October 18, 2012
F1RSTUseTM is the first—and only—full-service EHR management platform built exclusively for anesthesiologists and pain management specialists to satisfy with ease Stage 1 of Meaningful Use as required to earn the Medicare EHR incentive payment. It is the only product that provides the full service measures to ensure success: tracking the necessary data points, providing reports of successful measures and ensuring that you are meeting all of the CMS requirements.
As a number of physicians have begun to incorporate the F1RSTUse system into their workflow, additional questions regarding the Meaningful Use program have been received. Read on to learn more about F1RSTUse and how it can support your Meaningful Use program.
This checklist has been compiled from questions raised by anesthesiologists, colleagues, facilities, and patients.
1. What is the maximum incentive payment if I start now? – $39,000. If you have not already enrolled in the F1RSTUse system, the original $44,000 incentive payment is no longer available. If you come across communications from other sources indicating that you can achieve the maximum incentive by starting now with a Meaningful Use EHR, please proceed with caution as the maximum payment is no longer available from the government. October 3rd was the CMS deadline to begin making Meaningful Use of an EHR.
2. What is the Certification Number for the EHR? – The certification number for the F1RSTUse system is CHPL Product Number: IG-2630-12-0006. The system is made available through our partners at DR Systems. In order to meet the CMS requirements, it is critical that you adopt a system that achieves all the requirements of a Complete EHR which F1RSTUse does. If you follow this link you will see that the F1RSTUse system meets all the objectives of a Complete and Certified EHR. Other systems offer only select modules.
3. Is F1RSTUse just an EHR? – F1RSTUse is a full service EHR management platform and ABC is your data management partner. It is very important to distinguish between a software solution and a data management partner.
Software solutions are licensed and sold without any further support other than software maintenance, leaving the responsibility of compliance and operations to you. ABC is your full partner in the Meaningful Use initiative. We manage the data entry, the compliance, and ultimately, your long term success—since we are not paid until you are paid. While the daily operations that are undertaken to ensure your compliance may not be visible to you, rest assured, the F1RSTUse team at ABC is focused on achieving your successful attestation and participation in the EHR Incentive Program.
4. How does F1RSTUse compare to other solutions that I have heard being offered by other billing services? F1RSTUse has a streamlined and uncomplicated process for physicians. The bulk of the work is adopted by ABC so that the physicians are not overly burdened with operational and administrative tasks. ABC is also happy to provide the certification number (CHPL Product Number: IG-2630-12-0006) for the F1RSTUse system so that you can confirm that it is a Complete EHR for ambulatory use.
Ultimately, F1RSTUse requires no hardware infrastructure, no long-term contracts, and no capital expenditure. ABC is very clear about what is required from the physician to achieve the incentive and we are here to guide each physician through the process.
5. What else do I have to buy? – Absolutely nothing. ABC is not requiring any further software purchase. F1RSTUse is designed to achieve the incentive payments that are available to further fund your operations and technology platform. You Do Not need to purchase any additional hardware or software to meet the requirements of Stage 1 of the program.
6. When do I get my first payment? – If you signed up for the F1RSTUse system before the October 3, 2012 deadline, then you would be able to attest beginning in January. CMS releases the payments four to eight weeks after attestation which would make the payments available to you by March 1, 2013 at the latest.
7. What’s this about a free iPad? ABC is providing all physicians that complete the first 90 days of using the F1RSTUse platform and successfully attest to CMS with an iPad fully loaded with the tools to further your technology platform such as our IntraOperative EMR, myAnesthesiaTM. This iPad can be used for any purpose, but is designed to enable the physicians with a method of staying current with the Meaningful Use system to support future stages.
The Meaningful Use program offers many opportunities and has generated many questions as well. To aid in the effort, Anesthesia Business Consultants has created a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section regarding Meaningful Use and F1RSTUse on our website. Please follow this link to access this resource.
If you are interested in getting further information about the F1RSTUse program or would like to sign up, please email us at Meaningful.Use@AnesthesiaLLC.com.
