Cerner Physicians Receive First Round of EHR Stimulus Payments that Require Meaningful Use Attestation

May 19, 2011 — Last evening, Juan Salazar, MD, an internal medicine physician from McAllen, Texas, and three physicians from multi-specialty West Broadway Clinic of Council Bluffs, Iowa, announced receipt of government incentive funding for successful use of electronic health records (EHR), with the support of Kansas City, Mo. based health company, Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq: CERN). West Broadway Clinic and Dr. Juan Salazar achieved the first stage of rigorous requirements certifying them ‘meaningful users’ of health information technology and are excited to announce that the meaningful use dollars have been received via electronic bank deposits.

“All the pieces we’ve employed with Cerner through reaching Meaningful Attestation Use attestation have led to improved patient safety. The requirement from CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] is so beneficial to us—saying you have to do this and you have to do it now only leads to better safety,” said Jan Patterson, West Broadway Clinic’s practice administrator who drove the clinic’s meaningful use process and attestation.

To receive federal incentive funding, Medicare and Medicaid eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals have to demonstrate ‘Meaningful Use’ through the CMS web-based Registration and Attestation System. According to the CMS definition of Meaningful Use, providers need to show they are using certified EHR technology in ways that can be measured significantly in quality and in quantity. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifies three main components of Meaningful Use:

  • The use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner, such as e-prescribing
  • The use of certified EHR technology for electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of health care
  • The use of certified EHR technology to submit clinical quality and other measures
The physicians from West Broadway Clinic, including family medicine, internal medicine, endocrinology and women’s health specialists, successfully attested on April 20, 2011 and each received $18,000 in government incentive funding on May 18, 2011, with which they plan to continue to investing in patient safety for the communities they serve using certified EHR technology provided by Cerner. Dr. Juan Salazar’s office successfully attested on April 18 and also reports receipt of $18,000, the full amount offered through the CMS, as of May 18, 2011.

Cerner houses an expert team of professionals that specialize in navigating organizations and healthcare professionals through all healthcare reform topics. To learn more about how Cerner’s team can provide clarity, visit Cerner’s Stimulus and HITECH page or email cernerambulatory@cerner.com.

About Cerner
Cerner is transforming healthcare by eliminating error, variance and waste for healthcare providers and consumers around the world. Cerner® solutions optimize processes for healthcare organizations ranging in size from single-doctor practices, to health systems, to entire countries, for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, employer health and wellness services industry and for the healthcare commerce system. These solutions are licensed by approximately 9,000 facilities around the world, including more than 2,600 hospitals; 3,500 physician practices covering more than 30,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; and 1,600 retail pharmacies. The trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the “Marks”) set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube . For more information about Cerner Ambulatory, please visit www.Cerner.com/PhysicianPracticeTwitter and Facebook.

 

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