Meaningful Use

The HITECH Act outlined the intended plans for the adoption of electronic health records through meaningful use. The CMS Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive programs have evolved into three stages of meaningful use with their own goals, priorities, and their own final rule. Meaningful use means “providers need to show they’re using certified EHR technology in ways that can be measured significantly in quality and in quantity.”

On October 6, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released final rules that simplify requirements and add new flexibilities for providers to make electronic health information available when and where it matters most and for health care providers and consumers to be able to readily, safely, and securely exchange that information. The final rule for 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria (2015 Edition) and final rule with comment period for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Incentive Programs will help continue to move the health care industry away from a paper-based system, where a doctor’s handwriting needed to be interpreted and patient files could be misplaced.

The CMS EHR Incentive Program is now known as Promoting Interoperability (PI).

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www.HITECHAnswers.net – Content focuses on the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act which included the CMS EHR Incentive programs and now the QPP and PI. The site also focuses on security of health systems discussing, privacy, cybersecurity, and HIPAA. Our readers are healthcare providers adopting health information technology, consultants and EHR vendors in this health IT space.

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