Panel Offers Initial Criteria for Defining 'Meaningful Use'

Today, a Health IT Policy Committee work group released its initial recommendations for defining "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs). Although the work group's recommendations do not include a formal definition of meaningful use, they offer 22 objectives for EHRs by 2011. The objectives call for qualified EHRs to: 1) Allow patients to access clinical information; 2) Comply with state and federal privacy, security and data sharing regulations; 3) Document patient progress and provide clinical summaries; 4) Exchange critical information with other care providers; 5) Implement drug interaction safeguards; 6) Send patient reminders about follow-up and preventive care; 7) Submit immunization and laboratory data to relevant public health registries; and 8) Use computerized physician order entry systems to transmit prescriptions. In addition, the group released an "achievable vision," which calls for EHR systems to help reduce cardiac arrest, medical errors and preventable hospitalizations by 2015.