Dear Praxites:
In mid-March, with a sense of great pride and accomplishment, we released the beta version of Praxis EMR v5. Based on the pre-beta internal testing that I was intimately involved with, I can assure you that when Praxis v5 goes into general release, it will revolutionize medical informatics as we know it. Datum, the DataMiner, e-prescribing, lab orders, vaccinations, hyper linking (not just documents, but also spreadsheets, images, videos, and sound files) -- all these features will make demonstrating Meaningful Use a simple matter for you, our valued clients. But, more importantly, Praxis v5's new features will also help you practice better medicine while dramatically reducing your personal stress level, as all discrete data reporting will be done behind the scenes without interfering with your personal way of practicing medicine.
If you haven't already, I invite you to view the webinar, Introduction to Praxis EMR v5. It is available for download through the Client Section of our website. You will need your Praxis username and password to access it; contact Customer Support via online chat if you need assistance. This video recording is intended exclusively for you, our Praxis clients. We encourage you to tell others about Praxis v5, but we ask that you do not share the actual video with persons outside your office; it is meant only for you and your staff. It is your privilege as a Praxis client. Others will just have to take your word for it!
With beta testing underway, we expect things to move quickly. It is becoming clear that Praxis v5 is remarkably stable software; therefore, we anticipate a shorter than usual beta-testing period. Additionally, we are positioned to achieve Meaningful Use certification very soon, which means we expect Praxis EMR v5 to be in the market by the end of spring 2011.
Thus, given that you have until Oct. 1 to begin Meaningful Use attestation, you will have plenty of time to qualify for a 2011 payment from the EHR Incentive Programs. In our last newsletter, we summarized these programs and outlined the steps to follow to secure the maximum payment in 2011.
In this issue of the Praxis newsletter, we cover another federal program that many of you have asked us about -- Medicare's E-Prescribing Program. We begin by describing the e-prescribing functionality of Praxis EMR v5 and then discuss the E-Prescribing Program's requirements and how you can meet them with Praxis.
In closing, I wish to thank all of you for the support you have given us leading up to the beta release of Praxis v5, as well as for the excellent ideas you sent our way. We couldn't have done it without you! Thank you from all of us here at Praxis to all of you in clinics across the nation. We are fortunate to have such wonderful clients!
Kind regards,
Richard M. Low, M.D.
• In This Issue
- E-Prescribing with Praxis EMR v5
- Avoid Medicare's E-Prescribing Payment Adjustment with Praxis EMR
- Online Chat: The Best Way to Access Customer Support
• E-Prescribing with Praxis EMR v5
Developing e-prescribing functionality is easy, but doing so in such a way that puts you in control is another matter entirely. With Praxis v5's e-prescribing, doctors are in the driver's seat. After you select the medication and determine dosage and frequency, Praxis remembers it forever, allowing you to concentrate on your patient while the e-prescribing is handled automatically right from the Assessment. No template-based EMR does that!
All you need to start e-prescribing is:
- Praxis EMR v5 (the single-user version is presently available and may be used to e-Rx; see article that follows).
- Surescripts Network Integration (see below).
Here is how Praxis v5's e-prescribing feature works:
Accessing the e-Rx feature:
To access the e-Rx feature, you must first provide Praxis with your e-prescribing information. To do so, click on the Settings tab and select Medications Settings.
Enter the SPI number (which we will provide you after we integrate you to the Surescripts Network) and the state in which you practice. With your e-Rx information inputted, an e-Rx tab will appear the next time you re-start Praxis.
Select your pharmacies:
Select the pharmacies you will transmit e-prescriptions to from the patient chart by clicking on the Patient Data tab and opening Contacts. In Praxis v5 you will see that a Pharmacies category has been added. Once you select a pharmacy, it will be displayed in this category. To add pharmacies, click the Add button and then select the pharmacy from the popup menu; this menu lists all of the pharmacies in the United States that accept e-prescriptions. Once you select a pharmacy from this menu, don't forget to click Save before you close the menu.
Now the pharmacy you just selected will be listed under the Pharmacies category.
Prescribe the medication:
Select the medication as you do now with Praxis v4.
Once you do, you will see the medication in the patient chart with discrete data fields. Just click on those fields to select strength, dosage, frequency, and so on. When you close the patient chart, the e-prescription will be transmitted to the pharmacy you selected.
Track your prescriptions
Praxis v5 also includes an e-Rx tab that allows you to track your e-prescriptions and refills automatically. From this tab, you can search and review your prescriptions and approve refills with a click of a button.
Connect to the Surescripts Network
What is described above is the e-Rx functionality that comes built-in to Praxis EMR v5. This functionality provides you with the most user-friendly e-prescribing experience presently available. However, for you to be able to e-prescribe with Praxis EMR v5, your Praxis system must be integrated with the Surescripts Network. This network gives you access to Surescripts' Prescription Benefit, Medication History, and Prescription services, all of which are necessary for e-prescribing.
For this reason, we have established a dedicated Surescripts Network Integration service that will handle our clients' transmission of e-Rx data to and from pharmacies.
With this service you get:
- A dedicated e-Rx server 24/7.
- High-level privacy protection.
- Secure transmission and storage of e-prescribing data.
- Instant refill requests.
- Specialized e-Rx training.
The annual fee for Surescripts Network Integration is $495 per provider. For more information on the costs associated with e-prescribing, visit the Surescripts website.
At Praxis, we will do our best to integrate you to the Surescripts Network as quickly as possible. However, to avoid long delays of up to a month associated with the Surescripts registration process, we encourage you to place your order for this service as soon as possible. Praxis clients will have their systems integrated in the order in which payment is received.
