Vendor support could play a role in successfull Meaningful Use attestation.
According to a a new customer survey from electronic health systems vendor Healthland, which serves mainly rural and critical access hospitals, 90 percent of providers said successful attestation was faster and easier than they anticipated--but only when the vendor offered webinars, staff support and other resources. More than two-thirds of respondents (69 percent) said their EHR's tracking report tool helped them keep tabs on their Meaningful Use progress.
The vendor's role in EHR implementation has long been recognized as important. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) recently reported that lack of vendor support, including inadequate training and delayed upgrades, was a major obstacle to successful attestation. Some vendors just seem less willing to work with their provider clients.
So perhaps vendors are beginning to see the benefit of supporting the provider at a crucial point--when the provider attempts to qualify for the incentive payment. "Because money is involved, vendors are [more] motivated to help," Casa Grande, Ariz.-based HIPAA consultant Frank Ruelas told FierceEMR in an interview. If a vendor can prove its worth by helping the provider attain the incentive, it gives the vendor a foothold to sell more products to the provider in the future, he said.
Having internal support doesn't hurt, either. more than 85 percent of respondents reported that "executive buy-in" was also "very important" to helping them meet the Meaningful Use requirements.
To learn more:
- read the announcement
- here's an EMR Daily News article