Meaningful use
Meaningful Use (MU) refers to a government initiative aimed at promoting the adoption and effective use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the healthcare sector. This program, established under the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, seeks to transition the healthcare industry from paper-based systems to a digital network, enhancing efficiency and improving patient care. The initiative sets specific criteria for healthcare providers to qualify for federal funding through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), emphasizing the importance of using EHRs to improve communication among healthcare professionals, patients, and insurers.
The MU program is structured in stages, with Stage 1 focusing on initial EHR adoption and requirements for documenting patient information. As of 2015, healthcare providers moved on to Stage 2 or Modified Stage 2 objectives, which streamline the requirements down to ten key objectives for funding eligibility. Stage 3 aims to foster greater electronic information exchange while enforcing stricter compliance with guidelines. While penalties were introduced for non-compliance, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 removed the financial penalties for providers failing to meet meaningful use standards. Overall, Meaningful Use is a significant step towards modernizing healthcare technology and enhancing patient care through standardized digital practices.
Meaningful use
Meaningful Use (MU) is a government-driven directive that seeks to encourage the use of electronic health records (EHRs) by medical professionals and health information industries. The program is intended to move the health care industry away from a paper-based system and toward a digital network for greater efficiency.
EHRs are the collected medical data of patients that are stored in a standardized digital format. They enable health professionals to have access to a patient's full medical history. The MU compliancy standards are a set of criteria regarding the use of EHRs that determine the eligibility of health care providers to receive federal funds through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and are intended to create a national standard where EHR usage is the norm.
Purpose
The term "meaningful use" was derived from language in the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which described the intent of the legislation to promote not only the adoption of a standardized system of EHR usage but also the establishment of a "'meaningful use' of EHRs" to provide significant improvements in care. The use of EHRs is intended to offer better health care by utilizing advances in digital networking to improve the communication and transfer of data between insurers and doctors; between different practitioners advising the same patient; and between insurers, doctors, and the patient.
Stages
Stage 1, implemented initially in 2011, sought to promote the adoption of EHR technology by medical practitioners and hospitals. To ensure that they were safely implementing and achieving the standards of meaningful use, health care practitioners had to demonstrate that they were meeting certain objectives. Among the required measures, health care providers had to show that they electronically recorded specific details about the patient (including smoking status, physical mobility, demographics, medications, and vital signs), that they used the system to place medication orders, and that their software included measures to protect and guard the security of the EHRs. Among secondary objectives, health care providers had to demonstrate that they used the system to create reminders for follow-up care, that patients were able to check their records electronically, and that they were able to create immunization registries.
As of October 2015, in response to feedback from participants in the program, all providers of EHRs are now using either Stage 2 or Modified Stage 2 objectives. Under these standards, health care providers are required to meet a simplified standard of ten objectives to gain federal funds—an effort that is intended to strengthen EHR implementation. Stage 3 focuses on promoting greater electronic exchanges of information while requiring stricter compliance with the established guidelines.
In 2014, the use of penalties for health care providers not meeting minimum EHR standards was introduced. However, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 eliminated the risk of financial penalties for failing to meet the meaningful use standards.
Bibliography
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Rouse, Margaret. "Meaningful Use." TechTarget. TechTarget. Web. 8 Feb. 2016. http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/definition/meaningful-use. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Trout, Kate E. "The Impact of Meaningful Use and Electronic Health Records on Hospital Patient Safety." Environmental Research & Public Health, vol. 19, no. 19, 30 Sept. 2022, p. 12525, doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912525. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
Trotter, Fred and David Uhlman. Meaningful Use and Beyond: A Guide for IT Staff in Health Care. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2011. Print.
"What Is Meaningful Use?" Practice Fusion. Practice Fusion, Inc. Web. 8 Feb. 2016. http://www.practicefusion.com/what-is-meaningful-use/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.