Industry Spotlight: 'Meaningful Use' the MEDITECH Way -- Part I

By: Donna Carroll, Editor

Last month, I attended a seminar delivered by MEDITECH Inc. entitled “ARRA/Meaningful Use Enhancement Training”.  It was delivered via Webex over a four-hour period.  As I have several clients currently in the process of upgrades and implementations for the primary purpose of reaching Meaningful Use (“MU”), I thought this seminar would be a wise investment of my time and money.

The presentation itself was well-prepared and very informative.  I would say it was targeted primarily for an audience of IT Leadership or even Project Managers.  Some portions went into more detailed explanations appropriate for Application Analysts, but most of the content was kept at a high level.

It is important to note that this presentation was specifically for the MAGIC platform, NOT Client Server or 6.0.  In addition, the focus was on how to reach MU with all MEDITECH products versus a combination of different vendor solutions.

CONTENT:

The presentation was split into four (4) sections:

1.  MEDITECH's Best Practices Series.  This gave a brief overview of some of the resources MEDITECH created to provide guidance to customers trying to reach MU.  These resources include:

• Best Practice Documents
• Meaningful Use Requirements Checklist
• NPR Reporting Requirements

2.  Core Requirements.  This was certainly the largest portion of the presentation.  It  was presented by several MEDITECH Application Specialists who demonstrated how their respective modules addressed each of the following Core Requirements for MU compliance:

• Record Demographics
• Document Vitals
• Growth Chart
• Smoking Status
• Active Medication List
• Medication Allergy List
• CPOE
• Drug-drug Interaction
• Drug-allergy Interaction
• Clinical Decision Support Rule
• Problem List
• Continuity of Care Document
• Electronic Copy of Discharge Instructions
• Electronic Copy of Health Record
• Report Clinical Quality Measures
• Protect Electronic Health Information

3.  Menu Set Requirements.  In addition to the Core Requirements for MU compliance, eligible hospitals must also select five (5) requirements from a Menu Set of ten (10).  It is important to note that at least one (1) of the five (5) selected requirements must include the electronic submission of data for Public Health (denoted by * below).  This section of the presentation described how the different MEDITECH modules address the following requirements:

• Record Advance Directive
• Identify Patient Specific Education Resources
• Provide Summary of Care
• Incorporate Clinical Lab Test Results with EHR
• Medication Reconciliation
• Drug-formulary Checks
• Submit Electronic Data to Immunization Registry*
• Submit Electronic Data on Reportable Lab Results*
• Submit Electronic Syndromic Surveillance Data*
• List of Patients by Specific Conditions

4.  MEDITECH’s Update Group ARRA Main Page.  Some of the resources located on this web page include:

• Development Design Projects (DDP) Enhancements linking to all applicable DTS changes
• Information on Patient Logging
• Information on Encryption

TAKEAWAYS:

As previously mentioned, I found the seminar well-presented and informative.  Of course, some topics were more useful than others, depending upon the depth of research you’ve already conducted on the subject.  For me, there were two major takeaways from this seminar:

1.  The last day for eligible hospitals to register and attest in order to receive incentive payments for FY11 is November 30, 2011.  In order to qualify for compliance, eligible hospitals must be LIVE with all data and functionality for at least 90 days prior.  Therefore, eligible hospitals must be in compliance with the MU requirements no later than June 30^th in order to qualify for FY11 incentive payments.

Furthermore, MEDITECH advised customers NOT to register for MU compliance until you are absolutely sure you will meet compliance.  If you register for incentive payments for FY11, but are found NOT to meet the requirements until 2012, you are no longer eligible to receive 100% incentive payment in your first year (2012).  The maximum amount of incentive payment you will be eligible for in 2012 will be 75% (even though it is your FIRST year of qualifying).

2.  MEDITECH’s MAGIC HCIS Version 5.64 has received complete EHR inpatient certification deeming the EHR software capable of enabling eligible hospitals to meet the Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Drummond Group’s ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tested and certified the system with the following minimum software requirements:

• Operating System 9.2
• MT Workstation 4.24
• 5.64 PP6 or 5.65
• PCM Suite
• Clinical Review
  • Growth Chart
  • Problem List
• Version 2 Allergies
• Formulary Service Vendor
• Interface to Public Health
• CCD Interface
• Data Repository

Notice that I have highlighted Data Repository (DR).  During the seminar, DR was not on this list and we were told that MEDITECH was waiting to learn whether DR was going to be required or not.  The specific issue is that their MAGIC HCIS Version 5.64 was certified with the use of Data Repository.

After the seminar, one of my clients followed up directly with MEDITECH to find out if DR was going to be required to meet the MU requirements.  My client was told by MEDITECH Inc. that Data Repository will be required in order for them to meet Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements.  I think this is critical information for MEDITECH MAGIC sites to know.

 (2/9/11) UPDATE TO ARTICLE -- MEDITECH Announcement Posted on their Website on 2/8/2011:  https://www.meditech.com/cioportal/pages/newdrapproach.htm

Overall, I would definitely recommend this seminar to any MEDITECH MAGIC sites currently undertaking or about to embark on projects intended to reach Meaningful Use compliance.  The presentation contains vital information to ensure your hospital meets the requirements and qualifies for incentive payments.

- Donna Carroll, Editor, The MEDITECH Community Bulletin