| Much-ado over the definition of “meaningful use” of EHRs |
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| Written by Cynthia Atoji | ||||||||
| Tuesday, 29 September 2009 14:41 | ||||||||
 Much-ado over the definition of “meaningful use” of EHRs continues. Upon these two words depend both the type of products that will be implemented in physician offices, and the type of standards necessary to qualify for stimulus dollars. For example, if meaningful use is defined as e-prescribing, then, of course, an e-prescribing feature will be a necessary part of a complete EHR.
The initial “meaningful use” punch list from the Health Information Technology (HIT) policy committee lists many of the ways you’d think that EHRs could be meaningfully used, including medication lists, lab reports, drug checks, etc. Every year the definition of “meaningful use” will be expanded, so don’t expect definitive guidelines anytime soon. Dr. John Halamka, a health IT leader who is co-chair of the HIT Standards Committee, and leading the charge in medical technology, says in his blog, “In the short term, meaningful use may be a combination of products or an EHR lite.” While the feds are still figuring out exactly what “meaningful use,” several health IT companies, including NextGen Healthcare, GE Healthcare and Athenahealth have jumped ahead and offering guarantees that their products will meet the requirements of meaningful use, whatever they might pan out to be. Some think they will be very similar to rules already set by the CCHIT certifying committee. Stayed tuned. One thing’s for sure. “Meaningful use” won’t be ironed out anytime soon. | ||||||||
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About the Author: Kurt Martin is a Founder and Group Publisher of The Progressive Media Group (PMG) and the Publisher of MedTech Journal. During his 4 years as Publisher of The NonProfit Times, he grew the imprint from a single newspaper to a community of websites, online job boards, email newsletters and digital editions. Prior to taking the role of Publisher he was the East Coast Sales Manager for Broad Daylight, Inc. a knowledgebase company. He also held management roles in advertising and ciruclation sales at American Banker/Bond Buyer (Thomson), Faulkner & Grey (Thomson) and SourceMedia (Investcorp.) Kurt graduated from Montclair State University with a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration. |
