Federal Agency Releases ‘Meaningful Use’ Grids
A federal agency has created a “meaningful use” map of sorts to help hospitals and physician offices meet the three-stage health information technology (IT) program’s requirements.
“Navigating the Meaningful Use and Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rules can sometimes be a challenge,” reads an Oct. 2 notice from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). “To help with that navigation,” the agency says it has developed and released new grids “that reflect the new mapping of meaningful use Stage 1 and Stage 2 objectives, measures, and exclusions.”
The program offers incentive payments to hospitals and physician offices for adopting and using electronic health records (EHRs) in a meaningful fashion, as defined by the federal government. The ONC sets the criteria for the program, and the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides the funding.
The criterion for Stage 2 was released in August. While the first stage focused on setting up an EHR system, Stage 2 seeks to increase the exchange of health information between providers and give patients secure online access to their records. Participants must also create a system to track medications from order to administration.
CMS gave hospitals and physician offices an extra year, until 2014, to adopt the Stage 2 requirements.
For more information on the meaningful use program, and to view the grids, click here.
Posted: November 6, 2012