drchrono, which offers a free electronic health record platform on the iPad, has received ONC-ACTB certification, allowing doctors to receive up to $44,000 in incentives for using the app. Officials tout drchrono as the first iPad-native EHR to be certified for meaningful use.

“This certification transforms our EHR app and the iPad into a potentially affordable platform that could finally drive global usage and adoption of electronic medical records,” said Michael Nusimow, cofounder and CEO of drchrono. “The government subsidy offered to physicians who adopt our free EHR solution could be transformational in bringing electronic record keeping into every medical practice.”

[See also: iPad can accelerate new era of care.]

The drchrono EHR platform has been awarded ambulatory certification (ONC-ATCB) as a Complete EHR by San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based InfoGard, an Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ATCB).

Company execs say the EHR app offers a complete solution to run a physician’s practice on the iPad. Eligible medical providers will receive up to $44,000 in government incentives for downloading drchrono and using it to meet the government’s meaningful use requirements. The drchrono application tracks how much a doctor uses the EHR and automatically gives them key metrics to report to the government in order to get their incentive money for 2011.

[See also: iPad 2 looks even better for docs.]

Features in the drchrono iPad app include:


• Real time clinical speech-to-text on the iPad
• Custom workflows and the ability to integrate photos and videos into a patient chart
• Integrated electronic medical billing
• Electronic prescribing to send prescriptions to any pharmacy in the U.S.
• A streamlined user interface that allow doctors to complete their clinical notes before the patient leaves the exam room

Government officials say increased EMR implementation could save the federal government more than $12 billion over the next 10 years. The RAND Corporation, a global policy think tank, estimates savings of about $80 billion a year for the healthcare sector when they move toward paperless medical records. The advantages of electronic medical records, aside from the savings, include reduced redundant care, speedier patient treatment, improved safety and healthier patients overall.

[See also: iPad helps docs go paperless.]

“The government is incentivizing doctors to go digital and the iPad is a natural fit in the medical space," said Daniel Kivatinos, cofounder and COO of drchrono. "It was a thrilling experience to be the first company to use an iPad during the meaningful use certification process."