This article defines meaningful use, lists the elements necessary to qualify for those elusive meaningful use incentives, and helps you decide whether and when your practice might want to engage in the process of EHR implementation.
What is meaningful use?
Meaningful use, then, is the set of rules to be followed and the benchmarks to be met in order to claim your share of the money. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services believes, and others agree, that it is only through effective use of health information technology that any opportunity exists to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency, as well as decrease the cost of providing health care services in the U.S. Finally, as with other CMS incentive programs (ie, the Physician Quality Reporting System and e-prescribing), the program is designed to offer a carrot first and schedule a stick eventually (penalty) to drive compliance. Penalties are scheduled to hit providers who are not meeting meaningful use starting in 2015 at 1% and rising to 5% by 2019.
Meaningful use has three stages. Stage 1 is meant to motivate physicians to use certified EHR technology for data capture and sharing information. Stage 2 is scheduled to begin in 2014 and is expected to expand on Stage 1. Stage 3 has yet to be finalized. As defined by CMS, "Meaningful use is using certified EHR technology to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities; engage patients and families in their health care; improve care coordination; and improve population and public health, all the while maintaining privacy and security."
Data-driven health care: Who it will benefit, and how
September 1st 2012Early adopters of health information technology have been creating electronic health records for over 10 years. With the creation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and its incentives, the pace of clinical data accumulation is accelerating.
What is cloud computing, and how can it help your urology practice?
August 1st 2012Storing data remotely allows for access from anywhere using the Internet, so, for example, a cloud-based EMR allows urologists in your practice to access and update charts from home or on the road using a smartphone or tablet.
Electronic medical record modification allows for automated data retrieval
October 1st 2011Urologists at Cleveland Clinic have undertaken a pilot program involving modification of a commercial electronic medical record (EMR) system to facilitate clinical research and clinical practice outcomes analysis in a way that overcomes the obstacles presented by the record-keeping technology.
Organized medicine urges CMS to change e-prescribing penalties
August 11th 2011The American Medical Association and 91 state and specialty medical societies, including the AUA, recently submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the proposed changes to the electronic prescribing penalty program.