Netsmart myUnity® Achieves Industry First 100% ONC Health IT Certification

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Jan. 31, 2022 - PRLog -- Netsmart announced today that it is the industry's first post-acute technology vendor to achieve 100% of the certification base criteria, earning the myUnity® electronic health record (EHR) the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-Health IT) 2015 Edition Health IT Certification. The Drummond Group LLC, an Authorized Certification Body (ACB), has tested the software for compliance with the requirements of the federal government's program.

Hospice and palliative care providers need certified technology to meet the requirements of the evolving healthcare landscape for value-based care and establish compliance with the Medicare Access and CHIPS Reauthorization Act (MACRA), specifically Medicare Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Under the quality payment program, palliative care organizations that bill Medicare more than $30,000 a year and have more than 100 beneficiaries are required to comply with the regulations. Providers using a non-certified system for palliative services are subject to reimbursement penalties.

Netsmart is the first and only post-acute technology vendor to meet all of the base certification criteria, enabling hospice and palliative care providers to meet government compliance and succeed in value-based care programs. There have been announcements by other software vendors who have prematurely declared ONC certification, yet they only meet a portion of the required capabilities. Netsmart has achieved 100% of the base criteria and is able to equip providers to operationalize and receive payment for palliative services. The 2015 Edition qualifications for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) interoperability rules require providers to be equipped with a certified EHR platform and organizational infrastructure to participate in incentive-based payment programs. Due to the rapidly evolving healthcare environment, the ONC certification criteria has progressed, requiring more advanced technology needed for reimbursement, which is a trend that is believed will continue to impact all post-acute care providers.

As a proven innovator, Netsmart (https://www.ntst.com/) was the first technology provider to meet ONC certification for behavioral health (https://www.ntst.com/Company/News/News-Release-Netsmart-i...) in 2017 and was prepared for providers to leverage the platform prior to payment impacts. This track record of innovation leadership continues in the post-acute care community.

"Our investment in ONC certification is going to change the industry landscape," said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. "For the first time, hospice organizations will be able to manage large-scale palliative care programs and do it while qualifying for the CMS reimbursement models. Today, post-acute providers have no choice but to run multiple EHR systems for each of their services lines, causing siloed care and ineffective patient transitions. The certified myUnity solution was fully developed by our Netsmart team without third-party components, and the ONC certification empowers our clients to provide the full continuum of care on a unified enterprise platform, driving efficiencies and improved care."