look forward to continuing to explore the intersection of nephrology and health information technology with you and would like to thank you for your continued interest in our blog. Happy New Year!
RG says
Terry, thanks for the information. I always wondered what the process was to get certified. That was news to me about the M.U. stage 1 for 2014. We registered for 2014, stage 2. We were confused about the “count dialysis patients” check box. Can you elaborate? Aren’t we required to count dialysis patients for stage 2? If we are allowed to exclude dialysis patients, that would make it a lot easier. Also, what is the consensus on the concept of taking the penalty, trying to get an exclusion, or plowing ahead and going for stage 2. Happy new year to all the folks at Acumen, and congratulations on getting certified prior to the New Year.
Terry Ketchersid, MD, MBA, VP, Clinical Health Information Management says
Yes still quite a bit of confusion around the dialysis patient encounters. I recently had a conversation with a large group and was struck by how confusing this issue remains…prompted tomorrow’s blog post RG. Take a look tomorrow and if questions remain give our support group a ring.
rg says
Our new doctor started on November 1, 2013. She attested for M.U. for the first time (3 month reporting period) in 2012, at her old practice. We combined her Acumen data from her old practice, and our current practice for the year 2013. Unfortunately, she will not be able to attest for stage 1 in 2013 because she did not meet some of the criteria. She will of course be subject to the penalty in 2015. My question is, what do we do for 2014? Is she now going to attest with stage 2 criteria? Or, does she attest with stage 1 criteria? Thanks in advance for your help, and looking forward to seeing the Acumen team at the upcoming RPA meeting. RG
Terry Ketchersid, MD, MBA, VP, Clinical Health Information Management says
Sorry to hear her news for 2013. Once a provider starts and successfully attests, the MU calendar starts and it does not change. If her first year was 2012, then 2014 is year 3 and she would face the Stage 2 objectives.