What is Meaningful Use

What is “Meaningful Use”?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is an economic stimulus package that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009. This legislation includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which allocated $19.2 billion to Health Information Technology (HIT). 

The HITECH Act provides incentive payments for eligible health care providers and hospitals to demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR) technology. The HITECH Act assigns to the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health information technology (HIT), including Electronic Health Records and private and secure electronic Health Information Exchange. Under HITECH, eligible health care professionals and hospitals can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt certified EHR technology and use it to achieve specified objectives as defined by the Meaningful Use Final Rule.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is charged with the coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information.

There is a lot of information about Meaningful Use on the internet.  Since the Meaningful Use Rule is extremely complex, it is important that you get correct information about how to meet the regulation and be eligible for the incentive payments.  The “official word” on Meaningful Use and how to achieve it is found on the CMS and ONC websites as indicated below.

Follow these links for more information about the Meaningful Use Final Rule, EHR Incentives, certified technology, and timelines:

Official Web Site for CMS Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs:
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/

The Meaningful Use Regulation (official language):
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-17207.pdf

Timeline for CMS EHR Incentive Program:
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/EHRIncentProgtimeline508V1.pdf

CMS FAQs for EHR Incentive Program:
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/95_FAQ.asp#TopOfPage

List of Certified EHRs - ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB)
http://onc-chpl.force.com/ehrcert

FluidEdge can help guide you through the many requirements that you must meet to achieve Meaningful Use!   Learn more