Practice Management Alert

Want a Low-Cost EHR? View VistA

Medical offices that are put off by the high cost of electronic health records (EHR) systems now have a new, cheaper alternative to consider courtesy of the federal government.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has  released an evaluation version of VistA-Office EHR, a system for use in small physician offices (specifically, offices with no more than five physicians). The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been using VistA for years, and CMS has now configured VistA to the private physician office setting. The feds are offering VistA to offices in the hopes of getting more offices on board with EHR.

Why free EHR? -The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) has set a goal of achieving widespread interoperability as the healthcare industry adopts EHRs. A key part of the HHS strategy is developing a certification process that ensures a minimum set of functionality, interoperability [ability for software and systems to work together], and privacy and security of health information,- the VistA Web site says.

VistA reports that the EHR program includes functions such as -clinical order entry, standard progress note templates, results reporting, interfaces to existing practice management/billing systems, quality measures reporting capabilities, support for disease management, using clinical reminders templates for obstetrics-gynecology (ob-gyn) and pediatrics care.-

The VistA software will be mostly free to providers, including a fee for vendor installation. The first phase of the program, VistA-Office EHR Version 1.0 Beta, invites physician's offices and clinics to try out the software. (You must pay for access to the American Medical Association's database of CPT code descriptors and the database that comes with the VistA software. If you want the software on a computer disk, you must pay for that, too.)

What makes a Beta test site? The office must also display a -commitment to Beta testing, including staying current with updates and providing feedback,- VistA says.

Further qualifications for becoming a VistA-Office Beta test site include:

- the ability to function with stand-alone information technology (IT) infrastructure.

- willingness to report clinical quality data to Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs).

- interest in working on practice management, lab and billing interfaces.

Note: For more information on VistA-Office,visit www.vista-office.org.