Health IT Law Blog : Health IT Law Blog : Post & Schell: Law Firm : HIT & Electronic Health Records

On Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 1:00PM to 2:00PM (EDT), Post & Schell will host the next webinar in a series examining the effects of meaningful use and other HITECH Act regulations on the healthcare industry. 

This webinar will focus on identifying and negotiating the essential elements of HIT agreements, particularly in light of the HITECH Act and related HHS regulations regarding "meaningful use" of "certified EHR technology." Post & Schell's Steve Fox and Vadim Schick, along with Jim Oakes, Principal at Health Care Information Consultants, will discuss:

• Warranty, limitation of liability and privacy and security provisions in HIT contracts
• Structuring payments to correspond with certain achievement milestones
• Acceptance testing procedures
• Provisions specific to vendor-financing transactions
• ASP / SaaS models of software licensing

You may view this presentation at your desk. There is no charge or limit to the number of people who may listen to the presentation on the same line. Click here to register. After registering, you will receive log-in information by e-mail.

This webinar is second in a series devoted to structuring vendor-provider agreements in the post-HITECH Act world. If you missed our first webinar, A Lawyer's Take on "Meaningful Use," you can still view the slides from that presentation here.

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Ingenix, the technology unit of United Health Group, and Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions joined Siemens, GE Healthcare and IBM in offering financing for purchasers of electronic medical record technology.   This continues the trend of vendors offering interest-free financing until healthcare providers receive the "meaningful use"  incentive payments or reimbursements under the HITECH Act.

While such offers may provide a solution to some of the credit and financing woes facing the healthcare industry, healthcare providers should be acutely aware of the many potential pitfalls and related issues inherent in vendor-financed deals, including: (1) additional pressure from vendors to accept their standard contractual terms and conditions, rather than engaging in full-blown contract negotiations, because vendors have much more leverage if they are also the creditor in the transaction; (2) failing to obtain necessary warranties and representations from vendors that their systems will comply with all relevant requirements under ARRA and the HITECH Act and will permit the provider to achieve meaningful use; (3) dealing with problems that may arise if either the vendor’s product fails to achieve applicable certification (e.g., CCHIT), is not “accepted” by the provider after completion of acceptance testing or the product does not enable the provider to achieve “meaningful use” in a timely manner, as well as a host of other issues.

Steve Fox and yours truly explore the issues around vendor financing of EHR system purchases in the latest issue of the Journal of Health Information Management, where we suggest recommended courses of action for healthcare providers considering acquiring HIT systems, including EMRs, by using vendor financing options.  A complimentary PDF copy of the article is available here.
 

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