Horsham, Pa. – January 11, 2010 – NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare and connectivity solutions, today commented that the Notice of Proposed Rule Making issued last week on electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs moves the healthcare industry closer to securing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus payments for healthcare IT adoption. The company noted, however, that further guidance will be needed to lead medical providers through the requirements to become meaningful users of EHRs. To help navigate the criteria, NextGen Healthcare has produced new educational resources for providers and opened its Community Forum for discussion, questions and comments on the rule.
“The proposed rule should give doctors, particularly those that have not yet decided to implement an EHR, some comfort with the path to qualifying as meaningful users and obtaining the government’s incentive reimbursements,” said Scott Decker, President of NextGen Healthcare. “But first, more guidance is needed to build trust and understanding of healthcare automation ― from how to purchase the right EHR, to product implementation, training, and cultural change in an automated practice environment. NextGen Healthcare also encourages providers to comment on the newly released criteria in our Community Forum and to leverage our other online resources to become more informed and prepared to adopt and effectively use health information technology.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Notice of Proposed Rule Making on meaningful use of EHRs on December 30, 2009, outlining the standards and certification requirements for healthcare providers to receive a portion of the over $50 billion economic stimulus funding dedicated to accelerating healthcare IT adoption by the medical community. A public comment period is open through March 13, 2010, after which CMS will issue a final rule.
