e-MDs Client is Nation's First Physician Recipient of Electronic Health Records Incentive Payment

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- e-MDs, a leading provider of electronic health records (EHRs), announced that their client, the Gastorf Family Clinic of Durant, OK, received the first physician-paid incentive checks in the country under The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.  On January 5th, 2011, just two days after registration opened for the incentive programs, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority issued payments of $21,250 to two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic for their successful adoption and implementation of a certified EHR.  The incentive payment is federally-funded under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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The Gastorf Family Clinic worked closely with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ), Oklahoma's Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, to apply for the incentive program and ensure the appropriate steps were taken in order to receive the Medicaid payments.  OFMQ, a leader in health care quality improvement, provides health information technology consulting to Oklahoma providers adopting and implementing EHRs. The clinic was able to demonstrate its long-term success with e-MDs Solution Series™ to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with support and counseling from OFMQ.   "We are pleased to support the Gastorf Family Clinic on their EHR journey, and we are excited about this milestone event," said Dale Bratzler, chief executive of OFMQ. "We hope providers everywhere will recognize that dedicated efforts towards meaningful use of EHRs will pay off and the Regional Extension Center program is here to help in the process."

The Gastorf Family Clinic, a small, family-owned clinic in Oklahoma, implemented e-MDs Solution Series™ in 2005.  The EHR offered their practice the necessary structure to keep the billing and business organized with the flexibility to accommodate the clinic's specific medical needs.  "Partnering with e-MDs as our EHR vendor and working with OFMQ, ensured that we could meet all of the requirements of meaningful use," said Darrell Ledbetter, CPM, The Practice Manager of Gastorf Family Clinic.  "We are very excited to have received the first payment of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and pleased that both of our physicians were eligible professionals for the incentives, netting our clinic a check for $42,500.00, the first year's installment in the program.  e-MDs was certainly the software vendor and support team we needed to back us up, and we are very grateful to their staff and the staff of OFMQ for their continued support.  We encourage other providers to participate in this worthwhile program."

"We feel honored that one of our clinics has been chosen by CMS to be the first ambulatory practice in the nation to receive incentive funds for the use of a certified EHR," stated Michael Stearns, MD, President and CEO of e-MDs, Inc.  "We look forward to working with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality and the Gastorf Family Clinic to help their providers qualify for additional incentives tied to the Meaningful Use of our certified EHR."

For more information on CMS incentive programs, please visit http://www.cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms.

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

About e-MDs

e-MDs is a leading developer of health care software solutions headquartered in Austin, Texas.  The company, founded in 1996 by a primary care physician, remains physician and clinical informaticist managed and actively participates in national health information technology and interoperability efforts. e-MDs Solution Series™, with more than 29,000 users nationwide, is the standard for affordable and integrated EHR and PRACTICE MANAGEMENT software solutions, including clinical, financial and document management modules designed to automate medical practice processes and chart management.  The e-MDs Solution Series' comprehensive suite of products facilitates improvements in clinical care, a reduction in medical errors, and optimization of business practices. As testimony to our focus on ease of use and functionality, e-MDs has ranked at the top of all independent, unbiased, physician surveys thus far; and received 2010 Best in KLAS Awards for Ambulatory EMR (2-5 physician) and Practice Management (2-5 physician).  For more information, please visit www.e-mds.com.

SOURCE e-MDs