Chiropractors, if you're interested in qualifying for EHR stimulus dollars, I have a very quick piece of advice for you -- submit your comments to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) as soon as possible.

 

Recently, HHS introduced two stimulus EHR stimulus regulations on Dec. 30, 2009.  When it did so, HHS made it clear that providers must satifsy ALL meaningful use regulations to qualify for stimulus dollars.

 

One of the meaningful use regulations entails e-prescribing.

 

This raises the question -- if e-prescribing is one of the meaningful use objectives, and you are a chiropractor who doesn't prescribe drugs, how are you to qualify for stimulus dollars?  

 

This is not the first time someone has suggested the possibility that chiropractors might not qualify for stimulus money given the e-prescribing requirement.  In an article published in the American Chiropractor a year ago, Future Health's CEO Steve Kraus, D.C. wrote:  "...Note: because chiropractic physicians do not have prescribing privileges, it is unknown whether this will remain a requirement for DC’s...."

 

Now that question has been answered. At the present date, the HHS has made it clear that all requirements, including the e-prescribing requirement, apply to everyone.  The HHS even recognizes that this "all-or-nothing" approach might actually rule out some providers.

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