e-MDs Physicians are Among Nebraska's First to Attest for Meaningful Use

USA - English

• USA - English

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- e-MDs, the provider of the nation's most highly rated electronic health record (EHR), announced that providers at Southwest Family Physicians,  Drs. Mark Woodruff and William Weeks, were among the first physicians in the state of Nebraska to attest for Meaningful Use and receive federal funds from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program for their efforts. The doctors were recently recognized by Nebraska's Lt. Governor, Rick Sheehy and Wide River Technology Extension Center (TEC), for their leadership in the transition to EHRs.  Drs. Woodruff and Weeks have been providing medical care to families in the Omaha area since 1984 and have been e-MDs clients since 2009.

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The Medicare EHR Incentive Program provides eligible professionals and hospitals with financial incentives when they demonstrate Meaningful Use of a certified EHR. The physicians will each receive an initial $18,000 incentive payment from CMS for demonstrating Meaningful Use with e-MDs Solution Series EHR. Provider payments can amount to $44,000 through Medicare or $63,750 through Medicaid over the life of the initiative.

Southwest Family Physicians were connected with e-MDs software and support team through Wide River TEC, a designated regional extension center by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).  Together e-MDs and Wide River TEC assisted Southwest Family Physicians by supporting the clinic's efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs. Through an advisory role, Wide River TEC brings local expertise and support to primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals in Nebraska for successful EHR adoption.

Dr. Weeks and Dr. Woodruff will serve as local leaders and advisors in the nation's transition toward an electronically‐ enabled health care system as members of the Meaningful Use Vanguard (MUV). MUV is an initiative of ONC and is designed to honor, thank and bring together clinicians who have successfully made the transition to EHRs.  

"We have long seen the benefits of EHRs and have been watching the product mature and improve for many years.  Over 2 years ago, we drafted some goals for an EHR and began a methodical search for our system.  We decided on e-MDs from Austin, TX and we went live in October 2009.  With careful planning, I thought our conversion went very well.  Our staff and providers all bought into the process and we were unified in making it a success.  We have seen greater efficiencies in accessing records both in and outside of the office.  Our records and patient care has improved dramatically since implementation," said Dr. Mark Woodruff, Southwest Family Physicians.

"We have been very pleased to see how quickly so many of our providers have successfully achieved MU across the nation," stated Michael Stearns, MD, President and CEO of e-MDs.  "To their credit, the majority of our providers were already using their EHRs in ways that often exceeded the Meaningful Use requirements. We are looking forward to Stages 2 and 3 and beyond, as this will allow us to achieve many of the benefits of health information technology that will have the greatest impact on patient care."

For more information on CMS incentive programs, please visit www.cms.gov.

To learn more about e-MDs, please visit www.e-MDs.com.

Media Contact:
Kailey Lord, (512) 716-8243, [email protected] 

About e-MDs

e-MDs is a leading developer of integrated electronic health records and practice management software for physician practices and enterprises.  Founded and actively managed by physicians, the company is an industry leader for usable, connected software that enables physician productivity and clinical excellence.  e-MDs software has received continual top rankings in physician and industry surveys including those conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians and KLAS.  For more information, please visit www.e-mds.com, http://www.facebook.e-mds.com, and twitter.com/emds.

SOURCE e-MDs