Have you heard? Uprise is the first truly cloud-based practice management and EHR solution in the eyecare industry to receive 2014 Meaningful Use Stage 2 Certifitcation as a Complete EHR. "Complete EHR Certification" is only awarded to systems that meet the requirements for a minimum number of modules to receive full certification. And Uprise met all of those requirements, as well as additional elective modules, for a total of 42 modules tested.

This is a big deal. Especially for those eyecare practices looking to participate in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use Incentive Program. In order for eyecare practices to receive incentive payments for Stage 2 of meaningful use they are required to attest with an EHR that has 2014 certification. And now, Uprise is completely certified!

But we also know there are some practices out there who might not be interested in participating in meaningful use (even though we think you should)! So, what's in it for you to use a certified system? Trust us, there are plenty of functional features that come along with a complete certified EHR software that will benefit your practice and your patients!

9 Functional Features of Certified EHR Software

1. Clinical Decision Support. With this feature, all an OD has to do is make a single entry during annotation and the system can automatically document exam findings, diagnosis, treatment, orders, special testing, and patient education, all based on best practices.

2. Patient List Creation. Your staff will be able to electronically select, source, and access a variety of lists of patients. This can be beneficial if you're looking for a specific segment of your patient base.

3. Patient-specific Education Resources. You'll have the ability to electronically identify education resources based on a patient's diagnosis. This will make your patients happy as it provides easier access to patient education.

4. e-Prescribing. You'll be able to send electronic prescriptions to your patient's pharmacy, and the system will formularly check for insurance to know about drug coverage before sending the prescription. This makes is easier to get meds that are covered by insurance and help ensure that they are at the pharmacy for patient convenience!

5. Drug-Drug & Drug-Allergy Interaction Checks. During CPOE the provider will be alerted to contraindications for drug combinations or allergies which helps ensure patient saftey.

6. Secure Messaging. Messages sent between OD and patient or authorized rep are secure, encrypted, and integrity protected.

7. Computerized Provider Order Entry. You and your staff can electronically record, change, access medications, laboratory, and radiology imaging. On top of that, electronic record keeping reduces errors and improves efficiency.

8. CQM Calculations. Certified EHRs must support the calculation and reporting of Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs). Even if a practice chooses not to report these for the sake of reimbursements, the data generated for these CQMs still provide excellent insight into areas for potential improvement

9. Better Reporting. Certified EHRs must support electronic reporting to immunization registries as well as reporting syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies. Most practices will do this – or want to do this – regardless of incentives. An MU certified EHR can do this electronically, which is a big time saver.

In addition to these functionality features of a complete certified EHR, if a provider isn't using a certified EHR they aren't able to electronically transfer or download patient records when referring a patient to another doctor, and vice versa. So this makes them less likely to receive referrals from other providers due to the perception that the doctor being referred is not up to date.

A meaningful use certified EHR will have many other features and functions that help with speed of documentation, accuracy and completeness of data capture, and reporting of outcomes. Which helps makes it easier, more efficient, and less problematic for eyecare providers to avoid errors and enhance patient care. 

Want to learn more about what a complete certified EHR can do you for you? Check out Uprise!