Stage 2 Meaningful Use Certification Achieved by PracticeSuite EHR

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - January 20, 2015) - Cloud-based practice management software provider PracticeSuite announced today it has achieved Stage 2 Meaningful Use certification of its electronic health record (EHR) software for general medicine and a number of health specialties through InfoGard, an ONC-authorized certification body (ONC-ACB).

This certification places PracticeSuite among an elite handful of healthcare vendors that offer a complete, cloud-based, end-to-end practice solution for doctors in private practice -- about half of all physicians. "Stage 2 was difficult on purpose," states industry consultant Mark Anderson. "Stage 3 promises to be even more difficult." Overall, Stage 2 certification reduced the vendor field from 1,800 to less than 240 vendors, with less than a dozen offering a comprehensive, cloud-based, whole-practice solution.

Compliance requirements are coming faster and becoming more invasive. "Moving forward, it is imperative that physicians look to unified cloud systems that are based on 'evergreen' technology such as such UNIX/LINUX, so that doctors only have to adopt software once in their career," states healthcare veteran William Dagher. "The key here is interoperability."

Dagher says it is important for physicians to now look to open-source software platforms that are highly flexible, interoperable, and have the ability to continually evolve. "Historically, proprietary solutions have lead to 'vendor-lock' which creates 'technology-lag,' which has plagued healthcare technology." Examples of evergreen technology include Apache server, ubiquitous Oracle, and the Linux OS -- technologies that are secure, stable, and will remain dominant decades from now.

"What you are looking for is a practice solution that will be in use 35 years from now the way Medical Manager was, and that is still in use by thousands today," says Dagher. "We have come to the point where doctors need to think more strategically and lean toward cloud-based solutions that can keep pace with the onslaught of compliance and technology changes -- systems that will remain state of the art well into the future."

"The emergence of subscription based cloud software is an important change for healthcare," states technologist Vinod Nair, PracticeSuite's founder. "Many doctors have in the past been disappointed by costly software purchases that went awry in failed implementations. Some physicians were even sold systems that had already been slated for sunsetting by major healthcare brands."

"Subscription-based cloud software helps practices avoid these types of disasters," states Nair. "In the cloud/subscription model, doctors have no software to install, no software to update, and no annual upgrades to pay for. The software maker is responsible to keep the software continually updated and compliant to industry requirements." Nair notes that in addition to a simpler implementation process and seamless upgrades, cloud-based EHRs allow physicians access to critical patient data securely from any Internet-connected device.

The world's largest company at present, Apple also wants to change the delivery of health informatics, and with its recent foray of HealthKit, a consumer application, promises to provide vital patient data such as body temperature, pulse rate, respiration, and sleep patterns to physicians for better medical care. Medical record providers such as Epic, Cerner, and Athenahealth are working with Apple to put more accurate patient data into the hands of healthcare providers.

"A distinctive of the PracticeSuite system is that it not only helps doctors maintain compliance and stay well ahead of the technology curve, it also helps them increase profitably," states Nair. "Our applications have built-in controls that let practices be proactive about plugging revenue leaks that eat away at profitability."

Certification of EHR Compliance 

This Complete EHR is 2014 Edition Stage 2 Compliant and has been certified by an ONC-ACB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The EHR Public Test Report is available on the Practice Suite website: PracticeSuite-Stage-2-Complete-EHR-Certification-Detail

About PracticeSuite, Inc.
Silicon Valley cloud software provider of end-to-end practice solutions, PracticeSuite is an interoperable, open source technology platform that delivers a fully unified practice-suite that can be adopted in whole, or a single module at a time. Its advanced medical billing system is offered on a "freemium" basis, allowing practices to get up and running at the least possible cost. Every module in the solution adheres to revenue cycle management best practices to help medical practices achieve Caring-Profitably® by implementing proactive notifications that plug revenue leaks before they occur. PracticeSuite is compliant with HIPAA, HITECH, OMNIBUS, PCI, eRx, and is ICD-10 dual-code operational.

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