Meaningful Use In Health Care

Stage 2 enables patients to view online, download, and transmit their health information within 36 hours of discharge from a hospital and within 4 business days after visiting a physician. Also, providers through secure electronic messaging can communicate with a patient on relevant health information; therefore, data exchange helps to reduce duplications (Rinehart-Thompson, 2013, p. 13). “Meaningful Use Stage 3 will aim to simplify the program, drive interoperability between electronic health records, and improve patient outcomes” Based on the current timeline, providers have the option to begin Stage 3 Meaningful Use in 2017, but are not required until 2018” (Meaningful Use knowledge hub,

This article describes The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act’s (HITECH) “meaningful use” objective to create a nationwide system of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in order to improve patient safety, quality of care, privacy and security. The authors point out that during the first two years of an EHR implementation, clinicians and hospitals must meet certain requirements in order to qualify for federally funded incentive payments totaling up to $107,750 per clinician. This incentive is meant to ease the financial challenges smaller practices might face as the United States works toward a more technically collaborative information care system, EHRs promise to provide.

A: The term Meaningful use is using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to maintain privacy and secure patient health information, by improving care coordination, population, and public health, help patients and family to be engaged in

Meaningful Use engages patients and families in their health care, improve care coordination, improve population and public health and maintain privacy and security ("CMS," 2015, para. 1). Healthcare providers must show CMS that they are using their EHRs in ways that can positively affect the care of their patients. To do this, providers must meet all of the requirements established by CMS for this program and be able to demonstrate Meaningful Use of their EHRs to receive incentive reimbursement. The Meaningful Use program is divided into 3 stages which span 2011 (data capture and sharing), 2013 (advanced clinical processes) and 2015 (improved outcomes).

This project will introduce steps to implement meaningful use final rules in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. The final rule’s provisions include 2015 through 2017 (Modified Stage 2) as well as Stage 3 in 2018 and beyond. The new rules apply to reporting periods during stage 1 to meet the meaningful use guidelines. Our objective is to create a plan to meet the new meaningful use guidelines of the EHR incentive program by the end of 2015 and start reporting on or 10 goals before October 3, 2015. The first components we must focus on is the time frame we should start reporting in. Secondly, we must focus on the preparation of reports on the ten objectives.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was created in 2009 and serves as a way to incentivize healthcare providers to implement an Electronic Health Record (EHR). Many healthcare facilities use to keep track of all medical records via paper sometimes split up my department, which made working with other facilities, or even with other departments within the same facility much more difficult and time consuming. This act was passed in hopes of rectifying those problems by promoting healthcare providers to switch to EHR and creating a standard by having meaningful use requirements in order to get the incentives. It basically boils down to the federal

In addition to the core elements, providers will have to choose any five of the ten additional tasks to implement in 2011-2012. Some examples of these might be clinical lab results, patient appointment reminders and drug-formulary checks. This gives the providers a chance to choose their own path toward full EHR implementation and meaningful use. Legislation ties payments to the achievement of advances in health care processes and outcomes. The regulations are specific as to when providers will have to use particular functions in order to be considered meaningful users. The meaningful use rule acknowledges the urgency of adopting the electronic health record and recognizes the challenges it will pose on all providers.

The healthcare industry is in the midst of a major change from paper based medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping. As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2014). HITECH is the U.S. Government’s first major contribution to the change from paper to electronic health information technology by setting meaningful use incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid providers that met certain requirements. Healthcare professionals that meet the meaningful use criteria will be awarded financially, and those that don’t meet the 2015 guideline will be penalized. We live in an electronic world of instant access to information and by adopting health information technology we give providers better and easier access to more information which in turn allows them to make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. The electronic health record (EHR) is part of the new information technology. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (2014.), EHR’s provide many benefits such as improvement in the quality of patient care; improvement in the coordination of patient care; more accurate diagnosis and better outcomes; a higher level of patient participation in their own care; and cost savings for the practice

The use of electronic health record systems, better known as EHR systems, has skyrocketed within the last five years. Now required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the EHR has been widely adopted throughout the United States for a number of reasons. it is best known for saving time on charting and billing, however other functions of the EHR can include patient demographics such as allergies, medications, and history, consents and directives, E-prescribing, alerts and reminders, medical reconciliation, and patient education. The EHR also offers other interfaces that are required to exchange information with other providers, laboratories, pharmacies, the patient themselves, and appropriate government agencies when necessary. Some EHR systems even offer programs for patients to use to access their chart and input data, which makes visits easier for physicians because their current symptoms are already in the chart before their

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made an investment in the year 2009 to encourage the adoption and implementation of the electronic health records (EHRs)(Cite). EHRs incentive payments were authorized through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they privately and securely used EHRs for achieving improvements in care delivery by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). The healthcare organizations are expected to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs. This rule of meaningful use has been implemented to strike a balance between acknowledging the urgency of adopting EHRs for improving the healthcare system and identifying the challenges that would be put forth

In efforts to reform the United States healthcare system and create a nationally unified data exchange system the federal government has established an incentive program to eligible professionals and hospitals. The federal government has turned to certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to help facilitate the process of broadening health IT infrastructures. The federal government views EHR system used in meaningful ways as the key to reforming the healthcare systems. Meaningful use of the EHR systems can also improve the overall quality of healthcare, insure patient safety, as well as reduce the cost of healthcare to individuals (Bigalke & Morris, 2010, p. 116).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 identified three main components of meaningful use: the use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner, electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care, and the use of technology to submit clinical outcomes and quality measures (Heath Resources and Service Administration, n.d.). ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, with the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act” being an example. The HITECH Act is an effort led by Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) in support of electronic health records and meaningful use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 2016). According to Galbraith (2013), the HITECH Act aims to promote the use of EHRs by providing over $27 billion in monetary incentives for health care providers that become “meaningful users”. CMS uses these core objectives to determine if a health care provider has satisfied meaningful use and is eligible to receive financial incentives (Galbraith, 2013).

In 2009, more than $30 billion dollars in incentives was allocated by congress for hospitals to institute meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) by 2011 (Adler-Milstein, Bates, & Jha, 2011) (Murphy, 2010). The Meaningful Use Act is a complicated principle that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as well as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act.

The goal in healthcare today is to achieve better patient outcomes. Technology is changing daily that affects how patient care is provided. As the world around us continues to move into a more advanced technology based healthcare system incentives are offered to qualifying healthcare entities, provided they are utilizing approved health information technology (IT) to comply with standards set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (Jones, Rudin, Perry, & Shekelle, 2014). Standards such as meaningful use help ensure with the use of electronic health records (EHR) that patients are receiving quality care (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.). This paper will define and discuss the importance and implications of meaningful use relating to healthcare. Several key points will be discussed including an overview of meaningful use, analysis, further recommendations and a conclusion.

Meaningful Use means that healthcare clinics are required to show that the certified (EHR) technology they are using is being used in ways that can be significantly measured from both a quality and a quantity standpoint. Meaningful Use can impact by make informed decisions, deliver better care, and create greater efficiencies. IT would be enable of better data capture, quality improvement and population based on patient care. Half of patients in the U.S. believe that electronic health records will have negative impact on the privacy of their personal health information, which those concern turn out to be prescient because of the new security requirements of the (EHR) era. Stage 3 Meaningful Use and the changes to meaningful use requirements