Unanswered questions around meaningful use

I think that we are all aware of the various discussion topics in the EMR and EHR space related to Meaningful Use requirements, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) incentive requirements, and SureScripts Certification. The latest news was that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology named the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Drummond Group Inc., and InfoGard Laboratory, Inc. as the initial Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies for the electronic health records certification program. I would imagine that the companies that are able to stay ahead of the curve will continue to grow however, can the 500+  EMR and EHR vendors all survive this regulation wave? If you are an EMR or EHR vendor, choosing the best drug information provider is critical because time to market is vital.

So how do you choose the right provider? You should expect that your drug information vendor offer a variety of delivery options such as database tables that are compatible with Oracle®, SQL Server®, and MySQL® . The vendor should also provide a Software Development Kit (SDK) powered by Java™ or .NET APIs. Drug Databases are generally extremely normalized and complicated to navigate so utilizing a light weight and easy to use API and save tremendous time. The vendor should provide a high level of customer service and demonstrate a sense of urgency to client requests. They should also earn your  loyalty by listening attentively and understand your needs, and then deliver a solution that translates into a mutually beneficial arrangement for both organizations.