Anesthesia Business Consultants (ABC) will provide all physicians who successfully attest to the first reporting period of the EHR Incentive Program through F1RSTUseTM with an iPad pre-loaded with ABC’s F1RSTUseMeaningful Use EHR system, as well as other tools designed to meet the operational and regulatory requirements for the CMS EHR Incentive Program.
The F1RSTUse platform, a partnership between ABC and DR Systems, is a combination of a complete electronic health record developed by DR Systems combined with the full EHR administrative capabilities of ABC. DR Systems’ original design was for the radiology market, but through this exclusive partnership, it has been customized for the anesthesiology and pain management industries and is now available to anesthesiologists under the name F1RSTUse.
To satisfy Meaningful Use requirements, practices must collect specific health information on each outpatient encounter and complete other patient communication-related workflows. F1RSTUse is enabled to do just that. ABC’s personnel guide clients through the compliance process and support data management activities. The combination of the DR Systems’ eHR and Health Companion personal health record enables compliance in a highly-efficient manner, resulting in improved patient satisfaction.
The Meaningful Use information collected at each encounter is sent to ABC, who enters it into F1RSTUse. ABC also assists the practice with enrolling in the Meaningful Use program, tracks the practice’s progress toward meeting program requirements, and attests on the client’s behalf with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. ABC is compensated only if and when the practice receives its payments from the government.
“F1RSTUse is the first EHR platform built exclusively for anesthesiologists and pain management specialists that will satisfy Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements,” said Bryan Sullivan, Vice-President of Clinical Technologies at Anesthesia Business Consultants. “We are making implementation of this system as free of administrative burdens and technological hurdles as possible. We understand that even an easy-to-use system such as this one represents a change in routine so we have done all we can to bear the burden.”
Most anesthesiologists are eligible for anesthesiology incentive payments from the CMS. Anesthesiologists have to qualify as soon as possible to earn the maximum incentive payment, because the total incentive payment is reduced each year. Failure to comply with Meaningful Use requirements will eventually subject anesthesiologists to possible financial penalties.
“Anesthesiologists benefit in multiple ways by deploying a system such as F1RSTUse,” said Murray Reicher, MD, FACR, DR Systems’ co-founder and chairman. “First, they actually improve patient care and the efficiency of their anesthesiology workflow, including the collection of patient information and integration of that information with the EHR. Secondly, they earn a substantial, five-figure incentive payment that far exceeds the cost of the system.”
