Are you a meaningful user? The criteria for achieving meaningful use start with certain minimum requirements in 2011 and build gradually, with more requirements added each year. For Stage 1, which begins in 2011, meaningful-use requirements include three core quality, three additional clinical measures most appropriate to the providers specialty, and 15 functionality measures that must be met, along with a menu set of additional measures from which an provider may choose.
Yes, Yes, and Yes! So how do I report and get my incentive payment? In order to participate in the EHR Stimulus program, eligible professionals must register starting in January 2011 at http://cms.gov/EHR IncentivePrograms. For 2011, CMS defines the reporting period for the program as 90 continuous days in which CMS will accept provider demonstrations of all the meaningful use measures, including clinical quality measures.
More than Meaningful Use
The CMS EHR incentive program is only one part of a much larger effort to jumpstart the evolution from siloed paper—and antiquated electronic—medical record systems to a mobile, flexible, and sustainable electronic health environment. HITECH facilitates efforts to reshape the way health information is documented, exchanged, and used, backed by funding and a supporting infrastructure beyond anything the e-health industry has never seen. HITECH has the real potential to move the field beyond talk about what should be done to setting and implementing a drive for change.
HITECH addresses and provides support for the whole of the electronic infrastructure that is required to safely and securely move electronic health data. It is intended to engage all stakeholders—including hospital systems, community health centers, physician practices, healthcare consumers, public health systems, and payors—allowing for continued public discussion and debate on the many healthcare issues that require more sophisticated technology approaches.
Led by the ONC, the foundation for the HITECH programs has been laid with unusual speed and transparency. HITECH-funded grant programs have sparked unexpected collaborations and teamwork, as myriad stakeholders come together to learn from each other and deploy new technologies, mapping the way toward a connected health community established on communication, collaboration, transparency, and access. In addition to strong federal support, there is considerable state support and collaboration with state governor’s offices, state chief information officers, and Medicaid officials working together within and across borders to ensure that state-developed technical infrastructures and governing laws collectively support the spirit of the Act and make inter- and intrastate information movement a reality.
The HIT-Supported Practice Evolution
The electronic evolution of our healthcare system will extend well beyond information technology implementation. It will require teamwork, patience, and support from everyone who comes into contact with the system, including administrative staff, clinical staff, patients, and external business partners such as labs, pharmacies, and payors.