iPad EHR app certified for meaningful use
In a sure sign of the times, Drchrono, which offers a free electronic health record platform on the iPad, became the first iPad app to receive official ONC-ACTB certification. According to Healthcare IT News, "the drchrono EHR platform has been awarded ambulatory certification (ONC-ATCB) as a Complete EHR by San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based InfoGard, an Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ATCB)". The app tracks a provider's use of the EHR and offers them key metrics to report to CMS, and includes many other features, such as billing and e-prescribing.
This is a huge step for a mobile EHR app, but its maker's regulatory hurdles may not be over. Last week, we reported on the FDA potentially regulating the market of mobile healthcare devices and applications. Electronic and personal health records could be exempt from such regulation, unless the FDA adopts a broad definition of "clinical decision support," which includes decisions based on the information given to a provider via the EHR app or device.
Moreover, use of such mobile apps or devices in healthcare presents providers with a very long list of legal concerns. Privacy and security of patient data, compliance with state and federal laws (including Stark and anti-kickback statutes), assumption of risk and liability, along with many other critical issues, should be addressed in the contract between the healthcare provider and vendor of such software.
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