Proposed rulemaking issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on December 30, 2009 include EHR "meaningful use" definitions associated with physician eligibility for ARRA incentives. As meaningful use criteria are finalized, it is apparent that eligible physicians (EPs) will be expected to incorporate patient-centered IT solutions in order to qualify for stimulus funds.

Proposed criteria include:

- Send reminders to patients per patient preference for preventive/follow up care, measured by sending reminders to at least 50% of all unique patients seen by the EP that are 50 or over.

- Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information (including diagnostic test results, problem list, medication lists, allergies) upon request, providing electronic copies to at least 80% of all patients who request an electronic copy of their health information within 48 hours.

- Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information (including lab results, problem list, medication lists, allergies) within 96 hours of the information being available to the EP. At least 10% of all unique patients seen by the EP should be provided with timely access to their health information.

- Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit, with clinical summaries provided for at least 80% of all office visits.

To help you qualify for ARRA incentives, NoMoreClipboard offers NMC-MD – a patient portal that combines personal health record functionality with an administrative portal that enables your practice to receive and reply to patient-generated messages.

With NMC-MD, your practice can quickly and affordably create a branded patient portal. Patients can visit your website, click on a patient registration button and link to a NoMoreClipboard portal that looks and feels just like your existing site – the patient experience is seamless. From the portal, patients can create a personal health record account, share demographic and clinical information, and send and receive secure messages – including the reminders, electronic copies of health information and clinical summaries required to achieve meaningful use. NMC-MD can be integrated with practice EHR systems using standard interoperability protocols, streamlining the flow of electronic information between you and your patients.