Make Critical Electronic Health Record Decisions Now to Avoid Penalties and Maximize Incentives

Rheumatologists must understand how their EHR system works, and, if necessary, change gradually, Dr. Carson said. “We decided to delay the e-copy [electronic summary] to patients until we could establish a portal, which is more secure,” he said. Web portals allow patients to log on to a secure site to access records rather than having them e-mailed. To send patient reminders, another Meaningful Use measure, his hospital’s technology staff created a program to send patients text messages that upload to their smartphone calendars.

Dr. Carson said his practice decided to work toward achieving Meaningful Use mainly for the incentives. “It may not be associated with meaningful care, but penalties are impactful,” he said. “You need to understand how measures are recorded by your EHR and come up with a plan.”

Susan Bernstein is a freelance medical journalist based in Atlanta.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program—Meaningful Use—requires that eligible providers participating in the incentive program successfully demonstrate meaningful use of the EHR system by reporting on a set of core and menu functional objectives to qualify for incentive payments of up to $44,000.

January kicked off a new era for health information technology (HIT). A new year brings new opportunities, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) electronic health record (EHR) incentive program topping the list. But what is meaningful EHR use, and what does it mean for you? What are the steps to get started?

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