What is Meaningful Use?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that EPs (eligible professionals) and hospitals must implement and begin using an EHR (electronic health record)  software system if they wish to receive ARRA incentive funds to help defray the cost of transitioning from paper to electronic health records.

Deployment of the EHR must follow CMS-established criteria known as Meaningful Use. EPs and hospitals are required to meet these criteria in order to be eligible for the incentive funds. So, what exactly does the CMS mean when it uses the term Meaningful Use?
 

Meaningful Use Goals and Criteria:

According to CMS, the purpose and goal of promoting EHR adoption is to improve overall patient care by

• Increasing the quality, efficiency and safety of healthcare
• Reducing health disparities in the patient population
• Engaging patients and their families in the management of their own healthcare
• Improving the coordination of patient care
• Improving overall public and general population health
• Ensuring the privacy and security of patient healthcare information

In order to achieve these outcomes, hospitals and EPs must install an EHR and use it as specified by the CMS Meaningful Use rules. These rules include:

• Using a certified EHR in a meaningful manner (for example, e-prescribing)
• Using a certified EHR for the purpose of electronically exchanging patient health information with other care providers
• Using a certified EHR to submit clinical quality measures (CQMs) and other measure to CMS, the States, and other institutions.

Authorized certification bodies will begin issuing EHR vendor certifications this fall. These will be posted on Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology website.

Meaningful Use Stages and Reporting

The CMS intends to propose three stages to Meaningful Use. The definition noted above is in force for Stage 1, which begins in 2011. Stage 2 will come into force in 2013 and Stage 3, potentially, in 2015. The rules for these have not yet been developed.

Stage 1 Meaningful Use requires EPs and hospitals to meet a set of core objectives, and also choose a number of additional objectives from a “menu.”

• EPs: 15 core and 5 menu objectives. View the complete list of EP Meaningful Use objectives
• Hospitals: 14 core and 5 menu objectives. View the complete list of hospital Meaningful Use objectives

In 2011, EPs and hospitals must begin reporting CQMs to CMS or the States through attestation (i.e., submitting CQM data to CMS and simply attesting to its accuracy):

• EPs: 3 core and 3 menu set CQMs. View the complete list of EP Meaningful Use CQMs
• Hospitals: All CQMs. View the complete list of hospital Meaningful Use CQMs

Beginning in 2012, all providers must electronically submit aggregate CQM data to CMS or the States.

Under the incentives plan, EPs and hospitals that deploy EHR technology are required to report CQMs for only 90 consecutive days during the first year. Thereafter, the reporting timeframe is one full year.