The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009 ( Arra )

In today’s society, the accuracy of health information, the availability of health records, and the professional resources in which one live are vital in decision making for health conditions. Meaningful Use (MU) is a program developed by CMS Medicare and Medicaid that awards, incentives in the health care industry in which the certified electronic health records (EHRs) are used to improve patient care (Practice Fusion, 2016). These incentives are for professionals that care for about 30% of their adult patient volume or 20% of their children’s volume for Medicare and Medicaid patients (CMS, 2016). In addition, adjusting from paper charts to electronic charts of patient’s information is beneficial for MU. Furthermore, the American

and save patient data such as allergies, health history, lab results, health center visits in the electronic health record (EHR) and securely communicate these records with other health entities and governmental agencies (Oracle, 2010). With the ultimate ambition being the establishment of a more effectual, patient centered health care system that decreases provider’s administrative expenditure, improving coordination of care among providers and increasing patient’s participation in their own health care (Galbraith, 2013). This article will supply a synopsis of the meaningful use program, the connotations of its core standards and present proposals for further measures.

In 2008, the American economy broke down. Known as the Global Financial Crisis, this is widely considered to be the worst financial crisis since the 1930’s when the stock market crashed and the Great Depression hit.

objectives and commit to achieving them. Moreover, as described in a the section of Clinical

Electronic health records can provide many benefits for providers and their patients, but the benefits depend on how they 're used. Meaningful use is the set of standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs that governs the use of electronic health records and allows eligible providers and hospitals to earn incentive payments by meeting specific criteria. The goal of meaningful use is to promote the spread of electronic health records to improve health care in the United States. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provides the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) with the authority to establish

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).

This Stage 1 started from 2011-2012, its objective dealt with data capture and sharing, these sheets are providing these services to assist professionals and hospitals understand the requirements of each objective and demonstrate meaningful use success. This stage also allows qualified providers to receive their payment after fulfilling nine core objectives and one public health objective. The second stage of the Meaningful Use is Stage 2 started in 2014; it dealt with the advanced clinical processes. This Stage introduces new aims and measures, as well as higher entries; it also required health care providers to prolong EHR capabilities to a greater portion of their patient populations. The last stage of the Meaningful Use is Stage 3, this Stage it still in a building phase. Its objective will be focusing on improving quality, safety, efficiency, and leading to improved outcomes. Even though the details of this program have not been finalized, Meaningful Use Stage 3 will work to make the program easier to understand. It will provide the professionals (EPs) and hospitals the ability to exchange and use information between electronic health records, and improve patient outcomes. Based on the current timeline, healthcare providers have the choice to begin Stage 3 Meaningful Use in 2017 but are not permitted to use it until

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 July 2010 CMS Centers of Medicaid and Medicare services published a final rule which established three phases of the EHR Incentive Program. The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program provides financial incentives for the “meaningful use” (MU) of certified Electronic Health Record technology to improve patient care. 36$ billion was authorized.

How does this apply to the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)? One connection is made to the ARRA based on the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) (Nash et al., 2012). The ARRA is trying to give support point to care information systems, which will aid doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to make the best medical decisions and circumvent making mistakes (Nash, Clarke, Skoufalos, & Horowitz, 2012). Furthermore, the ARRA HITECH agenda has encouraged many hospitals to put into place the computerized physician order entry or (CPOE) structures (Nash et al., 2012). The CPOE will “check a physician’s orders, alerting the user if a medication is ordered for a patient who is allergic, if a dosage is incorrect, if there are potential

Legislation such as the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act promoted meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) to provide better patient outcomes (CDC, n.d.). Meaningful use is regulated by CMS and National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and is based on five goals including: improving quality, safety, efficiency and reducing health disparities, engage patients and families in their health, improve care coordination, improve population and public health,

Instead of using paper based records, technology allows physicians to use the electronic medical record (EMR) that improves the quality of programs. By using the EMR, this is not easy nor is it low cost. Physicians’ have to use this method as their daily task. There are some barriers that has been identified with the use of the EMR by the physicians we will discuss. There will be some suggestions made that might can help the policy interventions to overcome the barriers. This will include the support system of work/practice including electronic clinical data exchange, and financial rewards for quality improvement. (Sim, 2004)

Electronic health records (EHR’s) have many advantages, but there are plenty of disadvantages. EHR’s were created to manage the many aspects of healthcare information. Medical professionals use them daily and most would feel lost without it. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to adopt EHR’s in 2009 due to the fact that a bill passed known as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). “The HITECH Act outlines criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic records. These criteria must be met in order for providers to receive financial incentives to promote adoption of EHRs as an integral part of their daily practice”, (Conrad, Hanson, Hasenau & Stocker-Schneider, 2012).

Objectives are an organization 's performance targets—the results and outcomes management wants to achieve. They function as yardsticks for measuring how well the organization is doing.

To be useful, the stated objectives should meet several criteria which are known as SMART objectives. [Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed]