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Unveiling the Mysteries of US Healthcare –Introduction to Meaningful Use (MU)

Satish Khune Sep 17, 2014

Meaningful Use Healthcare Meaningful Use (MU) HITECH act

Do you know what has caused a spike in the rate of adoption of Information Technology in the healthcare industry? Yes, you are right. It’s the HITECH act. This act provides incentives to the providers that demonstrate Meaningful Use of certified EHR technology. And ever since the introduction of this legislature in the US healthcare industry, it has kept the healthcare providers on their toes.

Though I am not going to go through all the details, I will try to set the basics right for you, so that you can explore this concept further without too many hurdles.

Background

We all are seeing how the rising cost of healthcare is becoming an increasingly unbearable burden for the US economy. A lot of this can be attributed to the unnecessary medications prescribedand procedures performed by the healthcare providers on the patients. All this is happening because of the unavailability of right information at the right time and place. To addressthis issue we need to facilitate the exchange of information across all the entities involved in patient care and restrict the providers from faulty prescription of medications and procedures.

The best way to achieve this is by the adoption of Information Technology in the healthcare industry. It can allow us to capture and store healthcare data in an efficient and structured manner. This data can then be used for electronic exchange of data across all the entities involved in the care of a patient and also to monitor and assist healthcare providers in their decision making.

In spite of all such benefits offered, very few providers were actively taking part in the adoption of IT in their healthcare practice. The government faced a huge challenge in collecting accurate data from these providers and converting them into actionable items using conventional paper based reporting methods.

The HITECH Act of 2009

To overcome this problem and promote the adoption of IT in healthcare the US government enacted the HITECH act in Feb 2009. According to the HITECH act, the providers (hospitals and professionals)who demonstrate the use of an IT system (EHR-Electronic Health Record) to capture healthcare data of their patients in a meaningful way shall be entitled to receive incentives from CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. The providers who do not demonstrate the meaningful use of EHR will not only miss the incentives but will also be penalized by CMS after a deadline.

Understanding Meaningful Use

According to the ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Heath Information Technology),Meaningful use is using Certified Electronic Health record (EHR) technology to:

  • Improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare and reduce health disparities
  • Engage patients and family in their healthcare
  • Improve care coordination, and population and public health
  • Maintain privacy and security of patient health information

It is hoped that the meaningful use compliance will ultimately result in:

  • Better clinical outcomes
  • Improved population health outcomes
  • Increased transparency and efficiency
  • Empowered individuals
  • More robust research data on health systems

Stages of Meaningful Use

To promote smooth transition and easy adoption of EHRs, the meaningful use criteria are to be achieved in various stages. Three stages have been identified by CMS so far to achieve meaningful use in an incremental way. Attestation for MU Stage 1 began in 2011 and lasted through 2014. Any provider attesting for MU stage 1 after this period will not receive the EHR incentives and will undergo payment adjustments for Medicare reimbursements. Stage 2 attestations began in 2014 and will last through 2016 and stage 3 attestations are likely to begin in 2017.

The Eligible Professionals (EPs), Eligible Hospitals (EHs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) need to achieve some meaningful use of objectives and report Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) to qualify for an incentive payment. Each of the 3 stages will havedifferent sets of MU objectives for eligible professionals and eligible hospitalsthat need to be met.

This is Meaningful Use (MU) in a nutshell. For more detailed information on each of the Meaningful Use Stages stay tuned to my upcoming blogs.

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