Q. Can KeyChart® interface with my existing practice management system?
A. Yes, with cooperation from your practice management vendor, KeyMedical will bring over your appointments, patient demographics and provider demographics at the beginning of the day. After each exam is signed and released, the diagnosis and CPT codes are then sent back to your practice management system for posting. This eliminates possible transcription errors.
Q. Can each physician have his own templates to allow him to continue to do an exam as he always has?
A. Yes, each physician can set up his templates with his own wording and even his own exam flow. Templates are brought in by user login. However we do want to caution practices on doing this since technicians often cover more than one physician. To keep exams flowing it is much more efficient if templates are kept consistent throughout the practice.
Q. Why should I implement an EMR?
A. The HITECH Act provides up to $44,000 from Medicare or $63,750 from Medicaid to help pay for your EMR. With all the cuts in reimbursement and the increasing costs of malpractice insurance, physicians need every advantage they can get. Most physicians undercode rather than overcode, therefore leaving money on the table. KeyChart® will recommend the proper level of coding based on the exam documentation so you are coding each encounter properly. Starting in 2015 Medicare will penalize providers who have not implemented an EMR.
Q. How will an EMR help my staff?
A. An EMR system is going to reduce the manual work that is currently overwhelming staff members. A paperless office means that there will no longer be charts to pull or the re-filing of the patient charts, and the all to common problem of the lost (or misplaced) charts, calls from the pharmacists asking you to clarify a handwritten prescription, sticky notes on the door for the doctor to see when he comes out, transcribing and mailing of referral letters and much more.
Q. How long does it take to implement an EMR?
A. If you are purchasing our entire suite of products and are not a new practice starting up we recommend that you give your staff 6-9 months on KeyMed before implementing KeyChart® EMR. If you need for us to do an interface with your existing practice management system. This can vary in time, but typically will take 6 - 8 weeks. This will give us enough time to ensure that the system is ready for You to use the day after training.
Either way, we will get copies of your existing documentation, referral letters, education material etc. and have them ready for your staff to train on during the training session.
Q. What hardware do I need to use with my new EMR?
A. Depending on your needs and budget, KeyChart® can be used with several different input devices. You can use a combination of hard wired PCs, tablet PCs, or wireless notebook computers for any of your workstations. Please remember that your charts are going away so you will need to be sure that you have enough hardware to ensure you can always view your charts.
Q. Can eligible professionals participate in the 2011 Physician Quality Reporting System (formerly called PQRI), 2011 Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program, and the EHR Incentive Program (aka Meaningful Use) and earn incentives for each?
A. The Physician Quality Reporting System, Incentive Program, and EHR Incentive Program are three distinctly separate CMS programs. The Physician Quality Reporting System incentive can be received regardless of an eligible professional's participation in the other programs. There are three ways to participate in the EHR Incentive Program: through Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or Medicaid.
- If participating in the EHR Incentive Program through the Medicaid option, eligible professionals are able to also receive the incentive.
- If participating in the Medicare or Medicare Advantage options for the EHR Incentive Program, eligible professionals can still report the measure but are only eligible to receive one incentive payment. Eligible professionals successfully participating in both programs will receive the EHR incentive.
Eligible professionals should continue to report the measure in 2011 even if their practice is also participating in the Medicare or Medicare Advantage EHR Incentive Program because claims data for the first six months of 2011 will be analyzed to determine if a 2012 Payment Adjustment will apply to the eligible professional.
If an eligible professional successfully generates and reports electronically prescribing 25 times (at least 10 of which are in the first 6 months of 2011 and submitted via claims to CMS) for measure denominator eligible services, (s)he would also be exempt from the 2013 payment adjustment.
For questions on the Physician Quality Reporting System and Incentive Program, contact the QualityNet Help Desk at 1-866-288-8912 (TTY 1-877-715-6222) from 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 pm. CST Monday through Friday or via Qnetsupport@sdps.org.