CCHIT designates Ingenix CareTracker version 7 as Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR

Sep 30 2010

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) has designated Ingenix CareTracker™ version 7 a CCHIT Certified® 2011 Ambulatory EHR.

“The CCHIT certification program is directed at validating the ability of an EHR system to support these very capabilities. Doctors using or considering Ingenix CareTracker can be confident that the system can support their patient care and practice management needs.”

The CCHIT Certified® program is an independently developed certification that includes a rigorous inspection of an electronic health record (EHR) system's integrated functionality, interoperability and security using criteria developed by CCHIT's broadly representative, expert work groups. The CCHIT inspection process is based on real-life medical scenarios designed to test products rigorously against the complex needs of health care providers. As part of the process, successful use is verified at live sites.

CCHIT tested the ability of Ingenix CareTracker to help physicians conduct core functions, including medication and allergy verification and interaction checks, electronic prescribing and quality measurement and reporting. Ingenix CareTracker is a fully CCHIT Certified EHR, indicating that successful implementation has been verified by CCHIT in at least two physician practices.

"Physicians adopt technology when it is clear to them that doing so will help them improve patient care, manage their workflow more efficiently and manage costs," said Thomas Darr, M.D., chief medical officer at Ingenix. "The CCHIT certification program is directed at validating the ability of an EHR system to support these very capabilities. Doctors using or considering Ingenix CareTracker can be confident that the system can support their patient care and practice management needs."

"We believe the CCHIT Certified designation gives CareTracker users more confidence that their EHR system offers the highest standard of support for interoperability with other health IT systems to improve care coordination and increase the quality and safety of patient care," said Steve Tolle, senior vice president of Physician Solutions at Ingenix. "Importantly, all of our more than 10,000 Ingenix CareTracker users already have the version of the product that is CCHIT Certified 2011. Ingenix CareTracker is supported by a unique Web-based platform that enables us to implement new features and functionality across the entire network simultaneously with no cost or interruptions to our users."

In addition to achieving CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR designation, Ingenix has begun the process to obtain ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification for CareTracker. CCHIT is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). Use of an ONC-ATCB certified EHR system to demonstrate Meaningful Use of health IT is required for physicians to become eligible for federal incentive reimbursements. CCHIT launched its ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program on Sept. 20.

Ingenix CareTracker saves physicians time and money by helping them enter, retrieve and correlate important clinical knowledge and patient medical information at the point of care. The system features connections to thousands of labs, hospitals, pharmacies and commercial and government payers, and fully integrates with all of the operational functions of a physician practice, simplifying administrative tasks such as billing, scheduling and documentation.

In May, Ingenix completed a systemwide deployment that delivered all of the capabilities the company believes necessary for physicians to demonstrate Meaningful Use once its EHR is ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certified. Physicians can qualify for up to $44,000 in Medicare or up to $63,000 in Medicaid reimbursements provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Because CareTracker EHR costs less than $5,000 per year per physician, federal stimulus funding may cover most or all CareTracker subscription costs through the end of the ARRA reimbursement period, depending on the composition of a physician's patient mix. Ingenix also provides a package of interest-free financing and meaningful use guarantees that eliminate the up-front costs of implementing an EHR system.