Groups seek changes in meaningful use definition

Major healthcare organizations met a deadline last week to comment on a draft of a policy on "meaningful use" of health IT unveiled by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The policy is the cornerstone of the administration's plan for using some $30 billion in economic stimulus funding to create a means for nationwide electronic health information sharing. In general, the organizations said they wanted more flexibility in the criteria under which they would qualify for payments and more time to put new required systems in place.