DrChrono has announced that its EHR, which runs on the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch, has attained ONC certification for Meaningful Use Stage 3. The company believes it is the first to obtain that certification for a mobile-based product.
“The way that I look at the world and the way that the company looks at the world, everybody has a hugely powerful computer in their pocket where they can do a lot of powerful things,” Daniel Kivatinos, DrChrono’s COO and cofounder told MobiHealthNews. “So we’ve invested a lot of resources into making our EHR fully usable and fully reportable where you can enter a lot of data into the EHR on your iPhone or iPad as a provider. What really differentiates us is that a lot of EHRs are getting certified just for a web component and then they have an iPad viewer. We were the very first EHR to get Meaningful Use certified on an iPad for Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3.”
What’s the impact
The Meaningful Use program has been officially renamed “Promoting Interoperability”. Its focus has shifted to encouraging EHRs to share data easily between each other, including using a file format called C-CDA.
As such, DrChrono’s EHR is able to share data with other MU3-certified EHRs, which includes most of the major players in the space. They also have an API that will allow data to potentially be shared even more easily.
“Essentially now that Meaningful Use Stage 3 is in place, I would say that patients will bring their medical record more with them more than they ever have before,” Kivanos said. “And what that means is better coordination of care. If you have data moving from one institution to another, you’ll be able to take that critical information from one place to another.”
For instance, DrChrono’s EHR will allow doctors to change and update prescriptions without having to call pharmacists on the phone.
What’s the trend
While the term “Meaningful Use” isn’t being heard much any more, data interoperability is still a hot topic.
Some startups and big tech companies, such as Apple and Ciitizen, believe that a patient-centered record. Others, such as Medal, help patients extract data from siloes it might be trapped in.
On the record
“I am proud to announce that we are certified for Meaningful Use Stage 3 and have met all government requirements,” Michael Nusimow, DrChrono cofounder and CEO, said in a statement. “Unlike legacy EHRs that are not well equipped to keep up with the newest regulatory requirements for reporting and Meaningful Use, we are dedicated to meet the most updated regulatory compliance requirements and provide the latest healthcare technologies. Our commitment is to ensure our partners, physicians, and medical practices are ready for the changes that come with MACRA, MIPS as well as MU Stage 3.”
