AAMA Announces Creation Of Assessment-Based Recognition In Order Entry Program

Program completion qualifies medical assistants to enter orders for the CMS EHR Incentive Programs

On January 1, 2014, the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) created an Assessment-Based Recognition (ABR) in order entry program for electronic health records (EHRs). Individuals who are granted the ABR in order entry meet the "credentialed medical assistant" requirement under the September 5, 2012 rule of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

Medical assistants who hold a current CMA (AAMA) credential also meet the CMS "credentialed medical assistant" requirement.

As leaders of the medical assisting profession, the AAMA Board of Trustees believed it necessary to provide a means of meeting the CMS requirement for working medical assistants who may not be eligible to sit for the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination administered by the Certifying Board of the AAMA. The ABR program provides such a pathway, and grants assurance to both patients and providers that EHRs will be handled appropriately.

Candidates for the ABR must meet certain knowledge and experience requirements and pass five, one-hour, online AAMA continuing education courses, which have met the strict standards of the AAMA Continuing Education Board.

The AAMA continues to emphasize the importance of the CMA (AAMA) credential, writes Donald A. Balasa, JD, MBA, AAMA Executive Director and Legal Counsel:

The AAMA remains firmly committed to proving, advocating for, and defending the fact that the CMA (AAMA) is the premier credential for medical assistants. There has been no change in the AAMA's position that the CMA (AAMA) remains the superior and unmatched way of demonstrating knowledge of, and competency in, all facets of the medical assisting profession, through meeting these main requirements:

• Graduating from a postsecondary academic medical assisting program accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)
• Passing the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination
• Maintaining currency of the CMA (AAMA) credential by recertifying

The full text of Balasa's article can be found on the AAMA website For more information on the ABR in order entry program visit http://www.aama-ntl.org/continuing-education/abr.

About AAMA
The mission of the American Association of Medical Assistants is to provide the medical assistant professional with education, certification, credential acknowledgment, networking opportunities, scope-of-practice protection, and advocacy for quality patient-centered health care.