ehr onc final certification - Department of Health Care Services

Response. While we do not require that the option to disable drug-drug and drug-
allergy checks be removed as a condition of certification, we note that in order for an
eligible professional or eligible hospital to become a meaningful user of Certified EHR
Technology this capability must be enabled.
Comments. Several commenters noted that the NCPDP Formulary and Benefits
standard is not used in an inpatient setting. The commenters consequently requested
clarification as to how the standard can be used in an inpatient setting. Some of the
commenters noted that for inpatient settings, hospitals typically relied on their own
formularies for performing the types of checks specified. Another commenter requested
clarification whether the correct content exchange standard was National Council for
Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) Formulary and Benefits Standard version 1.0 and
that if it was, the commenter recommended its adoption. Another commenter noted that
some State Medicaid formularies are not yet available via nationwide e-prescribing
networks and recommended that ONC encourage the implementation of State Medicaid
formularies within the NCPDP Formulary and Benefits Standard via a nationwide e-
prescribing network.
Response. We agree with those commenters who identified the inconsistency of
applying the Formulary and Benefits standard to the inpatient setting. Because the CMS
proposed meaningful use objectives applied to both eligible professionals and eligible
hospitals, we did not make the distinction as to when a Complete EHR or EHR Module
would need to include the Formulary and Benefits standard. However, in light of these
comments and to support the final meaningful use measure, we have determined that it
would be appropriate to adopt a more general certification criterion that would be
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