Government Defines 'Meaningful' Use of EHR
NJAOPS Encourages Members to Comment on New Regulations
WASHINGTON (12/31/09) — Federal officials released two sets of anxiously-awaited rules yesterday that will set the standards for the implementation of electronic health records, outlining requirements for EHR certification and also how physicians will need to use their systems to qualify for thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funding.
The funding, which will be administered to qualified healthcare providers through incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was set aside in last year’s economic stimulus package in the hopes of encouraging doctors and hospitals to make the switch from paper to electronic records. Both proposals now enter a 60-day public comment phase with the final rulings expected to be released in mid-2010.
“The wide-scale adoption of electronic health records is dependent upon physicians being able to implement systems that will improve the functionality of their practices and universal standards to make an informed system purchase,” said Robert W. Bowen, Executive Director of the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians. “Physicians should become familiar with the new standards for meaningful use and take advantage of the public comment period to voice their opinion on whether the criteria are realistic in the daily running of a medical practice.”
According to the proposal, to be eligible for incentives, CMS will require that physicians demonstrate “meaningful" use of certified EHR technology, including:
- showing that they use electronic records for 80 percent of their patients;
- being able to provide patients with printouts of their medical history;
- and using computers to check for potential drug interactions.
The rule proposes a phased approach to implement the proposed requirements, establishing criteria for meaningful use based on currently available technology and physicians’ practice experience. CMS will establish stricter, more extensive criteria for meaningful use over time.
The ruling issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) describes the standards that must be met by certified EHR technology to exchange information among healthcare providers and between physicians and patients, including formats for clinical summaries and prescriptions; standard terms to describe clinical problems, procedures, laboratory tests, medications and allergies; and standards for the secure transportation of this information using the Internet. (Read the full Meaningful Use and Certification reports.)
To comment on the rule, visit www.regulations.gov.
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