Certification & Meaningful Use:

As a result of the US Government's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), physicians will be entitled to receive reimbursement from the Federal Government for the use of an EMR. To qualify for these funds (calendar year 2011-2015), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology has stipulated that physicians need to use an "certified" EMR in a "meaningful way."

On July 13, 2010, The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology released final guidelines specifying features which are mandated to be included in "certified" EMR and also specified the requirements physicians must fulfill ("meaningful use") if they want to receive payments from the US Government under the HITECH section of ARRA. For more information, see the CMS website.

ComChart EMR v211 has been Certified as a Complete Ambulatory EMR by InfoGard on October 3, 2011. The Certification number is IG-2463-11-0124. More information, including NCQA measures: 0013,0024, 0028, 0038, 0041, 0055, 0056, 0059, 0061, 0062,0421. This complete EHR is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified by an ONC‐ATCB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments. 

HIPAA:

“The privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), apply to health information created or maintained by health care providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, health plans, and health care clearinghouses. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued the regulation, "Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information," applicable to entities covered by HIPAA. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the Departmental component responsible for implementing and enforcing the privacy regulation. (See the Statement of Delegation of Authority to the Office for Civil Rights, as published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2000.” - United States Department of Health & Human Service. Under HIPAA guidelines, it is your responsibility to insure that the "protected" information is managed in a secure manner. ComChart EMR makes every effort to facilitate your ability to comply with HIPAA, including an option to automatically "Lock" ComChart when there is no activity for a period of time.