Brief Summary of “Meaningful-Use” for eHRs

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Objectives Listed

By Shahid N. Shah MS

www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com

In 2009, the ARRA HITECH bill coined the term “meaningful use” and was a game-changer in the healthcare IT industry. In a series of regulations, the Recovery Act specifically required the following.

Summary of MU

Here are the substantive Meaningful Use objectives of the new ARRA HITECH bill:

  • Use Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE).
  • Implement drug-drug, drug-allergy, drug-formulary checks.
  • Maintain an up-to-date problem list of current and active diagnoses based on ICD-9-CM or SNOMED CT®.
  • Maintain active medication list.
  • Maintain active medication allergy list.
  • Record demographics.
  • Record and chart changes in vital signs.
  • Record smoking status for patients 13 years and older.
  • Incorporate clinical lab-test results into EHR as structured data.
  • Generate lists of patients by specific conditions to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities, and outreach. This is a common feature in EHRs.
  • Report ambulatory quality measures to CMS or the States.
  • Implement 5 clinical decision support rules relevant to specialty or high clinical priority, including diagnostic test ordering, along with the ability to track compliance with those rules.
  • Check insurance eligibility electronically from public and private payers.
  • Submit claims electronically to public and private payers.
  • Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information upon request.
  • Capability to electronically exchange key clinical information among providers of care and patient-authorized entities.
  • Perform medication reconciliation at relevant encounters and each transition of care.
  • Provide summary care record for each transition of care and referral.
  • Capability to submit electronic data to immunization registries and actual submission where required and accepted.
  • Capability to provide electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies and actual transmission according to applicable law and practice.
  • Protect electronic health information created or maintained by the certified EHR technology through the implementation of appropriate technical capabilities
  • Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically.
  • Send reminders to patients per patient preference for preventive/follow-up care.
  • Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information within 96 hours of information being available to the EP.
  • Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit.

Conclusion

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7 Responses

  1. Brad, on November 8, 2010 at 11:21 AM said:

    Shahid,

    Excellent post. In essence, meaningful use reimbursement is tiered over a 5-year scale and totals $44,000 over those 5 years. The biggest year is 2011 at $18,000 per provider, and one must have 90 days consecutive use of meeting the meaningful use requirements within that year.

    This means that doctors must be up and fully operational by September 1, 2011. If not, they will miss out on the $18,000.

    Is this about right?

    Brad

    Like

  2. Darrell DK, on November 8, 2010 at 6:55 PM said:

    Thanks for that information, Brad. I didn’t realize the window was closing so soon. In dentistry, they have yet to define “meaningful use.” Nevertheless, dental HIT stakeholders inside and outside the ADA still promise free stimulus money.

    Darrell

    Like

  3. Ann Miller RN MHA, on January 8, 2011 at 11:30 PM said:

    CMS Issues First EHR Payments

    Just days after the CMS opened registration for the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health-record incentive programs, the first provider payments have been issued. Oklahoma issued payments to two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic of Durant, OK for $21,250 each, for having adopted certified EHR systems under the Medicaid incentive program.

    Funding for the incentive payments programs was made available through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Registration for the program opened January 3rd, 2011.

    Source: Rebecca Vesely, Health IT Strategist [1/7/11]

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  4. Hope Hetico RN MHA, on March 6, 2011 at 4:56 PM said:

    Stage 2 Meaningful Use Plans Unreasonable: CCHIT Survey

    All nine of the proposed Stage 2 meaningful-use measures that were enhancements of the Stage 1 criteria for successful electronic health-record use are considered too aggressive by at least one-third of all participants in a survey conducted by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), a federally authorized health IT testing and certification body.

    To be paid under the health IT incentive program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, providers must demonstrate that they are meaningful users of an electronic health-record system measured against government-developed criteria. A work group of the federally chartered Health IT Policy Committee released for public comment its initial recommendations for Stage 2 meaningful-use criteria, scheduled to take effect in 2013, and preliminary directions toward Stage 3 criteria, set to take effect in 2015.

    Source: Joseph Conn, IT Strategist [3/4/11]

    Like

  5. Dr. S. Feinberg, on March 24, 2011 at 5:25 PM said:

    eHRs and Health Risk Assessment (HRA) Data

    Although HRA data are not generally used to profile care processes per se, such data help to determine which members are at highest risk for chronic illness in the future, such as heart disease.

    Patients usually fill out such surveys directly, and many Internet sites now include free HRAs and calculation of risk scores.

    Included in HRA surveys are smoking history, dietary habits, general health questions, level of energy, emotional health, driving habits, and other parameters.

    Physicians can use such results as guides to ascertain which members need the most intensive intervention and thus help prevent poor future outcomes.

    This is one “MU” promise of eHRs.

    Dr. S. Feinberg

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  6. Hope Hetico RN MHA, on May 19, 2011 at 3:04 PM said:

    CMS to Issue First Medicare EHR Incentive Payments This Week

    The CMS will send its first payments this week for providers that have met Stage 1 meaningful-use requirements under the Medicare portion of the electronic health-record system incentive program.

    Eligible professionals participating in the Medicare EHR program can receive a payment of $18,000 to $19,800. Payments will be based on 75% of their allowed Medicare charges submitted no later than February 2012, according to an e-mailed notice from the CMS.

    For hospitals and critical-access facilities, several factors will determine the value of incentive payments issued. The base payment is $2 million.

    Source: Christine LaFave Grace, Modern Healthcare [5/18/11]

    Like

  7. Gretchen, on August 8, 2014 at 10:35 AM said:

    Just say “No” to MU

    http://www.medicalpracticeinsider.com/news/value-saying-no-mu-attestation

    The value in saying no to MU attestation?

    Gretchen

    Like

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