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Interoperability Basics - The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Building Blocks of Interoperability

Stage 1 Standards as Foundations for Stage 2

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The initial goal of Meaningful Use Stage 1 ensured that every EHR produced information understandable by another clinician. Meaningful Use Stage 1 objectives and standards led to the establishment of specific criteria to facilitate clear communication across all those involved in a patient's care. Providers should use these standards as models of how to communicate different types of information and data sets.

With the vocabularies, code sets, and content structure standards established in Meaningful Use Stage 1, every certified EHR can produce the following standardized content:

  • Standardized care summary
  • Standardized medication lists
  • Quality measures and public health results
  • Structured lab results