With the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services currently enrolling doctors into the electronic health records incentive program, many providers are consumed with thoughts of meaningful use. By Failing to meet these governmental guidelines, practices may not only lose out on the incentive payments being offered, but they may also eventually be penalized.
With all that is at stake, implementing technology correctly is of the utmost importance. In addition to helping providers qualify for the incentive program, some experts have said that adopting electronic health records to these specifications could help improve quality in the healthcare system while reducing costs.
David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT, recently noted at the eHealth Initiative annual conference that the meaningful use rules are the key to ensuring that electronic health records deliver on this promise, according to iHealthBeat.
Far from being an arbitrary list of requirements and governmental red tape, he said that they provide a framework to ensure that providers are using the technology to the best of its potential.
"The meaningful use era and the meaningful use concept provide a device for reaching consensus on the optimal use of information for health care improvement, both in quality and efficiency," he said, according to the news source. "It provides a process to hold ourselves accountable."
He did not get into any detail of what providers may be able to expect from stages 2 and 3 of meaningful use, which may be implemented as early as 2012. However, the news source reports that he told the conference that future iterations will focus more on data exchange and decision support and less on data entry.
Overall, Blumenthal, the man at the center of the development of the meaningful use rules, is satisfied with the results that the concept has provided so far, and is optimistic about the future of the concept.
He recently said in an interview with CMIO Magazine that given the scale of public investment in electronic health records, the concept was the most effective way for the government to make sure that providers are using technology to improve the quality of care and become more efficient, which are two things the current healthcare system badly needs.
"If you're going to spend a significant amount of taxpayer dollars on something that is going to benefit them, you should do it in a way that makes sure the benefits are realized, and that's what meaningful use accomplishes," he told the news source.