Is Your EHR Ready for HHS Certification?

Here’s a quick look at the various EHR vendors and their announcements related to HHS Certification.

Practice Fusion

Baseline Price: Free
Incremental Price: Free
Platform: Web-based (SaaS) platform that can be seamlessly updated with new features Reported Number of Users: 30,000
Guarantee: Practice Fusion guarantees that physicians using our EHR will qualify for Meaningful Use before HITECH payments begin January 2011.

Other EHR Vendor Guarantees

NextGen
Baseline Price: $40,000 to $50,000
Incremental Price: $10,000 to $11,000
Platform: Local hardware and software
Reported Number of Users: 1,800
Guarantee: Money back program if you notify the company in writing within the first 12 months, includes promise to deliver: "A solution that will always evolve to meet the standards and certifications for federal stimulus reimbursement programs of interest to physicians using NextGen Healthcare products."

Athenahealth
Price: 2.5 to 5% of collections depending on practice size (confirmed independently)
Set-up Fees: For a three person office (1 MD, 2 admins) $2,500 implementation fee for practice management and $4,000 for EMR (must be a billing service customer to use EMR) paid over 6 months.
Platform: Web-based Reported
Number of Users: 1,100
Guarantee: Up to six months of monthly fees waived if your practice doesn’t receive HITECH Medicare incentives.

Last Updated: September 2009

EHR prices sourced from BCC Consulting’s EMR Guide based on a baseline five person practice (1 MD,1 RN, 2 admins and 1 office manager) and a incremental staff addition (1 MD, 1 RN) unless otherwise noted.