Meaningful Use
What is meaningful use? What is meaningful use stage one? How does meaningful use apply to EHRs? How do you meet the requirements? The blog entries below help answer these questions as well as offer tips and resources to guide you through the process of adopting and meeting the meaningful use requirements for EHRs.
Latest Blog Posts
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Accelerating Progress on EHR Adoption Rates and Achieving Meaningful Use
As spring quickly blends into summer, we at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) continue to see signs that providers and hospitals nationwide understand why electronic health record (EHR) adoption and achieving meaningful use is critical to improving patient care. -
Recent Study: Get the Facts
Apparently, doctors who order a lot of imaging tests are more likely to have electronic systems that let them view those images in their offices.
That is the finding of an article appearing in the March 2012 issue of Health Affairs by McCormick and colleagues. This is not a particularly surprising observation. What is surprising is that the authors go far beyond the scope of their research to conclude that “the federal government’s ongoing, multibillion-dollar effort to promote the adoption of health information technology may not yield anticipated cost savings from reductions in duplicative diagnostic testing. Indeed, it is possible that computerization will drive costs in this area up, not down.”
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The Many Meaningful Uses of Health Information Technology
ONC’s core mission includes promoting the meaningful use of health information technology nationwide. By one definition, “meaningful users” are those who qualify to receive funding under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs under the HITECH provisions of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This funding goes to health care providers who adopt certified electronic health records and use them in specific ways to improve patients’ health, increase transparency and efficiency, and engage patients and caregivers.