To order the Surescripts Network Integration service, complete this payment form and either email or fax it back to us.
Praxis EMR v5's e-prescribing feature will eliminate the faxes and phone calls associated with the traditional medical prescription process. It will make life easier for you, your patients, and the pharmacists you work with.
• Avoid Medicare's E-Prescribing Payment Adjustment with Praxis EMR
Medicare's E-Prescribing Incentive Program has been encouraging the adoption of e-prescribing technology since 2009. Starting in 2012, a 1% payment adjustment will be applied to those eligible medical professionals who do not fulfill the program's requirements.
If you are a medical professional who provides services covered under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, you may be affected.
To avoid the 1% payment adjustment, you must meet two requirements:
Requirement 1 |
Requirement 2 |
|
You must report the use of e-prescribing technology for 10 patient encounters from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2011. |
You must report the use of e-prescribing technology for 15 patient encounters from Jul. 1 to Dec 31, 2011. |
Note that what is counted is not the number of prescriptions that are issued electronically, but rather the number of encounters in which an e-prescription is issued. For instance, if a doctor sees patient A and issues one e-prescription, and then sees patient B and issues three e-prescriptions, Medicare would count this as two encounters. Electronically generated refills and faxes do not count.
Further, only e-prescriptions accompanied by the following billing codes in the denominator are eligible for e-prescribing consideration:
| 90801, 90802, 90804, 90805, 90806, 90807, 90808, 90809, 90862, 92002, 92004, 92012, 92014, 96150, 96151, 96152, 99201, 99202, 99203, 99204, 99205, 99211, 99212, 99213, 99214, 99215, 99304, 99305, 99306, 99307, 99308, 99309, 99310, 99315, 99316, 99324, 99325, 99326, 99327, 99328, 99334, 99335, 99336, 99337, 99341, 99342, 99343, 99345, 99347, 99348, 99349, 99350, G0101, G0108, G0109 |
For purposes of the payment adjustment, you need to report e-prescribing data via claims for those encounters that take place before Jun. 30. For the second half of the year, you may continue to report via claims, or you may opt for registry- or EHR-based reporting.
You may begin reporting the use of e-prescribing technology at any time; there is no need to sign-up or pre-register. You only need to have qualified e-prescribing technology to get started.
Qualified e-prescribing technology does not have to be certified for Meaningful Use. Rather, it must be able to:
- Generate a complete active medication list incorporating electronic data received from applicable pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) if available.
- Select medications, print prescriptions, electronically transmit prescriptions, and conduct all alerts.
- Provide information related to lower-cost, therapeutically appropriate alternatives (if any).
- Provide information on formulary or tiered formulary medications, patient eligibility, and authorization requirements received electronically from the patient's drug plan (if available).
The e-prescribing feature in Praxis EMR v5 is qualified and has been certified by Surescripts. This is true even of the single-user version. Therefore, it may be used to meet the E-Prescribing Program's requirements.
To start e-prescribing with Praxis EMR v5 as soon as possible, you need to:
- Register for Surescripts Network Integration (complete payment form and email or fax back to us).
- Install Praxis EMR v5.
Please submit your payment as soon as possible to start the process. We will then set you up to e-prescribe as quickly as we can.
In the event that you are integrated with the Surescripts Network prior to the release of the network version of Praxis EMR v5, we will make the single-user version available to you for e-Rx purposes. You will also receive training on how to e-prescribe with Praxis v5. Note that in this case, you do not need to be a beta tester to receive the single-user version. For purposes of e-prescribing, Praxis v5 is no longer in beta. In this way, you can begin e-prescribing with the single-user version and get a head start on fulfilling the E-Prescribing Program's requirements.
In closing, it is worth noting that if you fulfill the requirements of the e-prescribing program, you are eligible for an incentive payment. That is, provided you do not also participate in Medicare's EHR program this year. This is because medical practitioners may not collect incentives from both programs in the same calendar year. However, even if you do participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, you still need to fulfill the E-Prescribing Program's requirements in order to avoid the payment penalty.
For more information on the E-Prescribing Program, visit the CMS website.
• Online Chat: The Best Way to Access Customer Support
Online chat is the fastest and most efficient way to receive customer support. There is no reason for you to wait when you need help. Just start typing in the chat window and a customer service representative will be with you within seconds. Online chat is available Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm EST. You can access online chat from the Praxis EMR webpage. Click on the Clients tab in the upper right corner, and select Live Support. Alternatively, we recommend creating a Live Support shortcut on your desktop. Ask Customer Support to show you how.
From the Live Support page, just click the Live Support button.
Explain the issue you are experiencing via chat. The customer service representative may ask you for further information. Once we have a complete understanding of the issue, our technical staff will access your computer remotely to fix the problem. In most cases, we can resolve the issue and get you up and running again in mere minutes.
You will be amazed at how quickly we can resolve technical issues by accessing your computer remotely. However, before we can do so, there are two items that should be taken care of.
The first is a legal matter. HIPAA requires that we have a signed HIPAA agreement from you before we can access your computer remotely. You may download the form here. Fill in the blanks with your information and then fax the completed form back to us at (818) 337-2158.
Secondly, you must have TeamViewer installed on your computer. TeamViewer is our "IV line" to your practice. It is a remote desktop tool that allows us to connect to your computer in seconds. To download and install TeamViewer, please click here and hit run after the page has loaded. During the installation, select Company/Commercial use and enter "Praxis" when prompted for the password. Please provide the ID number at the end of the TeamViewer installation to the customer service representative when you contact him or her via online chat.
Help us help you! Please use online chat whenever you experience a technical issue.