Generally speaking, activity at the annual meeting of the Medical Group Management Association tends to be “strictly business.” At this year’s meeting, taking place in New Orleans this week, GE is demonstrating a solution that meets those business needs–then goes beyond.
Centricity(R) Advance is a true Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for small, independent clinical practices. Offering a combination of EMR, practice management and patient portal solutions, Centricity Advance addresses the varying challenges facing today’s small practices by offering modern technology that is simple to use and even simpler to deploy.
The solution is designed to streamline business operations by removing the inefficiencies that so many practices encounter in the typical revenue cycle management process.
Using embedded workflow and tracking tools, Centricity Advance puts a wealth of financial information at the user’s fingertips. It empowers users to track revenue at each step by helping to ensure all activity has been billed.
Combined with its management analysis tools that allow analysis of a patient population, reimbursement trends, payer profiles and contract performance, Centricity Advance can help clinics:
Improve patient scheduling by seeing co-pays, running eligibility checks up-front, and tracking no-shows Identify and prevent inefficiencies such as unnecessary write-offs and errors in patient follow-up Improve payment cycles with electronic claim submission Reduce overhead with electronic remittance posting Monitor, identify and fix issues, and track progress with billing processes, with internal auditing and reporting tools Identify unprofitable payer contracts based on actual performance
“Centricity Advance has made a night and day difference in how we run our practice,” said Kurt Kastendieck, MD, who uses the solution at Unity Medical Clinic, an independent family practice in Santa Fe, NM. “It’s really allowed us to be able to practice medicine in a way we want to.”
In addition to its business tools, Centricity Advance offers industry-leading EMR and Patient Portal technology, all designed specifically for the simple, streamlined SaaS delivery model. True SaaS technology is designed to be faster and more flexible than other Web-based HCIT solutions since it is created from the ground up to be hosted and delivered over the Internet to multiple customers. This model allows for “on-the-fly” upgrades as well as rapid deployment of value-added “a la carte” features.
“As we do with all our IT solutions, we designed this product with the customer in mind,” said Jim Corrigan, Vice President and General Manager of GE Healthcare IT. “For more than forty years, we’ve listened to our customers and the market to help us shape our portfolio and enhance patient care. We’re thrilled to deliver this latest collaborative innovation into a marketplace that’s in serious need of smart, simple, comprehensive and affordable solutions.”
Recently certified in the ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 EHR certification program, Centricity Advance version 10.1 is capable of helping a practice meet the federal government’s meaningful use requirements. The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 EHR certification program, provided by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT(R)) as an Office of the National Coordinator — Authorized Temporary Certification Body (ONC-ATCB), inspects EHR technology against criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
This certification qualifies EHRs as capable of supporting achievement of meaningful use for Stage 1 of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Centricity Advance version 10.1 (certification # CC-1112-470465-1) was certified on September 30, 2010 and meets the following clinical quality measures: NQF 0421, NQF 0013, NQF 0028, NQF 0041, NQF 0024, NQF 0038, NQF 0064, NQF 0031, and NQF 0034.
2011/2012 certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.
SOURCE: GE Healthcare