HHS Defines 'Meaningful Use' for EHRs

The Health and Human Services Department on Dec 30 set preliminary terms dictating who will and will not get billions of dollars in stimulus funds for buying electronic health records systems. One proposed rule outlines criteria for the e-health records incentive program, including the core concept of "meaningful use" of e-records technology. Medical professionals who make "meaningful use" of e-records by 2011 or 2012 will be eligible for up to $44,000 in Medicare payments spread out over five years. The proposal would define "meaningful EHR user" as a medical professional or hospital that complies with specific measures, including the use of a certified technology in ways that improve the quality and safety of health care delivery, reduce health care disparities, engage patients and families, enhance care coordination, improve public health and ensure privacy and security protections. The rule would phase in the specific measures, based on the present state of technological capabilities and providers' practice experience. HHS officials will demand stricter and more extensive criteria for demonstrating meaningful use over time, as technologies and providers' expertise advance. David Blumenthal, HHS national coordinator for health IT, said in an e-mail update to the public, "Great care was taken in the development of these criteria, with input from the public and federal advisory committees every step of the way." The resulting standards and certification criteria are organized into four categories:

1. Content Exchange Standards (i.e., standards used to share clinical information such as clinical summaries, prescriptions, and structured electronic documents);
2. Vocabulary Standards (i.e., standard nomenclature used to describe clinical problems and procedures, medications, and allergies);
3. Transport Standards (i.e., standards used to establish the communication protocol between systems); and
4. Privacy and Security Standards (e.g., authentication, access control, transmission security/encryption) which relate to and span across all of the other types of standards."

(12/31)