Today’s EHR and HIT news includes vendor selection news from Merge Healthcare, a product launch annoucement from Hostway and an update from SuccessEHS letting us know that they’ve been awarded EHR Direct Qualified Vendor status for PQRS.
Datapharm Australia Selects Merge eClinical OS for Enterprise-Wide Electronic Data Capture
Merge Healthcare has announced that Datapharm Australia Pty Ltd. has selected Merge’s eClinical OS solution to bring EDC in-house and provide control of electronic case report form (eCRF) creation and mid-study adjustments.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of our clients’ studies requiring EDC. Previously, we outsourced EDC projects to a third party vendor to handle eCRF setup,” explained Dr. Helen Allars, Managing Director at Datapharm Australia. “We found that we spent more time and resources managing this process and dealing with support issues. This approach also lacked the flexibility and control for mid-study changes.”
In 2010, Datapharm began an extensive EDC vendor evaluation, which included 14 vendors who could offer in-licensing of software for use across an enterprise, also referred to as technology transfer. Datapharm’s evaluation criteria consisted of a comprehensive suite of EDC tools, time to deployment, and overall costs associated with technology transfer.
“eClinical OS provided all the EDC features we needed – such as 21 CFR Part 11 and CDISC compliance, Hybrid/DDE, CRF library, reporting, data upload and exporting, medical coding, and monitoring tools – as well the opportunity to add patient reported outcomes, interactive response, randomization and inventory management if a particular study called for it,” continued Allars. “We were most impressed with how intuitive and flexible the system is, whether we are creating eCRFs or even making mid-study changes.”
“Companies that are bringing our solution in-house are doing so because they recognize that eClinical OS provides a strategic tool in their pursuit to provide more efficient, cost-effective clinical trials services,” said Justin Dearborn, President of Merge Healthcare. “Datapharm has taken the first critical step to yield the greatest efficiencies and financial rewards of using our eClinical technologies to simplify and accelerate the way they perform clinical trials.”
Hostway Launches HIPAA-Compliant Solution for Managed Servers, Private Clouds and Hybrid Clouds
Hostway has announced the launch of HIPAA Essential, one of the most comprehensive managed HIPAA HITECH compliance solutions, on the majority of its core products, including its managed environments and its FlexCloud private and hybrid clouds. Hostway has partnered with StillSecure to rapidly bring this solution to market.
One of the first hosting providers on the market to offer a managed security solution with built-in 3(rd) party auditing and approval, the Hostway HIPAA Essential solution meets all specifications of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to safeguard patient data with a simple, roll-in ready solution.
HIPAA HITECH compliance is a major obstacle for medical facilities, healthcare providers, ehealth providers, insurance companies and HMOs, as well as Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software companies. In most cases, achieving compliance requires multiple vendors each focused on specific aspects, such as intrusion prevention, event and access logging and web application firewall management. Ongoing compliance typically demands a dedicated on-staff team, in addition to the cost of hiring external auditors and IT staff for management and verification.
“Regulatory controls require healthcare providers to store unprecedented amounts of patient information, which drives the market to heavily focus on data management through the deployment of secure, scalable infrastructures,” said Peter Kim, Product Manager with Hostway. “From Practice Management and EMR deployments, to organizations that are developing SaaS offerings for healthcare providers, HIPPA Essential provides a cost-effective and pre-audited alternative to building and managing infrastructure for the first time.”
Hostway’s turnkey HIPAA Essential solution, built within its SSAE 16 Type II Certified datacenter infrastructure, minimizes the pain and high cost of HIPAA HITECH compliance with a customizable deployment-ready platform backed by round-the-clock service and support.
SuccessEHS Named 2013 EHR Direct Qualified Vendor for PQRS
SuccessEHS today announced that the company has successfully completed the vetting process for 2013 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) reporting and has been named a 2013 EHR Direct Qualified Vendor. The designation, given by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recognizes vendors whose solutions provide the required clinical data elements for the 51 PQRS EHR measures, including all 44 of the Stage 1 Meaningful Use clinical quality measures. Some 2013 EHR Direct vendors, including SuccessEHS, are also qualified for electronic prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program reporting directly from the EHR.
SuccessEHS is also a 2012 EHR Direct Qualified Vendor. The company was one of only 24 vendors to earn that qualification, and one of only 16 2012 EHR Direct vendors to also be qualified for 2012 eRx Direct EHR reporting.
In addition to the PQRS qualification, SuccessEHS works to maintain the highest available level of certification for Meaningful Use, including ONC-ATCB certification as a Complete EHR. CMS has indicated in its rulemaking processes that EHR-based PQRS reporting is the preferred clinical reporting method for the Meaningful Use incentive program, and has aligned the two programs under Stage 2 Meaningful Use. The strength of SuccessEHS’s credentials for PQRS and Meaningful Use underscores the company’s ability to position its clients for success in these programs both now and in the future.
“We are proud to be able to offer our clients the ability to participate in the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System and eRx programs via EHR Direct reporting,” said Tina Graham, COO of SuccessEHS. “Participation in PQRS is particularly crucial for our clients as it helps them avoid penalties, report clinical quality measures for Meaningful Use and prepare for value-based reimbursement.”
For more information about PQRS, visit the CMS website at: http://www.cms.gov/PQRS.
