Meaningful Use

In 2009 the federal government passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This legislation includes two stimulus programs that offer incentives to qualifying physicians who prove they are using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology in a “meaningful” way.

Meaningful use (MU), in a health information technology (HIT) context, defines the use of electronic health records (EHR) and related technology within a healthcare organization. EHR is expected to eliminate health care disparities by creating an environment where patients are engaged in their healthcare and providers have real-time access to all medical information and tools.  EHR will enable coordination of care between medical providers, thus ensuring the quality and safety of the patient. 

Meaningful use is a quality measure that requires physicians to demonstrate they are using certified EHR/EMR technology in a way that promotes safer, more efficient, and higher quality medical care. Establishing meaningful use also helps determine if an organization will receive payments from the federal government under either the Medicare EHR Incentive Program or the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. 

#	Meaningful Use	MyEps3	Notes
1	Use computerized provider order entry (CPOE) for medication orders	✓	Surescripts & eFax
2	Implement drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks	✓	LexiComp
3	Maintain problem list of diagnoses	✓
4	Generate and transmit prescriptions electronically	✓	Surescripts & eFax
5	Maintain active medication list	✓
6	Maintain active medication allergy list	✓
7	Record demographics: preferred language, gender, race, ethnicity, date of birth	✓
8	Record and chart changes in vital signs	✓
9	Record smoking status for patients 13 years old or oder	✓
10	Report ambulatory clinical quality measure	✓	With Reports
11	Implement clinical decision support rule and ability to track compliance	✓
12	Provide patients with electronic copy of health information upon request	✓
13	Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit	✓
14	Capability to exchange key clinical information among providers	✓	eFax
15	Protect information through appropriate technical capabilities	✓	SSL Security/ User Name & Password/ Secure off-site backup/ 24-hour server administration/ Server alerts
#	Optional (5 of 10)
1	Implement drug formulary checks		LexiComp
2	Incorporate clinical lab-test results as structured data	✓	Interface with LabCorp & Quest via HL7
3	Generate patient lists by specific conditions	✓	With Reports
4	Send patient reminders for preventative/follow-up care	✓	Email
5	Provide patients with timely electronic access to health information	✓	HL7 File via Email or Flash Drive/CD
6	Identify patient-specific education resources and provide to patients	✓	Handouts web site
7	Provider who receives patient from another setting of care/provider of care should perform medication reconciliation	✓
8	Provide summary care record for each transition of care or referral	✓	Discharge instructions
9	Capability to submit electronic data to immunization registries or immunization information systems
10	Capability to submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies